Yeah, but we're making great time! (Yogi Berra)

I once worked with a woman who wanted to ride her bicycle across the country. Unfortunately she had a son in college and a daughter starting college in a year or so. Rather than be discouraged, she began a fantasy trip. She got her dream trip maps, the Adventure Cycling Southern Tier route (St. Augustine, Florida, to San Diego, California.) Every week she tallied her bike miles, and she used her mileage to take her trip along the route on her maps. I used to stop by her office to check on her progress. As the months went by, she slowly moved from one route map to the next. It took her a few years to complete that fantasy trip to San Diego. But she did it. And about 8 years later she did the trip for real.

I think about those maps on her office wall as we ride our miles each week. If we'd been doing her fantasy trip this calendar year, we'd be halfway through Texas. That's a lot of miles pedaled in and around Miami.

We're beginning to see progress. We're doing metric centuries as our basic ride with a longer 80 mile ride once a week. The miles are getting easier to ride. We'll do this for a while, then stretch the distance again to include 2 centuries a month. That should put us on target for our first brevet in September.

We do credit card touring, and spring break in Florida means all our favorite places are overflowing. So we'll be riding the roads around Miami until the hordes leave.

But the crowds be gone soon, and the Keys and the coastal resorts will once again be ours.