It's Sunday, and Sunday is the group ride to Hollywood.We were up and on the road to Miami City Hall before dawn. The humidity was way down. It was going to be a great day for a ride.
There were about 30 riders gathered. We rode out right on time, pedaling quickly up Bayshore Drive to South Miami Avenue, then winding our way through downtown Miami, over the Venetian Causeway to Miami Beach. We picked up riders from Miami Beach as we passed through. The temperature was pleasant, the wind light. We pedaled through a light rain for a while, but that soon ended and our pedaling provided the wind to dry our riding clothes.
Soon we were at Georgio's, picking out our pastries, ordering our coffees, and taking a moment to chat. Then we were back on the road. Sensibly, the faster riders headed home first, free to stretch their legs. The slower 17-19 mph group (with help from a group of stronger riders) headed out next. Riders left along the route through Miami Beach. Soon we were back winding our way over the Venetian Causeway and through downtown. We crossed the route of the Escape to Miami Triathlon. Al and I peeled off as the group rode down SE 2nd Avenue and we turned towards home on SW 7th Street.
It was a good ride. We will miss next week's ride to Hollywood. We'll be heading up to an annual ride sponsored by the Friends of the Withlacoochee State Trail in Inverness, Florida. Normally we do metric centuries. Next week we may push that up to a full century. May. We're riding 750 miles a month now. It's time to raise the bar.
We'll see how it goes.
