The Fuentes 100 (A First Century Ride)

Ruben Fuentes is an Everglades Bicycle Club member. He is also a ride leader on Saturday EBC club rides. Ruben lives life fully, and he's a lot of fun to be around. A while back we heard that Ruben was putting together a special ride. It was for him and some EBC friends who wanted to do their first century as a group. The route was from Ruben's home in Miami Shores to Boca Raton mostly along A1A. Talk about a lovely route. The weather promised to be perfect. Could we tag along? He said we could.

It would be the first century for Maria Boza, Brian Coomes, Ruben Fuentes, Carmen Hiers, Anthony Nicholas Ingham, Maite Oca, Nelson Moreno, Alex Pruna, Alexander Restrepo, and Boyd Taylor. Other riders were along as moral support for our EBC friends.

We arrived at Ruben's place before dawn, parked our cars, organized bikes, and got ourselves sorted. Jerry Boyarsky, another EBC member, had generously offered to SAG for the ride. He had coolers in his car for our food and drinks, and there was space for our spare gear as well. There were three pre-arranged rest stops, and Jerry would meet us at the stops.

Lots of pictures were taken in the pre-dawn light. Then it was pedals up, and we were off down the road. We quickly formed a nice double paceline, and wheeled smartly down the road, lights blinking cheerfully as we rolled along. The first miles went by swiftly. Soon the sky brightened, and the sun crept up over the horizon's edge.

Pedal, pedal, pedal. Soon we were at our first rest stop at the 17th Street causeway in Fort Lauderdale. We descended on Jerry's SAG car for refreshments. Then it was back on the road. The day got warmer, but spirits were high. We chatted as we rode. The pace was good, 16-17 miles per hour, a pace we could all manage for the full 100 miles.

Being a long ride, the unexpected happened. There were a couple of flats which were rapidly fixed. There were a few wrong turns that were quickly sorted out. Jerry Boyarsky's SAG was invaluable. He saved the day with a mechanical or two, and he was there, too, when a rider needed a bit of help. (And extra special credit goes to Anthony Nicholas Ingham's century since he did the century with a broken pedal clip! Now that, boys and girls, is true grit.)

The second rest stop was Palmetto Park. We got to see it twice since it was five miles short of our turn-around point. We made the first stop, enjoyed the shade of the covered overlook by the beach, then pedaled on the five miles, turned back, and enjoyed the shade again. We were past the half-way mark. The heat of the day and the miles had wilted some of our early enthusiasm, but there was still a lot of smiling and chatting happening. We were heading home.

We had a good number of draw bridges to cross over the 100 mile route, and it became a joke because it seemed every one of them was up when we approached. Of course, that meant we got a brief break to drink some fluids, check our phones, and take some pictures.

Our last rest stop was back at the 17th Street causeway in Fort Lauderdale. We popped into the nearby Publix. Air conditioning! Goodies were purchased and consumed. We were 3/4 of the way done. The end was in sight. We stretched our legs and savored popsicles and munchies. Too soon it was pedals up, and again we wheeled down the road.

The last miles of any long ride are always the most difficult. The little discomforts that were so easy to ignore earlier in the ride seem harder to put aside. Your eyes seem always to be straying to the trip odometer. Your speed hasn't changed, but the miles seem to take longer to roll by.

And then something awesome happens. The odometer reads just a couple of miles to go. Your mood gets lighter. Almost there...97...98...99...99.5...And then the number rolls up. 100. We're there. 100 miles. We've done a century!

It was time to celebrate.

Riding a hundred miles in one day is a landmark. Ruben posted on Facebook that it is like your first kiss, something you never forget. It's that and more.

The reinvention of daily life means marching off the edge of our maps. (Bob Black)

There is nothing more time-consuming than mapping out new in-city bike routes. It starts with maps and planning. But it all comes down to trial and error.

We wanted to ride from our home in Brickell to Redland, the agricultural section of the county. And we wanted to minimize our time on the M-Path. We also wanted a route to Blackpoint Marina and Homestead Bayfront Park. But we wanted a route that didn't repeat all of the Everglades Bicycle Club route that we rode every Saturday.

We knew we might not make our mileage targets some days. And we knew it was inevitable that we'd have some long, long days.

We were doing it old school. No Garmin or other GPS device on the bikes. Since Miami-Dade uses a grid layout for streets, it's really not that crazy. Streets are east-west. Avenues are north-south. Easy peasy.

The worst day was the one that we waved goodbye to our building's lobby staff at 7 in the morning and returned in the late afternoon. Lots of back-tracking and turnarounds, but we ended up with a sweet route to Robert Is Here. We almost found ourselves in the same situation getting down to Blackpoint Marina. It was a windy day, and it was a tailwind for the ride down to Blackpoint. We talked the situation over as we munched bananas and watched a lazy dock pelican. We needed to go to Bayfront for the miles, but we were going to be riding into a stiff headwind all the way home. We voted to sacrifice the miles.

Eat your heart out, Marco Polo.

2014 Tour de Redland

It was the second annual Tour de Redland. It was an outreach ride organized by Everglades Bicycle Club, this year extending an invitation to the Bike 305 folks. We'd done the first TdeR last year, and we'd put it on our rides-to-do-each-year list. We sipped our coffee and ate breakfast out on the balcony before dawn, chatting about our plans for the ride. There were two routes, one just short of a half century and the second 30 miles long. We would do the longer, then head out on our own to finish our miles for the day. Soon it was time to put the bikes on the car and head south to the ride's start.

We arrived a bit early. It gave us a chance to sign in and to socialize some with people we knew. There was a woman we last rode with on a ride in Everglades National Park, a bunch of people we ride with on the Saturday EBC rides, and some people we see on our rides on the Rickenbacker-Key Biscayne-Virginia Key route. A great turn-out, easily 150 riders. Greg Neville (Everglades Bicycle Club president) and Juan Alban (EBC vice president) welcomed the riders and made some short announcements. Then the start flag was waved by this year's honorary starter. We were off.

Soon a nice double paceline developed. Al and I were positioned toward the front. We were expecting a easy Sunday pace, but the group was obviously feeling more enthusiastic. We were soon cruising along at a pleasant 20-21 mph. The morning haze was soon the beginnings of a nice sunny day. The wind was light. Pedal, pedal, pedal.

As we moved into the heart of agricultural Redland our group's leaders notched up the speed. Soon the group was rolling along at 22-24 mph. Gaps formed, and I watched my speedometer climb up to 26-27 when we worked to catch back up. Fields of green beans and squash blew by as a pleasant blur. At around halfway through the route, the group negotiated a turn to the left. I saw a rider hit a bump and slide out. Everyone slowed, a couple riders stopped to check on the rider, who appeared understandably shaken but otherwise OK and ready to rejoin the line of riders. The next few miles were slower, back to that pleasant 20-21 mph. Pedal, pedal, pedal. Then the speed ramped up again. Robert is Here, our mid-ride break, was just ahead. The group surged enthusiastically down the road.

Suddenly I had that peculiar experience of having my power cord disconnected abruptly. In the fun of the fast ride I had forgotten the basics. I hadn't taken in enough fluids or food. The riders in front of me were accelerating, and there was no way I could match even their modest acceleration. I watched my speedometer as I pedaled, finding a speed I could maintain. Al saw my problem and got in front of me so I could grab on to his wheel for the last couple miles to Robert Is Here.

When we got to the break, I quickly devoured a banana and jelly beans and slurped down a half bottle of fluid. Happiness. Soon I was feeling a whole lot better. We wandered about talking to other riders during the break. Word had passed around that there would be two speed groups for the ride home: a fast group and a less fast group. Sweet!! Fast was fabulous, but I was ready for a little social riding! We headed back, happy to chat and take in the scenery.

Soon we were back at Larry and Penny Thompson Park, the ride's end. We stopped and ate a granola bar then headed to the area where riders' cars were parked. We spotted our friend Jon, a randonneur. We needed to add miles for the day so our plan was to ride back to Robert Is Here for a couple of shakes. Would he join us? He would.

So we pedaled back, following part of the day's route and meandering some as well, arriving soon at the roadside market for our milkshakes. (Yum.) Then Jon headed off toward Florida City and his route home while we headed back to our car at Larry and Penny Thompson Park.

When we arrived at the park, our car sat alone in the parking lot. We popped the bikes into the bike rack and headed home, happy and ready for a nap.

How dreadful...to be caught up in a game and have no idea of the rules. (Caroline Stevermer)

Rules and routine make relationships roll smoothly over life's bumpy road. They don't make the bumps go away, but they do let you handle them without too many crashes.

Cycling with a spouse has it's challenges. At the end of the ride, your spouse doesn't go off to a separate home. Routines get you out riding and the bikes maintained and the chores done. Rules keep you from resorting to small arms fire to settle disagreements and misunderstandings. The weaker rider will always have to work harder. The stronger rider will always have to hold back.

We've got four rules that work for us.
    Rule 1. No whining.
    Rule 2. No quitting.
    Rule 3. Al is always right. (Wink wink, nudge nudge...)
    Rule 4. Marsha always gets what she wants. (Wink wink, nudge nudge...)

We decided that our old routine of riding 5 days and taking 2 days off the bikes needed a change. It wasn't giving us enough time for the rest of our life. Which made us feel stressed. And when you are stressed, you aren't getting the quality sleep that you need. We decided to make a change. Ride 4 days a week with 3 days off the bikes but keep the same miles for the week. Which means we'll ride about 15 miles more each day.

So now we have a new routine.

And the rules? Oh, they stay the same. They always stay the same. They work just fine.

And it's always important to know the rules.

(Photo by Tom Burton)

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.

24 Hours Bike Sebring with Jon Eggert Gudmundsson

Jon Eggert Gudmundsson is an Everglades Bicycle Club member, and we met him on the weekend club rides. Jon is a randonneur. We've met several EBC riders who are randonneurs, but Jon is the guy we know best. Jon is from Iceland and spends his summers there, but he lives in Miami. Right now he is preparing for some longer randonneuring events. "My longest ride so far was 19 1/2 hours," Jon said. "The 24 Hour Bike Sebring ride will help me get ready for the longer brevets."

Randonneuring events are called brevets. Brevets are distances that must be ridden within a certain cut-off time. For instance, the 200 km (124 mile) brevet must be completed within 13.5 hours. The 300 km (186 miles) brevet must be completed within 20 hours. The 400 km (249 mile) brevet has a cut-off of 27 hours. The 600 km (373 miles) brevet's cut-off is 40 hours. And the 1000 km (621 mile) brevet must be done in 75 hours.

Do you wonder why we call him our crazy viking? (I didn't think so.)

We drove up to Sebring from Miami on Friday with Jon. We had the easy job of SAG (support and gear) which in this case was hauling his two bikes and his food and drink containers. We arrived in Sebring in the late afternoon, checked into a hotel, and went to event site, the Sebring International Raceway, for check in. While Jon checked in, we chatted with some of the event staff, guys from the Highlands Pedalers Bicycle Club. Then it was off to dinner and bed.

The next morning, we headed back to the race track. Dawn was an hour away. The full moon glowed in the western sky. It was a brisk 50 degrees. Jon was wearing his Everglades Bicycle Club retro jersey, over which he layered a jacket. On his back he had a small backpack filled with the necessities for the ride. He put on his helmet, checked the gear on his bike, and headed off. The start was at 6:30 am, about a half hour away. Riders were gathering.

Several types of riders would be doing Bike Sebring. Some were with RAAM (Race Across America). Bike Sebring is a qualifying event for RAAM. Then there are riders that are just doing a 12 hour event. And there are ones doing a 24 hour event. All ride the same course. First, 3 laps of the Sebring International Raceway track. Then out on the roads on a long loop that would take them north as far as Frostproof before returning to Sebring. Then continuous laps of a shorter loop in the Sebring area until the end of the day. At 6:30 pm Saturday the 12 hour event people were done. But the 24 hour people continued riding, only the ride now moved back to the Sebring International Raceway track for continuous loops during the night until the end of the event at 6:30 am on Sunday.

Seven hours into the ride he posted that he had finished 100 miles. That was right on target for the speed he'd been aiming for. We met him near the end of the first 12 hours to bring his night food and drink supplies to his pit area on the track. He was looking pretty good. He said the wind had been a bit of an issue. We talked. He drank a coffee drink. And then he was off again. By this point the riders were shifting to the track of the raceway for the last 12 hours. Around and around the twists and turns of the 3.74 mile track. In the dark.

While Jon pedaled, we chatted with people crewing for other riders, and occasionally had a few words with riders as they stopped briefly with their support folks. We were interested in finding out more about what made these people tick. The variety of their answers was fascinating. On one trip to our hotel, we met two riders we had met heading to their car. They'd been forced to abandon the ride due to mechanical problems. "Next year," they promised, "Next year we'll back and have better luck!" After dark, from the cozy comfort of our hotel room we watched the bike lights circling the track. A constant line of twinkling white headlights came down the track, made the turn in front of our room's window, then continued down the track, a line of twinkling red tail lights. We woke several times through the night, watched the twinkling lights, then went back to sleep.

We were up early on Sunday. The ride ended at 6:30 am. We were planning on being in the pit area where each rider's supplies was kept by 6:00. When we arrived, many of the riders were already in and gathering their things. We went to Jon's area and looked about. We decided to move his things to the car then wait for Jon to appear. Not long after, Jon appeared, carrying a cup of coffee in one hand and a pedal in the other, walking slowly with a slight limp! One of the event guys that we knew from the Highlands Pedalers Bicycle Club was following Jon, shepherding Jon and us into the adjoining building where the awards ceremony was due to start in a while. Jon had some impressive bruising and road rash, but no serious injuries.

Jon explained what had happened. Just 15 minutes before the end of the race, his crank broke! He went down. "So fast I don't even remember going down!" he shook his head smiling. The event guys brought an ice pack and a big cup of soup. Jon settled in, leg up and iced. "My cell phone is out there somewhere, too!" he noted. "I hope someone finds it before it is run over by the race cars." He was right. Race cars started back on the track right after the cyclists were all off the track. It didn't look good for his cell phone.

All was made right in a few minutes when the awards ceremony started. "A cell phone was found on the track! Does it belong to someone here?" asked the master of ceremonies. Jon raised his hand, and the cell phone was returned to him. (And it was still in working order, too.) The awards were given out by event type and age. When Jon's event category came up, we heard "Third place, 234 miles, Jon Gudmundsson!" Then the MC briefly told everyone about Jon's crank breaking right in the last minutes of the 24 hours. There was a nice round of applause as he went up and got his award.

The medal and the pedal.

On the ride home to Miami, Jon was still awake and pumped up from the ride. We talked about the rides he has planned for the rest of the year, about places he's lived, and about Iceland. Jon has done a number of "firsts" in Iceland. Now he was adding first cyclist from Iceland to complete a 24-hour cycling event. I teased him about having this list of firsts and shamelessly questioned him about why they were important to him. He tried several times to answer. Then he rubbed his face with his hand as he thought about how he could express his ideas so I would understand. "I want kids to see what I do and think 'Hey, I can do that, too.' I want them to know there are many things to try and many things they can accomplish if they want to."

That I could understand. And admire.

It ain't what they call you; it's what you answer to. (W.C. Fields)

Our favorite ride is from our home on the mainland out to the lighthouse in Cape Florida State Park on the tip of Key Biscayne. It's a route that includes a large bridge, miles of pedaling along Biscayne Bay, views of the Port of Miami with the cruise and cargo ships, the Miami Seaquarium, the Mast Academy, Virginia Key, coffee spots on Key Biscayne, and finally the quiet of the state park and the boardwalks to the beaches. We do loops of this route several times a week. It just never gets old.

Since we often do nine or more loops of this route each week, we cross Bear Cut Bridge a lot. They are doing construction work on Bear Cut Bridge. The old bicycle lanes have been a temporary casualty of this activity. Four lanes remain for traffic, two each way. There is no space outside these four lanes on the bridge. The right lane in each direction is a sharrow, a lane with markings reminding traffic that the lane is shared by both bicycles and cars. It generally works just fine.

Generally.

We were riding at a brisk pace over Bear Cut Bridge this past week when a woman in a black high-end SUV got behind us and began tooting her little SUV horn. Glancing in my rear-view mirror, I saw a very attractive young woman at the wheel, gesturing for us to move to the far right so she could pass us in the sharrow. In her large SUV. (Wasn't going to happen.)

We used our standard approach, learned through many years of sharing rural roads with cracker yahoos in pick up trucks and semi-senile grumpy geezers. We ignored her and kept riding. Her next move was to cut off a car in the left lane, pull abreast of us, slowing to our biking pace and continuing her rant. This was not appreciated by the line of cars behind her. We continued to ignore her and kept riding.

Then she powered down her side window, yelling her opinion of cyclists, and edged into our lane a foot. That was when we reacted. We simultaneously gestured our feelings and loudly told her to get moving. Her face contorted in anger and surprise, but she powered up her window and drove away.

I glanced at the cars behind her as they went by. To my surprise, the drivers were smiling and several gave us the thumbs up sign. By this time we were off the bridge and back in the bike lane.

Overall, we've been impressed with Miami drivers. Yeah, there are problem drivers. But these are pretty much found anywhere. Because thousands of cars and hundreds of cyclists share the single thoroughfare that is the bridges and causeway to and from Key Biscayne, it is sometimes hard to keep things in perspective. This week we encountered one crazy woman in a high-end SUV. But there were also all the drivers who gave us a smile and a friendly thumbs up as they drove by us afterwards.

I can live with that.