Buy the ticket, take the ride. (Hunter S. Thompson)

Goals: We never set any. Bucket lists: We never have any. We just do the stuff we like doing. Things are either (1) scheduled on our calendar or (2) ignored and forgotten.

Which is problematic at the end of the year when an Annual Report is traditional and friends ask, "What have you been doing?"

OK. Here's a summary of 2015.

So we're settled into our new home and life in Miami. After many years of rural living, we are thoroughly enjoying all the things there are to do in Miami. We are still avid film buffs, and we watched hundreds of films during the year. We've read a lot of Scandinavian mysteries and crime fiction. We traveled, mostly to small towns and backroad areas of Florida and the Southeast. And we rode our bicycles a lot.

Over the past two years, we've found our cycling sweet spot. Long bike rides four mornings a week, riding around 250 miles a week. We vary the rides. Some fast. Some slow. Some with groups. Some by ourselves. We like doing metric centuries (100 kilometers = 62 miles).

We take our bikes wherever we go. And we do our metric centuries wherever we go. All the biking keeps us feeling great and sleeping like babies. Time zips along. We're rarely bored.

I rode over 10,000 bicycle miles in 2015. Al rode over a 1000 miles more than me, since I was sidelined for a month and a half with a broken collarbone. One good thing about riding like this: We don't have to train for anything. We're always ready to ride any event, or place, that interests us. (Despite the fact that I love long bike rides, I loathe training.)

Not everyone can ride this much, even if they want to. But we're retired. We get to do the stuff we enjoy, unencumbered by obligations to family, a job, or a business. For us, cycling keeps life interesting. In fact, many of our friends in Miami are people we met through cycling.

Buy the ticket. Take the ride. See what happens.

Happy Holidays To You

Have a very Happy Holiday season.
May they bring you many reasons to smile!

Follow The Leader

Al and I wanted to do some volunteer work this year. So we looked around. Everglades Bicycle Club posted that they needed volunteer ride leaders. Apparently they were pretty desperate: They accepted us into their program.

Two Saturdays a month Al and I are ride leaders for the 16-18 ride group. I must admit, I love riding with them. The group has a solid core of regulars. These guys don't just turn up. They own their group. They know what they want from their Saturday ride. They know what they want from their ride leaders. They expect group members to ride considerately and safely. And they aren't shy about voicing their opinions.

And they're fun.

These guys want a safe, smooth, no drama ride. They expect the ride leader(s) to make easy starts, keep a smooth steady pace at the designated speed, keep the group together, and navigate the route safely. After a ride or two with them, we made some suggestions. Ride in pairs. No wheel overlap with the pair of riders in front of you. Close gaps. Echo the sweep's "all in" call forward so the leaders know when they can return to speed after turns and lights. It's a work in progress for them and us. We're working on how to do our part better.

For my non-bikey family and friends and for my bikey friends who don't do paceline group rides, let me ramble for a moment about what you do as ride leaders. You see, it turns out being a decent ride leader is more than just being strong or fit. It is a skill set you have to work on.

There are usually two ride leaders with a group.

One ride leader is up front. That leader has to know the route and navigate everyone smoothly along the route. It is a lot like driving a big RV with a car in tow. You have to remember how long that rig is when you go through an intersection. You really can't stop it on a dime either. Pacelines work only when the whole group is disciplined and consistent. Any sudden changes in speed or direction are an invitation for an accident. When you are at the front you have to rely on your group communicating with you. It isn't just the ride leader that makes the group move along smoothly. The group needs to communicate with their ride leaders. Now it is group ride etiquette to call out road hazards. ("Hole!" "Car right!" etc.)  They also need to call out when someone has mechanical problems or if there is a split in the group.

The other ride leader is at the very back of the paceline and is called the sweeper. The sweeper passes information forward, which is echoed by the riders up to the front. ("All in!" "Mechanical!" "Car passing!" "Slow down!" etc.) The sweep also assists any riders that encounter problems like becoming fatigued or beginning to separate from the group. The sweep assesses traffic, watching behind and signaling and negotiating with drivers as needed. 

As I said, it's a work in progress. But each ride goes a little smoother than the last.

Our Saturday EBC rides have definitely gotten more fun and more interesting.

2015 Escape to the Keys: We Did It Our Way

Friday was the first day of the 2015 Escape to the Keys ride. There was a ginormous rain system over South Florida. It was raining torrentially. Flood alerts had been issued. About 250 cyclists were set to ride from Homestead to Hawks Cay Resort in the Middle Keys, day one of a two day ride to Key West.

The weather gods were being cruel.

Al and I planned to ride unless an ark was moored next to the luggage truck at the ride's start in Homestead. But weather radar made us reconsider this rash approach to an 80 mile pedal. We packed the bikes on the car, threw our duffel into the backseat, and drove to Hawks Cay. We'd do a bike ride from Hawks Cay Resort if the weather permitted. (It didn't.)

Instead of riding our bikes, we did stuff we could do without getting too wet. We checked out the resort. We watched the resort's dolphins. We had a lunch at the buffet set up for Escape to Key West riders. (There were libations. There was music.) We met some new people. We chatted with some people we knew from Miami. We watched some riders arrive at the resort on bicycles. (They were tired and soaked but looking pretty happy with themselves.) Finally, we left the resort and headed into Marathon. A little shopping. Some munching. Then back to the resort for an early evening coffee. It was around that time that we simultaneously realized something: the spirit to ride to Key West had deserted us.

The Keys are a special, magical place for us, and riding our bikes in the Keys is usually wonderful. But the mood had left us, and we needed to make a decision. Ride for the sake of riding. Or do something else.

We talked it over. In an hour we had a plan. When we go to Key West we are normally riding our bikes. That means we don't have much of a chance to do real tourist stuff like walking Duval Street, browsing in stores, or hanging out in cafes. Why not do that? After all, we had pleasant lodging paid for and waiting for us in Key West.

Saturday actually turned out to be a nice day for cycling. The Escape to the Keys riders headed to Key West on their bicycles. We, on the other hand, packed our bikes on our car and drove past them and on into Key West. Once in Key West, we walked the town. We were sipping espresso at a bakery/cafe on Duval when the Escape to the Keys riders pedaled past on their way to the end of ride party. Later we waved to a group of riders (the West Side Sunset Bandits) who were pedaling towards the Southernmost Point as we were perusing souvenirs. We even bumped into Ruben Fuentes and Greg Neville on our walk back to our motel.

We'd spent the whole morning and part of the afternoon being a couple of regular tourists. It was brilliant.

A Sunday Ride To Cauley Square

Before we make plans for where we will ride on Sunday morning, we always check the Everglades Bicycle Club and the Everglades Bicycle Club Rides Facebook pages. The Sunday morning rides posted there aren't EBC sponsored rides; they are rides put together by EBC members and open to anyone who can ride the posted speed and distance in a paceline.

Recently we saw a post by Ruben Fuentes about a ride to Cauley Square. We did some checking and voted to go.

We were pedaling down the Underline (AKA the M-Path) on our way to the ride's start at Ponce Middle School, a short pedal south of
where we live. A classy vintage Mustang with the top down carrying a bike drove past, the driver waving to us as he went by. It was Ruben on his way to Ponce.

When we rolled up to Ponce a few minutes later, a fair size group was gathering. We wandered up and back through the group, chatting and greeting friends. In no time at all we were lined up and ready to go.

Ruben clipped in, followed by the click, click, clicks of the rest of the group, and we headed down the road.

Ruben has been working on the route to Cauley Square. This week he promised a route that would include both roads and (surprise!) bike paths. The first part of the ride was a combination of routes used by several groups over the years. Traffic was light. The weather was pitch perfect for cycling. The route took us down some roads lined with lush foliage and sheltered by a canopy of large, mature trees.

The group rode well together. The riders up front maintained a steady brisk pace. Pedal, pedal, pedal. Soon we were at our first quick stop at Larry and Penny Thompson Park. Then it was pedal, pedal, pedal, and on to one of Miami's lovely bike trails. I was surprised that we could maintain a brisk speed on the trail. The trail was wide, and there were very few people using the trail Sunday morning. There were ducks and a large group of ducklings(!), and the water of the creek by the trail was a shiny mirror reflecting the sky and clouds.

Back on roads, we wound our way through Redland to Cauley Square. As a relative newcomer to Miami, discovering Cauley Square was fun. It is a quaint collection of old wooden buildings that date back to the beginning of the last century when there was a stop and siding for the Florida East Coast Railroad there. The buildings that now form Cauley Square Historic Village have survived a tornado in 1919 and a hurricane in 1926. They now house restaurants, artisan shops, and some other interesting shops to wander into. We were headed for the Latin Corner, a small walk-up coffee and snack spot with garden-style tables and seating. There we mingled and sipped our coffee and munched our  snacks.

Before heading back, we needed to get a group photo. So we all gathered in front of the Latin Corner building for the photo. Then it was back on the road for the ride back to Ponce.

A picture perfect Sunday pedal. Many thanks to Ruben Fuentes and everyone who kept us moving along so well. Great ride!

The man who forgets to be thankful has fallen asleep in life. (Robert Louis Stevenson)

Pedaling through Miami's lush and lovely residential neighborhoods puts us in a holiday mood. Mature trees provide canopy overhead. Homes, large and small, are nestled behind hedges, walls, and dense tropical foliage, giving them both beauty and privacy in a crowded urban locale. Holiday decorations add sparkle and personality.

And then there are the peacocks. Peacocks are non-native birds that have made themselves at home in Miami. We keep count of the number we see on rides. We saw 43 on just one ride this week.

They are big birds. They roost in trees, on walls, and on roofs. Usually they walk sedately. Occasionally one will fly across a road. They tend to fly low, and we have on occasion had a peacock come close to hitting us. Peacocks are among the most beautiful birds you can find, but beauty has its price. Peacocks are noisy, and some people complain about the mess they make. Luckily, the Code of Miami-Dade County (and therefore also the City of Miami) specifically protects peacocks.

And for that we are thankful.

Bonus Day In Central Florida: The Search For A Good Cup of Coffee

Miami spoils coffee lovers. Every corner cafe, every bakery, even the tiniest of coffee shops has great coffee. Strong, rich, delicious. Traveling in other areas of Florida, finding coffee like this can be challenging.

After two days in Central Florida, we were in the grips of Good Coffee Deprivation Syndrome. Every cup of coffee we tried since arriving in Clermont had been less than adequate. Today we headed out on a recovery ride with one target in mind: a good cup of coffee! So we rolled the bikes through the motel lobby, out the front doors, and pedaled off. We took the Horrible Hundred route up the North Ridge climb and picked up the South Lake Trail. The trail system is perfect for a recovery ride. We took the South Lake Trail to the West Orange Trail and pedaled through Winter Garden. It was too early to stop for coffee at this point so we continued on the trail system until we had ridden half the day's planned miles. Then we turned around and pedaled back to Winter Garden and a coffee shop that had been recommended to us. Yes! A good cup of coffee at last! Refreshed, we pedaled back to the motel.

Miles: 51.

South Lake Trail near Clermont

South Lake Trail

West Orange Trail

Bridge on the West Orange Trail