Florida - still good times!
Highlights - Still on the beach living the good life.
Went to South Beach - For the guys: everything you think of when you think of South Beach is true
- yes, girls are laying out topless- yes, girls are walking around in thongs and dental floss bottoms - yes, my wife looks hot.
So the question - did my wife lay out topless at South Beach - well, you needed to be here to find out! (this needs to stop becoming a theme)
Onto riding:
Although I am getting fate by consuming too much food and beer, I am still riding fine - maybe a little slower, hard to say.
I have had a blast even riding with Bella and Judy.
It is kind of neat fitting in with the groups down in Florida. In a short time, I know people and have been invited out for post ride beers and coffee (depending on the ride).
It is also funny to match people's personalities with people at home. One guy reminds me so much of Andy Berger, it's like a doppleganger. I have met a Bill, Devin, Ryan, Stephanie (there are very strong women riders down here), kevin - I think I have even met me!
The three rides I have done are:
Tuesday/Thursday Naples Cycles ride during the evening (Naples Cycles is like the Big Shark of the Naples area - huge and pricey bike store) - reminds me of a Wed. night Hub ride.
I have backed off from the A group for two reasons - One, I don't really want to push myself in the red zone down here and Two, the ride way to aggressive - not following any rules of the road. The think it is a race on the road with traffic by blowing through stop lights, etc. - it is kindof like Russian Roulette on this ride - I'll pass. The A- group has been fun. It is still aggressive, but I have never thought it was too tough and I am easily able to finish the ride. Although many people suffer on the A- ride, the people start and finish on a much more friendly grounds, which has been nice. The pace is between 22 to 25 mph - averaging on the lower side.
The Saturday ride is called Kitchner's Ride.
Kitchner is a former Marine drill sergeant and runs the ride like it - barking out the pace and turns from the back - he is the anchor of the ride. His idea is this is to be a weekend warrior training ride. The group keeps together but breaks in half around him. In front of him are the people who take turns pulling and rotate and behind him are people who hang on for dear life - kind of funny. The ride is about the same pace, but is VERY directed by Kitchner - he will yell, "the pace is 24 - not 25, not 20 fucking 6, 24!" It is really funny to hear. Next week I will get a picture of him.
All these rides are huge - much bigger than St. Louis. The Tues/Thurs ride starts out with three groups and has easily 75 plus people. With people joining the ride, the three groups could total 100. The Saturday ride easily has 40 plus people.
I swear I am sitting mid-pack in this photo.
The last thing - and the best - every ride I have been on has had yelling matches - it is a trip. Because the pace lines are long the terrain so flat and people want to keep the groups together - you really do fall into a time trail mode - when someone upsets the process, people get pissed. Last Saturday, two guys were going at it over something and last Tues, the same thing, and then Thursday, one guy got so pissed, he started yelling and turned off. It is quite fucked up. On the last Saturday ride, one guy yelled at me for pulling too fast in the front - nuts.
Well - peace out and I'll see everybody in St. Louis next week - NOT!
he's the one in the Marine Corps jersey (go figure). He was a really nice guy. My finale in Naples was Sat. morning coffee a 5th Street Coffee House.
