A Bike Ride to Beat the Rain!

With dark clouds threatening our eager group headed to the West Orange Trail for this weeks bike ride. Over thirty riders departed from the center of Winter Garden.... except for Jack! While our riders lined up to begin their ride, I noticed Jack was walking his bike toward (I suspected) to the www.wgwheelworks.com bicycle shop in the center of town. I figured jack needed some sort of repair and that it might be just a quick repair so Jack will most likely catch up with us on the trail.
At our first stop, I called Jack and found out that his bike "transmission" finally gave out and he'll catch up with us.

As we approached our first rest stop some of our riders were stopped and looking up into the trees.

This is what they saw a majestic Bald Eagle attending to a nest.

 Here's a better look (cropped) at our Nation's symbol.

 From a different position

 It's always a special moment when we catch a glimpse of Florida wildlife in their natural settings.

 

 Judy (Larry and Judy) was in fine spirits at the rest stop!

 

And Larry, well........ he's always in FINE SPIRITS!

Editor's note: We're not sure if Larry is really overjoyed or wincing in pain from taking a hit on his right forearm and upper arm when a pair of vice grips slipped while winding an awning spring a couple of days ago!



 

Kathy gets the "Most Enthusiastic" rider award!



 

 

Jack said the shop took good care of his bike and sent him on his way. Jack is in excellent condition. He works out in the mornings and rides his bike almost everyday. He caught up to us at the Killarny Station and wasn't even breathing hard! Jack had some good comments about the Winter Garden Wheel Works shop. The technician replaced his rear wheel center hub gears and bicycle chain in about 20 minutes at a reasonable price.

 

 Nice! Shiny new gears, internal parts and chain! Jack enjoys getting the most out of his equipment! He says, "as long as the frame is in good condition and minor parts can be repaired/replaced, the bike will last for years."  

 

 

 

Hey UP and Jim, let's have some excitement and fun for a pose! Err, lets try that again.....

 

Ahh,.... that's better!

 

Alright, how about this group. Hey folks lets pose for a photo....

That'l do!



The next three photos may not seem unique but if you look closely you'll notice a rare event taking place.

 

 You'll notice Bill crossing the bicycle bridge that crosses the Florida Turnpike. Well, Angela is at the other end. (You can see Angela approaching the bridge in the above photo.)

 

What's so special is that Angela is following Bill across the bridge. This particular bridge has been Angela's nemesis for most of our West Orange rides.

 

Congratulations to Angela for "taking the next step!"

 

Back at the parking lot Jack has some 'splainin' to do to some of our riders about his bike repairs.

 

Nineteen of us gathered at the Winter Garden Pizza Company for lunch. Others headed for "parts unknown" to satisfy their taste for a different menu.

We won't list the names of those who took the "other fork in the road" for lunch. You can see who's here and judge the others accordingly!

You'll notice Larry is not present in either the above or below photo. (I think Larry was showing off his "battle scars" too often at the table and Judy gave him a kick under the table. He's bending down to rub his leg under the table!)

 

We were fortunate. The rain held off until we were at lunch.

 

In other news, time is flying by. John and Mary Kay are heading north to prepare for the growing season. They need to get planting in their greenhouses for the Spring. John and Mary Kay are sitting to Bill's right. (John's expression just about says it all about leaving.)

 

A Party, a bike ride, a visit, two football games, a carving, and a movie! Whew!

Once again "The Palm Tree Bikers" break out. Its time to break out the food and games and git down to business. We met at Jim and Judy's winter abode, set up the chairs, made the rounds and braved the chill! Did I say chill? I hope all our northern readers understand that I write this with "tongue in cheek!" Well, it is cold for us. As long as we were in the sun we were fine. Here's a photo report on our party. Check to see if you can pick out any faces you recognize and forgive them for their overflowing plates!

 

Jim said Grace. Jim is standing straight behind Judy in the center of the photo.

 

Jim did a great job fending off the members as long as he could.

 

 Larry (on the right) AKA the "Activity Director," set up the Bean Bag toss and Ladder Golf and rounded up the "usual suspects" to let the games begin!

Ahhh, poetry in motion.

 The ladies played with class and politeness. No arguing or anger was displayed.

However, Lynn (on the left in the photo below) nearly took out yours truly with a near miss right between my legs.

Thanks to still being somewhat "quick-on-my-feet," I dodged a golf ball in the .........!

Lesson learned!.....

Don't stand behind the "ladder!"

 

 

As the sun dropped closer to the horizon the trees silently eclipsed the sun and the temperature ebbed lower, we began to play musical chairs to catch the waning warmth.

 

While some just "toughed it out!"

 

 We are quite confident that "Big Buz, Pete and Jack solved many of the daily issues of retirees "snowbirding" in Florida.

 

In short order, we slowly (at first) headed for the warmth of everyone's nearby campers. Pat and I headed to Bill and Angela's camper to kick-back for a few minutes.

 

As for the bike ride. Our group was headed to the Van Fleet Trail this week. You may recall that's the trail that I like to refer to as "the trail you have to pedal both ways, all the way!" The trail is nearly perfectly flat. As you ride out (north) it appears you're going up a slight grade. You tell yourself you'll be able to take it easier on the return. Nope! You pedal just as much as you did on the way out.

The Van Fleet can sometimes impress you with Florida wildlife but the trail is shrouded by trees so there is little open area to observe eagles or other animals who might be in the area. I will say the trail is a nice change because, as it is so straight, you can burn up the trail getting an awesome workout, or simple amble along at your own pace not having to follow a leader.

So the "rebels" from New England, Bill, Angela and I headed to the "wilderness." Fort Wilderness that is.

If we're still "loved" by the group perhaps someone will send me a photo or two of their ride!

 

And, didn't we have two great football games to watch? At the two-minute mark of the Seahawks and Green Bay's game I was satisfied Green Bay had the game locked up.... so I took Lilly our for a walk.

You all know what happened, I returned about 10 minutes later and noticed they were still playing!!!

I caught sight of the 22 to 22 score and couldn't believe what I saw... and then the Seahawks scored and it was over. I normally don't follow that much football. In fact I only intended to watch the Patriots being that we're from New England. As we now all know that game had quite a turn of events to say the least. But they were fun to watch.

 

We were expecting some visitors this week and my schedule at work was very quiet so I asked for a few days off for a change. This Tuesday, our cousin Angela, her husband Bob and our Aunt Ruth and her friend Ann, visited with Pat and I and Angela and Bill for lunch and a pleasant afternoon of sharing some great memories. You'll notice I said, "our Aunt Ruth (on the right)..."

 

That's correct. Pat and I can both call Aunt Ruth our Aunt. You see my mother's sister (Ruth) married Pat's uncle Leo (Pat's Mom, Connie's brother). Yes, back in our childhood days families lived closer together. Pat and I shared many childhood family parties and for some of our early years yours truly didn't quite grasp the unique relationship Pat and I enjoyed.

Needless to say, Aunt Ruth is very special to us and we are truly thankful for Ruth's daughter and her husband for a wonderfully fun-filled afternoon.

 

 

 The time off also gave me the time to finish my latest carving.

"The Pocket Smith & Wesson 460 XVR."

Don't fret, I didn't know what it is either. My Coordinator, Brad,  will be retiring from Disney in a few months so I came up with a most (I think) unique retirement gift for a gun-lover. At first we talked about making a "life-sized" carving of this pistol but I let my imagination direct me toward a much different rendition of this very special firearm. This pistol fires what equals a rifle round. The actual pistol is 15" long and takes two hands to control this beast. My idea was to "cut-this-brute-down-to-size!"

I tried to stay close to the size ratio of 1/4" = 1".

Cool huh?

 

Fortunately, I'll be able to keep this a surprise from Brad, he typically doesn't read my Blogs.

(So don't tell him!)

If you care to get an idea of how big this thing really is click on this link: S&W 460XVR

 

"The guys" headed out to see "American Sniper" yesterday. Buzz, Darlene, Bill, Angela, Pat and I made an afternoon of it. We met at Flippers for lunch then the ladies headed out to check out some stores and "The guys" headed to the movie. All three of us are veterans. We were fortunate not to see action but we found it easy to understand what it means to care for your "brother in arms."

Yes, it was worth seeing.

A Bike Ride and Foot Loose

I knew I'd get to ride sooner or later. I may actually be getting back into the "groove!" We enjoyed the company of more than a few new riders. We made reservations for twenty-two at the Celebration Towne Tavern. Our group was much larger than that but a number of them didn't stay for lunch.
We chose to split up into two groups so Pete headed out with the fast group and Jim lead the sightseers through the eastern neighborhood of Celebration.

It was decided that both groups would head for our first pit-stop at the Celebration Hospital. That worked well for everyone but yours truly. I made the (normally) brief call to make reservations only to be put on hold for (what seemed to be) forever. There I sat on my bike as the last rider turned the corner at the end of the street. Reservations finally made, I figured I'd catch up to them in quick order.... right! Three weeks not riding sets one back more than a little. With more than the usual huffing and puffing I managed to catch up. But, by that time, Pete's group was well on their way so I missed out on catching their pictures on the trail. I heard later that a couple of our riders took spills but everyone is OK.

Using my new camera meant taking more pictures. So lets have some fun captioning some of the "paparazzi!"

Jim to Judy, "I bet I can ride my bike with my hands in my pockets longer than you."

 

 Pete says, "Joan and I left the cruise early for this?"

 

 John says, "I do NOT have my helmet on backwards.......now!"

 

Jim mumbles, mmmmm I always get stuck with the sightseers!"

 

Jim to Pete, "Come on, lets at least flip a coin for the groups!"

 

Judy (in the red and white jacket) says, "Saddle up, helmets on, we're movin' out, ride single file, follow all stop lights, you know the drill!"

Dave says, "Just keep moving." Now lets check all the smiling faces....

 Angela says, "Oh gosh, I don't want to be in the blog!"

 Marti blew past me on her "Muppet" bike with big white wall tires and a clothes pinned baseball card clacking over the spokes!

 

Bill says, "What the.........."

 Ed, I said wave, not block your face!

 Gee, what a happy group.

Of course they're happy... next stop is lunch.

 Notice? The quietest we've been all week.

 

 This one's for you Alice!

 Meanwhile over at the "kids table!"

 

Before I close, Judy and I were talking and she filled me in on the Lake Magic "Welcome Home" party last week. She remarked about how Jack is really opening up and enjoying himself with our group. Judy mentioned the music was playing and everyone was getting lively when Jack approached her and asked her to dance.

Well, Judy was speechless.

This is so unlike Jack.

Judy's a good sport and they both hit floor

.

.

.

.

.

.

Jack and Judy lit up the floor.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 Way to go Jack and Judy!

 

Now that's the way to end a story!