Weekend Rides with photo gallery! (click to see)

New Lumix FH20 & Pelican Case

So a new treat for my massive blog reading audience is that I bought a new camera (Lumix FH20)! It is much more compact than my Canon, but still has nice Macro features & 8x optical zoom. I bought a small Pelican case, so I can carry it in my Camel Back, without worries of rain or other damage! So now I can share more of my outdoor biking adventures!

I started Saturday’s road bike ride with a fairly early start (for me) around 8:30 am. After several broken spokes, I recently bought new wheels for my road bike! My plan was for a 76 mile ride, that included going to Hawthorne twice & taking the loop down by Cross Creek and Micanopy. I started off strong, made it to Hawthorne, turned south to Cross Creek, then right to Micanopy.

I decided to take some pictures of the River Styx crossing & was delighted to see 2 airboats starting up right as I went to the bridge. Quite a disturbance to serenity (I took a movie of there departure that I may post later). When I got back to my bike, I found the front tire was flat. This is kind of middle of nowhere. It is 3-4 miles to Micanopy & 19 miles from home. Perhaps no cell phone reception. But I thought, no problem, just patch or replace with a new tube I carry. However, when I got the old tube out & went to pump it up to see if I could find the leak, my pump was not working properly, air seemed to leak out the handle. I mean it started pumping, but then hissed out the handle. So now, I am messing with the pump, wondering if I can walk my bike to Micanopy before the storms set in, thinking who can come rescue me if I do get cell phone reception. However, in messing with the pump, I find it may work, so I go ahead and install my new tube (after feeling inside tire for thorns, glass, etc.). Luckily I am able to get 40-50 lbs. of pressure then head off.

I next decided to go up 441 in case I got another flat as this is slightly quicker & more likely to have cell reception or someone who I can thumb a ride from. It was nice & I stopped to take some photos of Paynes Prairie & a lovely road kill moccasin (I saw 4 during this ride). So I went through a little shower, then made it home after only 49 miles. I went up to 8th Ave Bike Shop & picked up a couple more tubes (also got a nice complementary Peppermint Green Tea!). So you’d think I’d be satisfied, it is getting towards 2pm & I have a party at Bub & Robin’s in Ocala to go to, but my biking obsession takes over & I do another home to Hawthorne ride bringing my total up to 83 miles for the day! That puts me at over 210 miles this week, with only 4 days riding so far!

On Sunday, I got a late afternoon start (4:30 pm after waiting out a few storms) to my mountain bike ride at San Felasco. Did a fairly short 22 mile ride including most the standard hills. Quite humid & sweaty, but not extreme heat due to sporadic clouds. The highlight however was a major chanterelles find (see photos).

So you may not be reading all this anyway, so here are the photos: