I have been investigating/planning a ride from my home in Winter Haven to My
daughter's place in Orlando for some time.
The problem is the route. Obviously, I can't ride on I-4. all the
alternatives are "a long way around the barn" or high traffic two laners
without a shoulder.
The first backroads route turned out to have miles of sand roads (dry
Florida Sugar sand roads are unrideable on any bike) Scratch that one.
I found a new route on the map. Today I scouted it by driving to the edge ot
the "unknown", parking and riding part of the route.
The route turned out to cover the same route that the Florida Ironman
Triathon was on. In short order, I was in the midst of the race. Yooowzer!!!
It's a 100+ mile bike leg, so They weren't sprinting and seemed to have big
variations in individual paces. I found a slower guy I could follow and
enjoy the ride. (read "stay aerobic"😉 It was interesting seeing the top
level hardware in person.
Observations
1. The disk/ composite rear wheels are really noisy. Those who pedaled less
smoothly made a noise with each power surge. The steady spinners just made a
constant rumble. You'd better love going fast, because serene it's not.
2. There were no "Huffy's" in the product mix. All top end stuff with the
add ons of really good wheels on many of them.
3. I got no static re. my partially finished Homebuilt recumbent from the
racers. (even though it's still unpainted)
4. I brought disgrace upon the bent community by falling over after throwing
the chain off the illadjusted front derailleur during the only hill of any
slope. Even then, no one razzed me. Maybe this roadie- antibent thing is
restricted to the wannabes on the bike trails. ???
Anyway, I now have a route to Orlando and have test ridden most of it. Now
it's time for my main event.
Miles of Smiles
Tom