Busy week.... Good Week

This was a busy but good week filled with a variety of things.  We worked the first 3 days of the week -- taking time for a nice off road ride on Monday from 4:30 till 6.  Then on Thursday we had Thanksgiving at our house, and though the crowd was down we had a great time. We sometimes have 25+ but this year there were only 14 present.

As  is the custom we usually have some folks there we have never met before and this year was not different.  We had Mike and Becky from Michigan. Becky is the niece of a client of mine who recently had to relocate to Michigan and they were down to do some work in her house.  I figured no sense in having Thanksgiving alone in a strange town so they accepted the invite and had a great time.

We did have Aunt Teresa and Uncle Chuck along with my cousin Linda .  They drove up from St Pete on Thursday to join us. It is always nice to have them here....and on top of that they brought several bags of grapefruit and tangerines (Yummy)

We had good food, great deserts, a fun time with the puzzle, some games and a time of giving thanks. It was a nice relaxing day-- the notable regulars missing  --- My Dad who decided not to drive down, The Aikens -- who moved to the snowy north and Michael who went to South Carolina to visit his new wife's family      

On Saturday we packed up the Tandem and headed to the east coast for a meet up with 3 other couples for a tandem ride.  We met up with Rick and Deb,  Don & Carol and Greg and Joanie.  Rick and Deb were the tour leaders for the day and mapped out a nice 43 mile route that ended up actually being 58 miles.  This was fine by us as it was a great day,  we rode with great people , saw pretty scenery and then had an excellent meal together. 



This is our group at a stop at Bulow St park to see the Fairchild Oak.... as you can see this is one BIG tree. From left to right-- Don  Carol, Joanie, Greg, Bernice, Rick , Deb and Me.
Sorry Rick for getting your bike dirty on the brief dirt section (grin)

It was nice to ride with other tandems and I learned a lot by watching them and asking questions.  This is all new to us and very different than riding a single bike

Friday night Bernice and I went downtown and took in the sights on the square. The whole area was arrayed with beautiful lights and the weather was mild ....great night to be outside.

Our reason for going was a concert being put on by a band called FEE.  The lead singer is Steve Fee pictured here. It is a Christian band with great music and a good message...the square was PACKED

On Saturday we headed to the Villages and met some more new friends.  Bob & Jan (pictured to the left) . They lead us all over the south end of the Villages covering 25 miles ...ending up at TwoJays for coffee and conversation.  They were an experienced tandem couple and very nice people. I am sure we will ride again with them. 

Today is a nice quiet day with church this am then a nap and now time to enjoy the remainder of the weekend. 

Brrrrr..... I thought this was Florida

We had a week where the lows were consistently in the low 30's or high 20's..... and that my friend is chilly weather. For my northern family and friends --- you know I ski regularly in the single digits while up in NY -- so I am not going soft. But with the Florida humidity 30 feels like 15.

Even with the brisk weather we still got nearly 100 miles on the tandem. We are getting more & more comfortable on it. There is a large amount of communication necessary --- every thing from clipping into the pedals to starting, stopping, shifting, and even coasting has to be communicated.

We do very well and with a grand total of 4 rides we are already getting more and more proficient. I will say that riding into the wind is easier on it than on a single bike & rolling terrain is just plain FAST.

On other fronts Derek has been sick for about 3-4 days now....mainly a stomach thing where he can not keep food down. Oh for wisdom on his part to take it easy and heal.

This week is thanks giving and I would be remiss if I did not mention a few things I am thankful for. My family (all of you), our country and the freedoms we have, Christ for dying on the cross to forgive my sins, my friends that form a patchwork of memories and support from coast to coast, my Job and my staff along with my business partner Michael, and the Internet that is just one more way we can all stay connected.

We will have a crowd of about 14 on Thursday some family, some friends, and as usual some strangers. I think this Holiday more than others is a time to gather with all sorts of people and share the blessings.


It was cold but we had a new bike so we bundled up and off into the wind we went. This particular ride was our longest at just under 40 miles and by time we were done it was a comfortable 62 degrees.


We visited a long time client and friend Ruth who at 80+ years had to throw a leg over the new bike. I will say at one of her birthdays over 80 she hopped on my Harley and we went to lunch some 20 miles away.


She is a sport and heck of a nice lady, still very active --playing tennis, mahjong, and tirelessly raising money each year for our local hospice agency.

I think our trip to the Netherlands softened us a bit, as now we think nothing of stopping for a cup of coffee. This pic was taken outside the Yahala Bakery near Top of the World

Daisy Daisy.....

One bit of bright news during the recent ecconomic downturn is Gas Prices ahve more than cut in half....







After waiting since early August our tandem finally arrived yesterday November 15th. It is made by a company called Co-Motion in Eugene,Oregon. It was worth the wait-- it is gorgeous





The model is a Speedster Co-pilot. This is a coupled tandem which means has couplers that allow it to come apart and it fits in 2 suitcases that are checkable as normal luggage.





Yesterday we had ridden our regular bikes in the AM and got the message it was in so after lunch we picked it up-- we had just enough time for a 9 mile ride before kickoff for the Gator Game.





Today we got to go for a bit longer ride of 22 miles with a few hills. We got along very well, enjoying the teamwork aspect of Tandem riding. You have to communicate everything to your partner.









Two things that are odd are as follows. Starting /stopping takes some coordination and photo taking is wierd with only one of us in the picture....I enlisted my neighbor John to take this pic and the video

November... bicycles, football and friends

Cayce and Michael got a chance to travel north to Nashville to watch the Florida Gators spank the Vanderbilt Commodores --- she wanted to be sure to be warm so I offered to let her borrow my hat -- not sure but I think she found a different one to wear to the game.


Bernice was enjoying the mid 70's weather to do some studying out in our pool area. We use that area as an extension to the house this time of year. Delightful Florida weather--- 70 here and in Appleton Wisconsin it is 28.




We are certainly at this time enjoying FLORIDA Football. We CRUSHED the Georgia Bulldogs last week and Vanderbilt this week. We have clinched the SEC east. We have our sights set on South Carolina next week..... taking it one game at a time

On Friday night we traveled to the campus of UF and had dinner at Tijuana Flats (a good Mexican Restaurant on campus) It is always fun to walk around the campus. The reason we were up there was to see a good friend of ours.


We found her at the pool. She is a swimmer who happens to swim for the University of South Carolina. Sherah Aiken. She has been my friend since 3rd grade when I was her SS teacher and she kicked me in the shin for telling the Bible story about a guy named Achan (pronounced like her last name --- who hid stolen stuff in his tent) she did not like me saying that and OUCH.



We met her at the pool and followed her whole team to a restaurant and got to catch up with her. She is a senior at Univ of SC....luckily she did not kick me this time. It was great to see her and give her a hug.



Michael and I did a client event this past Wednesday. We sponsored a bicycle ride and breakfast in Inverness. It went well .....this is a picture of Bob, a retiree who moved to Florida from Montana. We had clients and their friends --- it was fun and we met some good people.


A nice time of year for flowers...


Today my neighbor John and I loaded our off road bikes up hand did just over 20 miles in the woods.




This is a picture of me on the Land Bridge overlooking I-75. This is a tri-use bridge for Bikes, Horses and walkers to cross the interstate safely.


Here is a short video of me in the woods today....click the arrow to watch it.


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