Across Florida Bike Ride

A couple months ago, Jeff sent me an email with the details for an across Florida organized bike ride with the Space Coast Freewheelers. I figured it would be a fun experience and would get my butt in the saddle to train for it.

I set up the trainer in the living room and decided I would start getting in some miles each evening after work. I started pretty strong, but unfortunately, I did not stick to my training plan for very long. How hard could it be to ride across Florida anyways?

I met up with Jeff in Cocoa Beach. We spent the evening at a low budget motel getting the bikes and gear prepped. I had brought enough Gel packs to make sure I didn’t bonk. Surely they would make up for any lack of actual training with their caffeinated, electrolyte goodness.

The ride went pretty well all things considered. No mechanical issues and I managed to finish... which was my only goal. We rode 80 miles the first day and 90 the second. Both days I started out riding with a group and later dropped off to ride at my own pace once I started getting a little winded.

I seriously questioned if I was going to be able to finish the ride after the first day. I had never ridden more than 40 miles before this. After a shower and meal, I decided I had come way too far to throw in the towel and just had to finish it.

I was pretty proud of myself as I crossed that finish line in Weeki Wachee. It wasn’t pretty, but I finished... and I didn’t come in last.

 

 

Key West Bachelor Party

Key West bachelor party... enough said.

 

 

 

Elijay, Georgia

I met up with Jeff in Jacksonville. From there, we made our way up to Elijay, Georgia for some camping and mountainbiking.

The weather was perfect. The air was cool and crisp and the leaves were changing color. It got pretty chilly at night but we were set with the econo camper van.

We made friends with another group of campers our first night. They were all in the air force and in pretty good shape. We decided to join their group the next day and go mountain biking with them. I figured since there were some girls in the group I wouldn’t be the slowest one... I was wrong. I could do pretty well on a purely down hill course, but I brought up the rear of the group on every single climb. I have to work on my climbing ability and general fitness.

We did a nice long run up and down Bear Mountain. The scenery was beautiful and the single track was awesome. If only we had mountains and riding like this in Florida.

We had contemplated getting a quick ride in on Sunday before heading back home but ultimately decided not to. It was largely influenced by the amount of groaning I made with every movement. I was so sore just walking proved to be difficult that next day.

It was a great weekend and I will definitely be back to ride in Elijay again one day.

 

ATL Wedding

My good friend Mark was getting married.  His fiance, Lauren, was from Georgia so they decided to tie the knot in Atlanta.  Christine and I were both excited to get back to the dirty south after our last road trip up there.  In the interest of time, this time we would be flying.  We were also meeting our friends Paul and Ashley up there.

Day 1: After checking into our hotel, we met Paul and Ashley at CNN.  Christine and I had done the tour last time we were in Atlanta but we figured it'd be fun to do it again with them.

A view from our hotel.

The silver fox.

We all went to the rehearsal dinner that evening and got to see Mark and Lauren.  After dinner we hit up an Irish pub close to our hotel with the whole group.

Day 2: We hopped into a cab with Paul and Ashley and headed to Mary Macs' Tea Room.  It is an amazing southern cooking restaurant that has been around for over 60 years.  I had meatloaf with collard greens and Christine got fried chicken.  It was extremely good.  After lunch, we were so full that we decided to walk it off and head back to our hotel.

Later that afternoon, we headed over to the church for the wedding.

After the reception we headed to the most random karaoke bar I have ever been to.

Day 3:  We headed back to the airport for our flight home.  

Some shots from our hotel taken during morning, afternoon and night.

Taking the Marta to the airport to catch our flight.

On our descent back into West Palm Beach, we caught a glimpse of the storm surge from Hurricane Sandy.

The Nation's Oldest City

Since we really enjoy getting away on the weekends, Christine and I decided it was time for another weekend trip and took off for the nation's oldest city, St. Augustine. I had been there as a boy in middle school, I did a school project and presentation on the city, and Christine had never been.

Day 1: We drove up in the trusty Rolla with the beach cruiser strapped on the back. We stayed at a bed and breakfast, the Centennial House. We were in the Gentleman's Quarters. There was a beta fish in the room which was named Finnigan, which inspired us to get a beta fish of our own which we also named Finnigan. After settling in at our B&B, we headed out and started exploring the historic part of the city and St. George Street.

We stopped in and checked out Flagler College

Finally, we checked out the San Sebastian Winery.  We went on a tour of the winery and enjoyed some tasty samples.

Day 2: We headed over to the Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest masonry fort in the continental US.  The history of the fort was fascinating.  We spent much of the day exploring the fort, reading the historic signs and displays and watching a re-enactment of a traditional cannon firing exercise.

Day 3:  On our last day in St. Augustine, we decided to explore the city some more and go check out the Lighthouse.  

After the Lighthouse, we stopped back at the San Sebastian Winery and picked up a couple of bottles to enjoy back home.

Seattle, Vancouver and Friday Harbor Part I

For this year's guy's trip, we decided to head out to Seattle and Vancouver.  Matthew had thrown out the idea of doing a Washington trip and from there we went with it.  None of us had ever been to that area of the country so it would be something completely new for all of us.

Day 1: Matthew met Dad and I in the Seattle airport.  We were only staying for one night in Seattle before heading up to Vancouver so we were ready to get settled into our hotel and start exploring the city.

Our hotel was only a few blocks from the Space Needle.

A view from the top of the Space Needle.

We Went to the Chihuly Garden and Glass exhibit next door to the Space Needle afterwards.

From there we caught the tram and headed into downtown. We stopped by Pike Brewery and checked out the Public Market

Day 2: Before heading out for our next destination, Vancouver, we stopped at the Washington Park Arboretum.  We also decided to check out the North Cascades National Park on our way to Vancouver.  It wasn't exactly along our route but was a nice detour.

Washing Park Arboretum

North Cascades National Park

After crossing the border into Canada, we checked into our hotel in Vancouver's Gaslight District and explored the area some.  I tried Poutine for the first time and it was pretty good.  It is basically french fries covered in gravy and cheese curd.  Definitely not good for you.

Seattle, Vancouver and Friday Harbor Part II

Day 3: We decided to check out the Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain.  The suspension bridge was pretty awesome.  Matthew and I got it rocking pretty good by syncing our steps and freaked out some Asian tourists which we thought was pretty funny.  There was also a tree top and clif walk that were really cool.

After Capilano, we headed for Grouse Mountain.  We took the gondola ride up to the top to get a view of the city but a fog had moved in so there wasn't much to see unfortunately.

From Grouse we took a drive over to Cypress Provincial Park where we did a little hiking in the snow.  Luckily the fog lifted for a little bit and we got a nice view of Vancouver.

Day 4: We decided to take a day trip up to Whistler.  We drove up the Sea to Sky Highway and stopped at Shannon Falls and Brandywine Falls along the way.

Shannon Falls

Brandywine Falls

Whistler