Things move slowly in these parts...

I'm so sorry for not updating sooner, for my loyal readers- mom. I haven't actually taken on any intense rides since I've moved to Sarasota, though I did go through with my journey to Oleta River State Park and what an adventure that was. To begin with, I wasn't aware that it was primarily a mountain biking trail... that basically sent the tone for the day. I came ill prepared with my feeble Nishiki road bike and so I borrowed a Kmart 'all-terrain' bike from Bernie's brother. My bike had no suspension... that essentially marks how enjoyable those trails were for me. That and the fact that we, bernie and I, were in NW Miami and it began to pour 20 minutes into our first trail. Everything was soaked, cellphones ruined, and trails became unridable. When we finally decided enough was enough... we found that we were deep into the heart of a windy trail with no immediate exit except by finishing it. It may have taken us easily another 45 minutes trying to get out there, all the while passing by some of the same vicious roots and growing puddles. A fairly ridiculous day. Once the storm appeared to calm we took off our soaked clothes and wadded in the small beach along side the trails, but the calm was short-lived. A chill breeze came like a harbinger of down pour. We made it to the park entrance and took refuge in the convenience store alongside the entrance. After moments of dubious plan making, Bernie's uncle agreed to rescue us from the rain if we met him by the main road. So we rode, soaked, through the rain- stopped at Subway of course, for nurishment- and about an hour later were safely sleeping through the remainder of the storm in a white multi-purpose storage van. Did I mention there were only two seats? The drive and the front passenger. I took a nap in a beach chair that was set up in the back, next to some blind and carpet samples.

It was quite the day.

Sarasota is more bike friendly than Miami, though I can't say I know from personal experience. I will start biking to work, however. That's a good 6 or 8 miles a few days a week. I'm also hoping to ride regularly on saturday and maybe sunday mornings. Again, we'll see how it goes...