harryS
Well-Known Member
Well, the locals think it is freezing, but compared to -25C when I left Illinois, it's nice here. We packed our two folders, which fit in the space behind the seats in a minivan. It's a lot better having the bikes inside than on the platform rack.
We've ridden the Pinellas Trail near Dunedin, the Venetian Waterway trail by Venice, and crossed the causeway to Sanibel island. Florida seems set up pretty nice in the towns with lots of paths, presumably for seniors on motorized wheelchairs. In the country, the roads have a little asphalt marked off for bikes, but that's too risky for me.
The causeway bridges are like hills, except that a fall/crash risks either squashed by a car or going over the guard rail and falling 100 feet into the water. There's about 5-6 feet of bikeway between the road and the rail. It's one way. Motors plus pedalling cranked us right up the steepest climb, which I figure was 60 feet. We almost caught a guy on a road bike on the summit, but we held back. Bridge traffic is 35 mph, and the cars backed off to pass us, but it was a high alert ride. My wife refused to look anywhere but right over the bars.
At 55F, still lots of bikes, mostly rentals, on the paths in Sanibel in town. More peaceful on the east/west ends of the island. I packed a spare battery for both. Did not want to run out of power on the causeway coming back, so I "refueled" just before the final leg.
We've ridden the Pinellas Trail near Dunedin, the Venetian Waterway trail by Venice, and crossed the causeway to Sanibel island. Florida seems set up pretty nice in the towns with lots of paths, presumably for seniors on motorized wheelchairs. In the country, the roads have a little asphalt marked off for bikes, but that's too risky for me.
The causeway bridges are like hills, except that a fall/crash risks either squashed by a car or going over the guard rail and falling 100 feet into the water. There's about 5-6 feet of bikeway between the road and the rail. It's one way. Motors plus pedalling cranked us right up the steepest climb, which I figure was 60 feet. We almost caught a guy on a road bike on the summit, but we held back. Bridge traffic is 35 mph, and the cars backed off to pass us, but it was a high alert ride. My wife refused to look anywhere but right over the bars.
At 55F, still lots of bikes, mostly rentals, on the paths in Sanibel in town. More peaceful on the east/west ends of the island. I packed a spare battery for both. Did not want to run out of power on the causeway coming back, so I "refueled" just before the final leg.
