Thursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas Eve

It was pretty breezy out there today. Winds from the ESE at 21, gusting to 24 when I left. 74 degrees then, it is 77 now.
There weren't many people at the beach today, though it is a beautiful day by most standards. It is Christmas Eve after all, and most people are busy getting ready to spend some time with their families.
Blizzards, freezing rain and frigid temperatures just seem so unfair.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

10 Miles A Day

Every day, all year long. Or 3,650 miles. I like the 'an average of 10 miles a day - every day' as a way of explaining how much 3,650 miles is.
I did a circle of Sunrise Park first, and went back to the house for a sweatshirt before continuing on to the Hava Java Grill, just down the street from Jimmy's Grill. (The sign for Jimmy's Grill is visible in the photo if you look closely.)
It is a breakfast/lunch place, and my mission was to pick up their menu. While I was there I bought a cup of coffee, double cream, to drink sitting outside at the white table in the photo. It was a little cool, but pleasant to be sitting outside today. And I think that I have checked off the last of the mileage goals I had considered possible or reasonable for this year. Not a record year -- 3rd best of 8, I believe. One and two were the first two TRAM years, as you might expect. But a pretty good year, none the less.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Jimmy's Grill

The old Giorgio's restaurant is history, replaced by Jimmy's Grill. Giorgio's was the Italian Greek place. Jimmy's is Mediterranean/American. We were there in time for the early bird specials, naturally.

By the time we got back to the house, the sun had set, and the sky was already too dark for decent photos.
I believe that today is the shortest day of the year. From here on out the hours of daylight expand. So why is it that the coldest weather of the year is still ahead of us?

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Holiday Decorations

Here are a couple of photos that I took on my bike ride today. Holiday decorations look the same here as they do at home, pretty much. Except for the palm trees in the background, of course. And there's no snow ... but otherwise, the same.
It was 58 degrees when I left, 63 when I returned. I wore the same gear as on my last ride, and this time I was a little bit too cold. It was 10 degrees cooler, and there was a wind from the north which always seems to feel colder. Mostly I'd have to say it was sunny and nice, though it always takes me a while to get used to the fact that there is no shelter from the wind here -- no big trees, no sand dunes. So I should just deal with it and don't whine. It's December 20th, and I took a bike ride. No one should complain under those circumstances.
I rode out towards the Myakka River this time, and was gone for an hour and a half. It will take a while to work back up to the two hour bike rides that I considered standard before it got so dang cold at home. It felt good to get outside on my bike, and even though I am still getting used to the obscenely heavy bicycle that I ride here, it is all starting to feel familiar. And I didn't get lost. Always a bonus here.

Late Edit: Today's route, using Map My Ride.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Bike Ride

Gear list: Sunscreen and helmet. Okay, I didn't wear sunscreen. Long sleeve shirt and the required bright yellow vest for Florida rides. Bike shorts, shoes. I was overdressed. It was 68 when I left, 74 when I returned. (For Montana, who wanted to know the temperature.) Quite breezy, but not gale force -- just enough to make it feel like a bit of work to ride into it.

It was just a shake-down ride to the beach and around the various neighborhoods. The pool was full of seniors doing water aerobics, a few people were walking the beach and there was some fishing boat type traffic at the boat launch. A typical morning at the beach.

The Fuji worked fine, though it weighs a ton. The weight should help compensate for the total lack of hills here. It has gears, but I ride it like it was a single speed. We'll see how long I ride it before I shift it. December miles. A rare treat. The weather here for the next two days looks marginal. Tonight and tomorrow they expect thunderstorms, possibly severe, and Saturday is predicted to have winds between 30 and 40 mph. Still. December miles. Very rare.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Sunrise

The first night in a new place is not restful, usually, for me. The up side of a poor night's sleep was that I was up in time to see the sun rise in the east.

And catch the reflection of the pinks in the western sky and on the calm surface of Spring Lake.
The tires are pumped on the Fuji, and if they hold their air until tomorrow, I hope to get in a few December miles.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Black and White Landscapes

Along the Pine Creek Trail. Really more brown and white than black and white.
Only the flag flying on the other side of the bay has any color to it at all. This winter lighting is very odd. Not to mention very dark. Why do the geese stay?

Saying Good-bye to Michigan

Edit #2. That is snow on the beach. The wind at the top of the bluff was strong, cold and bitter, like bad coffee. Added November 5th.
Edit: Photo above was added on December 4th, the first real snow of this season.

Sunrise? 7:02 am. Sunset? 5:34 pm. Length of visible light? 11 hours and 22 minutes. Where? Not here. But I will be broadcasting from that location at some point.