Tarpon Springs to West Brooksville:  Mostly a travel day.  

We were on our bikes by 8:00 a.m. with a short highway ride back to the Pinellas Trail and headed north.  After some time on the Pinellas, we said goodbye and rode the highway six miles to the next trail, the Upper Tampa Bay Trail.  It, too, was spectacular.  New to us on this trail were water bottle-refill stations along side the trail in several places.  That trail connected to the Suncoast Trail, which we rode the last 27 miles of our 50 mile day.  The Suncoast offered very little shade, but it was wide and smooth, with occasional rolling hills, and some interesting scenery here and there.  There were water bottle refill stations on this trail as well.

There were many day cyclists on the Suncoast trail, some in pace lines, and almost all zooming by.  With a nice wind at our back we pedaled at a relatively leisurely pace, arriving at our home away from home for the night by 3:30.   Enough time to do the laundry before dinner -  all in all, a good day! 

Diane and Rob

Not many photos on this day.  It was all about eating up miles (even at a leisurely pace). Rob

A small Cyrus Tree grove along side Keystone Road.

Diane at one of the aforementioned Water Bottle filling stations. The water was
very cold - a simply pleasure on a hot day.

Running the Suncoast Trail. Not much for scenery but a smooth fast ride. 

No, not moles but ant hills. Florida could be called the Ant State given all the
species found here.  Including the dreaded Fire Ant. 

Did we mention it was laundry night? (This batch is clean :))

In, Around, and Out of St. Pete - Days 1, 2 & 3 on our Tour

The ride to St. Petersburg started out quite nicely.  We crossed Tampa Bay via the Courtney Campbell Causeway on a beautiful, wide, and smooth dedicated 9 mile trail, punctuated in the middle with a 45′-high bridge, with all the traffic to our right and the bay on our immediate left.  There were several places we could have stopped to wade but withstood the temptation.  At the end of the Causeway we immediately  connected to the North Bayshore Trail, then to the Ream Wilson Trail, then a few blocks on the Duke Energy Trail, then about four miles on city streets, and then the Pinellas Trail in Clearwater which would take us all the way to St. Petersburg. 

But as we neared the Pinellas Trail, in Clearwater, while going up a hill and attempting to  shift into an easier gear, Diane’s chain moved too fast too far, jumping into the space between the freewheel and the back hub, bringing her to an immediate stop and a fall in the lane of traffic.  She got up quickly, while  a pedestrian ran over to help get her bike out of the lane.  The two cars right behind her had stopped in time and pulled around, and a local police car pulled into the lane to completely block traffic in that lane.   Luckily, the only thing hurt was Diane’s pride. 

She explained to Rob what had happened as he repositioned the chain onto the freewheel, and we proceeded, intending to examine the derailleur travel when we got to the Pinellas Trail, which we did.  Rob made an adjustment, decreasing the travel of the derailleur.  We continued south on the trail.  We were doing fine until we got to where the trail makes a very abrupt climb (about 10% grade) to pass over an arterial street.  Diane had a hard time getting up to the top of the overpass because her derailleur would not shift to the easier climbing gear.  

Then we came to another such overpass, and once again it was arduous for Diane.  Rob wanted to readjust the derailleur travel, but Diane pleaded with him to leave well enough alone until we got to St. Pete’s.  But we did not know how many more overpasses there were ahead.  So Rob made the last ill-fated adjustment (shame on him) and instructed Diane to get into that climbing gear before we confronted another overpass.  Unfortunately, the chain came off the climbing cog, and buried itself between the freewheel and the rear hub.  Also, this time, the chain chewed through the aluminum spoke guard.  See picture.  

After some effort, Rob was able to free the chain and get it back onto the freewheel, but then had to remove, with substantially more effort, the mangled spoke guard. 

Once again, we headed south, and arrived at the Cordova Inn in historic downtown St. Pete’s in relatively good shape.  But upon further inspection, Rob determined the nine external spokes on the drive side had been scored and most likely needed to be replaced.  So, the next morning we rode the bikes to the closest bike shop for assessment.  Indeed, the spokes needed to be replaced.  This meant that after replacing the spokes, all the spokes needed to be re-tensioned and the wheel trued.  Luckily, the shop owner/mechanic could fit this work into his day, but our plans for exploring St. Pete by bike were scuttled.  So we did some sightseeing on foot.  

In particular we toured the Sunken Gardens, which are amazingly beautiful and education.  The Gardens cover about four acres of botanical gardens that have existed for more than a century.  Moreover, the Sunken Gardens are one of the oldest roadside tourist attractions in the United States, which in its early days featured alligator wrestling!  We also traversed the Crescent Lake Park, home of a spectacular old Banyon tree.  It is hard to believe such a tree derives from a simple fig that takes over an existing tree.  Amazing! 

We were able to get the repaired bike (including a new old stock metal spoke guard) by five.  It passed the “drive test ride” with flying colors, and we set off with confidence this morning for our 35 mile ride to Tarpon Springs.  

We had a great day, and Diane was able to easily climb each of the 11 overpasses between St. Pete’s and Clearwater.  The Pinellas Trail north of Clearwater was even more beautiful than the southern portion.  Tomorrow we will ride the Suncoast Trail, and will enjoy good weather while we have it.  Current weather predictions have us biking all day in the rain and into the wind on Tuesday, April 2.

Hi All, Some selected pics from our trip so far. (Editorial comments and excuses are all mine.) 

Rob

Day 1. From Tampa to St. Pete. 

From motel on the way to the Causeway

Nine miles of water vistas, all a leisurely bicycling pace

On the Pinellas Trail 

Why Rob thought it was necessary to find the right adjustment for Diane's rear derailleur.

And what it looks like when Rob doesn't get it right 

Day 2. In St Pete

Flamingos in the Garden. 

Koi in one of the Garden ponds.

The Banyan Tree

Diane's wheel made "all better"

Our room at the Cordova Inn (a little bit deco) 

Day 3. On to Tarpon Springs. 

North out of St. Pete

The Trail through Dunedin, FL

One of the breaks along the way to Tarpon Springs

And finally, the obligatory "comfort break"

Got to St. Petersburg yesterday, but no internet at the hotel.  Today was a non-biking day in St. Petersburg.  We dealt with a bike issue, but had a relaxing day.  Tomorrow we retrace our ride up the Pinellas Trail through Clearwater and ride the rest of the trail to Tarpon Springs.  More details and pictures tomorrow -- HONEST! 

Arrived Tampa and Alapattah Nini Ligiton Is On!

The day went quickly and smoothly.  We had 6:35 a.m. flight, and two boxed bikes to check, so we were up and at it by 4:00 a.m.  Alaska Air and TSA personnel were very helpful and efficient getting us through, the flight was comfortable and calm, and best of all, the bikes arrived unharmed!  Rob had done an excellent job packing them, and he had no difficulty reassembling them.  Hotel staff were also very helpful.  Diane had asked if they had a bicycle floor pump.  They didn’t, but fairly quickly, maintenance staff arrived at our door with a portable electric air compressor--amazing customer service!  Dinner at the Bahama Breeze Island Grille was excellent (as was last night’s dinner at 13 Coins in Seatac).

Tomorrow promises to be a delightful 41-mile ride across Tampa Bay on the Courtney Campbell Causeway and south to St. Petersburg.  We’ll be on trails most of the day (Bayshore, Reams Wilson, Duke Energy, and Pinellas trails). 

Pictures are promised for tomorrow’s post.  Until then, Happy Trails!

Diane & Rob