A Sunday Show-n-go Ride

Today is Sunday, Father's Day and the day for the usual show-n-go ride that starts at the Publix parking lot at Curlew and Alternate 19 in Clearwater. It's not an official Suncoast Club ride but many of the same people participate in the ride. Ages are normally from 25-65 with both men and women showing up and usually a few couples who may ride their own bikes or share a tandem. There is no set pace for this ride and generally it's a little less structured and more of a casual ride than Club sponsored events. Where we cycle to is usually decided by those in the parking lot the day of the ride. We had about 20 people today and divided into two groups. One a little slower than the others. The slower group took off first and and with a short cut of maybe two miles it gave them enough of a head start that the faster group would probably catch them near the rest stop about 25 miles down the road. I road with the faster group but the pace was more relaxed and comfortable as many were still recovering from yesterday's very hot ride. As it turned out, we never caught slower group. They were at the rest stop 5-10 minutes before us. The ride was a modified "Beaches" ride 42 miles south across the Clearwater Pass and Sand Key bridges then west across the new Bellaire Causeway bridge before turning north and heading home. Today I made sure to carry a full 100 ounces of fluid with me and even added some chipped ice to my water bottles and camelback at the Publix rest stop. I joined the slower group on the way back but I must admit they weren't that much slower than the other group. It was a hot ride but a nice breeze out of the northwest provided some relief to the heat. My legs were thanking me for taking it a little bit easy on them today as I pulled into our driveway to finish the ride.