A Winter Getaway
Our Florida roadtrip is behind us and rather than complaining about the snowy weather in our forecast, I’ll focus on how absolutely beautiful the weather was during our two weeks away. Every day the temperature got up into the 70-80’s and sunshine prevailed. We were gone for 15 days and rode 7 of those days – the perfect balance. And once again, my husband planned the trip, made all of the hotel reservations, and drove every single mile. He’s amazing!
Overview of the First Week: January 26 – February 1
Before discussing each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from the first week. Scroll beyond the infographic for daily details…
Sunday
Cycling: 22.8 miles
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Average speed: 12.9 MPH
• Surface: paved and brick
• Elevation gain: 184 feet
• Start time: 10:14 AM
• Location: Bonita Springs, Florida
• Weather: 64° and partly cloudy, climbing to 69°
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
We hadn’t ridden with our friend Betsy since visiting her and her husband in Minnesota last summer when she took us on a ride to see the Minnehaha Falls. While in Florida, we’d be spending three nights with them and another ride was in order!
Monday
Strength training: 15 minutes of core
Cycling: 22.2 miles
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Average speed: 14.2 MPH
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 128 feet
• Start time: 10:10 AM
• Location: Pelican Bay, Florida
• Weather: 71° and mostly sunny
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
Our friends were working so we loaded a bike route into our Garmins and set out for another fantastic ride. Afterward, we met our friend Miles and his wife for lunch. He coached me through my first marathon and it was he who initially told me about Jeannie Rice’s first world record – they’re friends and run with the same group during the winter.
Tuesday
Drive from Naples to Tamarac, Florida
Walking: 2.04 miles
• Average pace: 18:07 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 0 feet
• Start time: 5:30 PM
• Location: hotel parking lot and adjacent golf course
• Weather: 77° and sunny, dropping to 73°
• What I wore: shorts and s/s shirt
Once we arrived at our next hotel, I headed outside for a walk before it got dark.
Wednesday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Cycling: 20.39 miles
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Average speed: 11.5 MPH
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 56 feet
• Start time: 10:13 AM
• Location: Everglades Shark Valley
• Weather: 72° and mostly sunny, climbing to 77°
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
We hit up the hotel gym at 6 AM and had breakfast before loading up the bikes to drive back to Shark Valley in Everglades National Park which we’d stopped by, but hadn’t toured the previous day. We knew we’d regret not riding around the park after hearing how many alligator sightings opportunities we’d have.
At first I nervously stayed toward the middle of the trail as best I could, but after seeing so many unmoving, uninterested-in-me alligators my attitude became, “Oh yeah, there’s another one” as I rode on the right side of the trail.
In addition to seeing dozens of dozing alligators, we saw many interesting and very large birds.
Thursday
Cycling: 26.44 miles
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Average speed: 10.8 MPH
• Surface: gravel
• Elevation gain: 108 feet
• Start time: 11:13 AM
• Location: Everglades Wildlife Management Area at Sawgrass Recreation Park
• Weather: 77° and mostly sunny, climbing to 79°
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
We met our friend Chuck who treated us to an airboat ride before hitting the gravel trail on the levy surrounding Everglades Wildlife Management Area. It was a tougher ride than I expected with lot of rocks and very rough terrain during the last eight miles. When things started getting uncomfortable on the saddle thanks to all the bouncing, I had to gear down and ride standing much of the time during the last hour and a half.
Friday
Drive from Tamarac to West Palm Beach Jupiter, Florida
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Walking: 3.01 miles
• Average pace: 15:19 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 0 feet
• Start time: 9:16 AM
• Location: hotel parking lot and adjacent golf course
• Weather: 73° and mostly sunny, climbing to 75°
• What I wore: shorts and tank
Before getting back on the road to drive to our next hotel, we hit up the gym to lift and then went out for a walk.
Saturday
Cycling: 40.47 miles
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Average speed: 12.5 MPH
• Surface: gravel, packed sand, double track, and single track
• Elevation gain: 164 feet
• Start time: 7:10 AM
• Location: Apoxee Preserve, West Palm Beach, Florida
• Weather: 68° and foggy, climbing to 76° and partly cloudy
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
Our friend Terry invited us to join her gravel cycling group for a ride, but I was actually dreading it after she told us how fast the group rides and hearing about a wild boar knocking a rider off his bike just a few weeks ago. Ends up, this was our favorite ride of the trip. Yes, they rode fast and I worked my butt off to keep up, but the scenery was outstanding during our little excursions off the main trail. With a tailwind on our way out on the main gravel trail, I was averaging 13.9 MPH, but several side excursions on rougher terrain and a headwind on the main trail during our return slowed my average speed substantially.
We had four gator sightings – two right next to the trail, and two in/near the water next to the trail. We also saw several very cool large birds including sand cranes, and even had a snake slither rapidly between Terry’s bike wheels as she rode over it. I was directly behind her and amazed at how fast the black and yellow striped snake was moving.
Overview of the Second Week: February 2 – 8
Before discussing each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from the second week. Scroll beyond the infographic for daily details…
Sunday
Drive from West Palm Beach Jupiter to Gainesville, Florida
Walking: 2.02 miles
• Average pace: 17:10 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 73 feet
• Start time: 3:33 PM
• Location: hotel parking lot
• Weather: 76° and partly cloudy
• What I wore: shorts and tank
After checking into our hotel, I got outside for a quick walk while chatting with my mom on the phone.
Monday
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Cycling: 40.13 miles
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Average speed: 12.8 MPH
• Surface: paved with a short section of packed sand/gravel
• Elevation gain: 666 feet
• Start time: 12:32 PM
• Location: Gainesville – Hawthorne State Trail
• Weather: 69° and mostly cloudy, climbing to 76° and partly cloudy
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
I got up early to lift before our planned bike ride, but fog and cool weather kept us inside until just after noon. We chose to ride the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail and check out a gravel road that was on our radar for the next day’s ride.
We enjoyed our ride even though it was on a rather monotonous trail, but keep in mind I ride regularly on the W&OD Trail so I’m okay with somewhat unchanging scenery. The scouting part of our ride took us on a packed sand and gravel road that had rolling bumps much like an elongated washboard. From the packed sand road we turned onto a busy paved road with speedster cars and trucks, most of which, gave us a full lane.
Tuesday
Cycling: 30.81 miles
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Average speed: 11.2 MPH
• Surface: packed sand/gravel and paved
• Elevation gain: 328 feet
• Start time: 11:42 AM
• Location: Lochloosa Wildlife Conservation Area
• Weather: 69° and mostly cloudy, climbing to 79° and sunny
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
The previous day’s ride on those short segments of packed sand and busy paved roads had left us questioning the route we had planned for the day. My husband found another route on Ride with GPS which we loaded into our Garmins before setting out for our ride.
We aired down our tires and set out on the sandy and rocky road which was quite delightful. We managed to make our way across two water crossings, but the third left us scratching our heads because we weren’t sure how deep the water was and there was no way around it. We turned and retraced our way back out, but by now the sun had dried out the sand making it sugary and harder to ride on so we aired down our tires some more for better traction. We eventually hopped on the paved trail we’d ridden the day before and found some side single track trails to explore.
Wednesday
Drive from Gainesville, Florida to Charlotte, North Carolina
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
We left warm Florida after breakfast and watched the temperature gradually drop as we drove north. We stopped to visit Pablo and his humans and were tickled by Pablo’s zoomies when he saw us.
Thursday
Cycling: 7.1 miles
• Bike: Peloton Pop Ride with Leanne Hainsby
• Average speed: 18.1 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 10:24 AM
• Location: Charlotte, NC
• Weather: 55° in garage, 49° (feels like 45°) and mostly cloudy outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
Cycling: 3.1 miles
• Bike: Peloton Low Impact Ride with Denis Morton
• Average speed: 17.8 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 10:56 AM
• Location: Charlotte, NC
• Weather: 55° in garage, 50° (feels like 46°) and mostly cloudy outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
While visiting our son an daughter-in-law I took advantage of using their Peloton bike for a couple of short classes. Later in the afternoon, we walked Pablo for a little less than a mile at a 21:29 pace which included lots of stops to sniff (Pablo sniffed not us). 😉
Friday
Drive from Charlotte, North Carolina to home, stopping by to visit my mom along the way
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Our son and daughter-in-law are really into fitness, too, and have a gym in their garage so I was able to continue with my workout schedule while visiting.
Saturday
Cycling: 30.0 miles
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle GX Spin
• Average speed: 16.2 MPH
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 7:19 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 65° in basement, 35° and cloudy outside
• What I wore: bike shorts and sports bra
Walking: 2.14 miles
• Average pace: 14:55 minute/mile
• Elevation gain: 0 feet
• Start time: 9:26 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 67° in basement, 35° and snowing outside
• What I wore: shorts and sports bra
Back home and on my spin bike I texted Kim to see if she was stuck inside as well. Luck was with me and we got to catch up over some indoor cycling miles, followed for me, with walking on the treadmill.
Last Week’s Blog Posts
In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…
- • Sunday – Weekly RunDown: January 19 – 25 / Change is Good
- • Tuesday – Spearfish Canyon: Stopping by Bridal Veil Falls and Hiking Devil’s Bathtub
- • Friday – Catching Up Over Coffee: Monthly Stats, Family Slides, Warmer Temperatures, and Back to Snow
Questions:
- • Have you visited Florida? ~ My first trip was a year after I graduated from college when my then boyfriend/now husband and I went to our college friends’ wedding.
- • What are your thoughts on alligators? ~ Prior to this trip, I assumed alligators were like mountain lions, ready to pounce if anyone got near. I learned that during the day they enjoy sunning themselves, reserving energy for hunting at night. They most likely won’t attack unless provoked.
- • Did you run in a race this weekend? ~ no
And that’s my rundown… Have a great week!
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I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but those of the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!
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You all sure get around! You picked a good week to head south it was so dreary here past few days. Looks like you got in some fab cycling miles and fun times with friends.
It was a fantastic trip!
aww, Pablo! He missed you! He’s so handsome.
What a fabulous trip. Jealous of all that sunshine!
Pablo was beside himself with excitement to see us. 🙂 And yes, it was a fabulous trip!
That was quite a trip! Nice job keeping up with the strength work (via the gyms) while getting all the biking in as well. I never knew that alligators weren’t always on the hunt …they seem like an aggressive animal (I guess that’s a bad stereotype?). It was great playing catch-up on the bikes yesterday!
Thanks, Kim! You know how important strength training is to me so I don’t like to skip it unless absolutely necessary.
And same, I expected an alligator would attack given any opportunity. In fact, a friend’s father lost his arm when he reached into tall grass to retrieve a golf ball not realizing a gator was hidden in there.
Yay for a warm winter getaway! We went to Florida 2 weeks ago for my birthday and it rained and was 40s – we picked the wrong 2 days to be there! Nice job keeping active on vacation and wow to all the wildlife spotting!
Yes, we got really lucky with the weather. I’m sorry you didn’t. 🙁
Some tough cycling there but how lovely to do a getaway to Florida at this time of the year. It seems you had a great experience and some good weather. And you were able to keep up the strength training too.
But OMG the alligators! i would never trust they’d stay on the side of the path! And the story about the wild boar?! Yikes!
We had such a fun time while in Florida! Yeah, at first I rode in the middle of the trail, but as time went on, I realized the alligators had no interest in me zipping by so I stayed on my side of the trial. And yes, I was terrified a wild boar would come out of nowhere and hit me!
Funny you should mention Jeannie Rice. A Toledo friend also ran Berlin when I did and she wanted to meet up in Berlin. She was traveling with Jeannie! So I got to meet her. Jeannie and my friend did not get to run Berlin because they were both injured. Bummer. But they were having a great time! It was kinda like meeting royalty since I’ve read stories about her.
This looks like a great trip!!
How fun that you met Jeannie! And yes, it was a great trip!
15 days away with 7 days of riding sounds absolutely perfect—especially in Naples, with plenty of sunshine!
I loved following your updates on Strava and reading more details here. We’ve cycled that stretch from Naples to Fort Myers (passing Bonita Beach) many times—such a beautiful, flat route with only a moderate amount of traffic.
You really made the most of your two weeks—well done!
Thanks, Catrina! It was a great trip!
Wow- you had an epic adventure! I’m SO GLAD our weather cooperated for you! You really saw some different parts of Florida- the Gainesville area always feels like a different world to me.
Once again I’m sorry we didn’t meet up- but it sounds like you were pretty busy anyway! I’m thinking you’ll be in Florida again. Now I have your number (and won’t think it’s someone selling me insurance, lol) and we can try again next time.
This is so exciting. You know how I feel about Jeanie Rice. Maybe I’ll meet her again this year.
Love your pictures. I recognize most of those areas from my trips to Florida.
I see alligators all the time (from afar) when I’m there.
My race was cancelled due to snow (it was a free one that I was skipping anyway.)
Well, I’ve lived here since 1994, so … But I do visit many different parts. It’s a huge state and there are so much variety in the regions.
I am used to gators. The biggest threat is when humans feed them. Since they’re not incredibly bright, they equate humans with food (and can’t distinguish between a chicken and a hand) and lose that natural fear of us. It’s dangerous from and for us. As you probably know, we have a few that live out back of my house. Not nearly as large as the ones you see, but big enough that I wouldn’t want to run into them. I would be WAY more afraid of running into a wild boar.
No races for me.
I am so glad you had a wonderful time!