First Ride of THE YEAR - Sarasota

[Mr. Bloom]

Plane arrived at 1:06, had lunch at picked up the bike at Ryder Bikes in Downtown Sarasota. Weather was 58 and windy.

Seat rail bent in transit- cha ching! - $168.
Changing clothes - cha ching! - Brand new contact lense ripped!
Ready to ride - helmet bracket broken - cha ching! - $178.

But, I'm about to ride!

So, I set out - You could tell me from locals (coat bound and shivering) from me (the midwesterner in short sleeve jersey and no leggings)

I set out!

Route from Sarasota to the northend of Long Boat Key (today I'll go to the tip of Anna Maria).


The wind was about 12 from the north...and this was tough due to my lack of miles in '10. But, today, my knees feel fine

At the northend of Long Boat Key:


Along Long Boat Key, the beach was lush (I left snow covered fields behind!)


I stopped on the draw bridge and a walker said "this will be an awesome sunset tonight"...


...and it was (as seen from Bird Key at the inlaws house)

[Catrin]

Incredible photos! Sorry to hear that you had travel-related damages, but very good to read about your beautiful ride!

[Bike Chick]

Ahhhhhhhh! It looks like heaven! Enjoy!

[kmehrzad]

The beauty in your surroundings - priceless. Cha Ching!

AMI (Anna Maria Island) is so small it'd be easy to do a bike tour around the entire island in an hour or less. If you're into fishing, can't find any better than off the City Pier. The Spanish Mackerel usually run in the morning and early afternoon. Tie on a white crappie jig and go at it. They're very tasty grilled or blackened and baked.

Coquina Beach, on your way from Long Boat Key to AMI, is also a nice stop off point. The beach is very wide with lovely shells. If you can get south to Venice Beach, you're guaranteed to find shark's teeth in just about every scoop of sand at the shore's edge.

Have fun. I'm envious.

[Grog]

I'm envious too. I have very fond memories of the sunsets there... Lucky man!

[arielmoon]

Love the pics and recap! It was pretty chilly here in FL for those of us that are not used to it!

[Mr. Bloom]

Day Two was tough on me. Because of other distractions, I only did 870 miles last year and I've not riden in weeks. So far, I've done 10% of last year's miles in three days (which means my rear end has to be reconvinced that riding is fun...)

Anyway: Day Two was about 43 miles from Bird Key to the tip of Anna Maria Island...into the straight northerly wind! The traffic on Anna Maria Island was bad and the bike lanes were not consistently maintained...but it was neat to reach the northern tip.



At the end of the key, I came upon this trail:



That led to the beach looking north to the Gulf of Mexico on one side and Tampa in the distance on the other side.



Coming back south, I made a quick stop at the hundred year old Community Pier which was bustling with people:


I only averaged 16mph and the prior day, I averaged 17.3mph in heavier wind...so the fact that I'm diving in head first on miles is having an affect. I'm also not used to riding in traffic this heavy...but I don't generally feel in danger.