A little slice of that cold weather that has been torturing the mid-west and great lakes region made its way south overnight last night. Nothing epic, but this part of Florida had freezing temperatures in the inland (farm belt) locations early this morning, again. I waited until after lunch to ride, by which time it had warmed up to 52 degrees. Yup, I had to dig into my
suitcase of courage for cold weather gear once again.
I tried a new route today to an old destination. My usual path to Ollie's Pond Park requires that I cross two bridges like the one pictured above. It's a narrow, two lane, high traffic stretch with no pedestrian walk way or paved shoulder. Cars routinely exceed the speed limit on this part of Edgewater Drive by 10 or more mph. Today's route involved just one bridge crossing on Edgewater. It also took me past the Kiwanis Park walking paths, where I swung into the parking lot long enough to get a photo of some typical Florida vegetation. It's a nice spot and there were several cars in the lot, so people were taking advantage of the shelter from the wind provided by the trees to take their walks.
Today's winds weren't too bad -- 12 to 15 mph while I was out. Much better than yesterday's 20 to 30 mph winds. I'm considering renaming the Auckland Rule (if you don't ride in the wind, you don't ride). Somehow the 'Florida Rule' doesn't have the same zing to it, though.
As usual, my turn around spot was OPP. It really is a pond, and thus it has its share of pond scum. It is home -- or at least a temporary home -- to lots of birds. They seemed especially noisy today. Mallards, mostly. Maybe they were chatting with each other about how cold it is up north, and how glad they are that they are currently residing in Florida. In the end, the new route added a couple of miles to the ride, and involved some awkward bridge crossings in other locations. Still, it was interesting to take a routine ride and ride significant pieces of it backwards. It always surprises me how different things look when you come at them from a new direction.
I tried a new route today to an old destination. My usual path to Ollie's Pond Park requires that I cross two bridges like the one pictured above. It's a narrow, two lane, high traffic stretch with no pedestrian walk way or paved shoulder. Cars routinely exceed the speed limit on this part of Edgewater Drive by 10 or more mph. Today's route involved just one bridge crossing on Edgewater. It also took me past the Kiwanis Park walking paths, where I swung into the parking lot long enough to get a photo of some typical Florida vegetation. It's a nice spot and there were several cars in the lot, so people were taking advantage of the shelter from the wind provided by the trees to take their walks.
Today's winds weren't too bad -- 12 to 15 mph while I was out. Much better than yesterday's 20 to 30 mph winds. I'm considering renaming the Auckland Rule (if you don't ride in the wind, you don't ride). Somehow the 'Florida Rule' doesn't have the same zing to it, though.
As usual, my turn around spot was OPP. It really is a pond, and thus it has its share of pond scum. It is home -- or at least a temporary home -- to lots of birds. They seemed especially noisy today. Mallards, mostly. Maybe they were chatting with each other about how cold it is up north, and how glad they are that they are currently residing in Florida. In the end, the new route added a couple of miles to the ride, and involved some awkward bridge crossings in other locations. Still, it was interesting to take a routine ride and ride significant pieces of it backwards. It always surprises me how different things look when you come at them from a new direction.
2 comments:
I love those pictures. The sunshine, dry ground and green in the trees and tropical plant shown, truly make me wish I could be THERE. Oh, how I miss the green and warmth. If we saw 52 we would be wearing shorts. The snow could not disappear soon enough. Enjoy the warmth.
OSLO
"It always surprises me how different things look when you come at them from a new direction." I love that statement and it is a concept that is very important to history teachers. Nice photos and good post.
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