Adventures in Florida Cycling!!

i2ambler

Hah, I just got this email from a friend who I cycle with regularly:

"Hey,
Well I will be out there too, as usual. I thought of you this Sunday when I was out there, doing pretty much the same route, because there was one more thing that would have been great for you to have seen.
I'm crusing along the relatively flat stretch of road just after going through that newly constructed hill w/ smooth black pavement, about 1 hr into the ride... all of a sudden I see a car about 1/4 mile ahead of me swerve wildly on the road. I can't figure out what the driver is thinking, when the car comes towards me with the window down, and they yell something at me. It sounds garbled, so I don't know what they're saying. I continue on, starting to tell that there is something blocking the road. I'm thinking it's a fallen tree, from a storm or something. Going about 20 MPH at that point it came up fast, and suddenly I realized that ain't no tree. It was a GATOR - absolutely hugest, fattest thing I've ever seen, parked right on the hot pavement. Must have been 12-14 feet long. I had zero time to react - I froze on my bike, and ended up crusing right past its head. I was staring at its beady eyes, praying it would not chose to lurch at me or something. Thankfully, it didn't move. But oh MY @#$*@&!& I thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest. Craziest thing I have seen yet in 5 years of cycling out there.
see you out there then.

Robin
"

Randal Lovelace

Took you 5 years to see a Gator on the road......wow, saw one when I first moved to FL, (Orlando back then, now in Altamonte Springs)

It was laying on the part of South Orange Blossem trail between Orlando and Kissimmee (wasn't as many houses and business there 15 years ago..)

It was small tho, maybe 4.5 - 5 foot long.....

Randy Lovelace...

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Randal Lovelace on Nishiki Sport

randalranman@wmconnect.com

Riding is like breathing, it's something you have to do.

mfbarnes

Living in Sarasota we see gators all the time. I've never seen one while I was riding, but a friend had one run across the road in front of him last summer. He had to swerve to miss it. Scared him to death. I jumped into a sand trap playing golf one day, without stopping to look and landed about 2 feet from the head of a big gator. He looked at me and I looked at him. I hit my ball farther than I've ever hit a ball and then moved quickly out of the trap. He never blinked his eyes!

What part of Florida are you guys from?

Mike

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Mike Barnes
Sarasota, Florida