What's After Work?

  When I got up this morning the weather outside was cloudy and rainy. Not a good day to ride. Jan had planned to tide the stationary bikes today at the Safety Harbor Fitness Center. I decided to go with her.  When we got there no one was on the bikes so we had our pick. Jan chose a recumbent bike and I chose one that was more upright. It took a moment to familiarize myself with the touch screen. Then off I went! As with all my rides it takes a few miles to get into the rhythm. After about 2 miles or 10 minutes of riding I got the resistance set to a level I was comfortable with.  I rode for about an hour and according to the monitor that equaled about 12 miles which is about my normal ride time.  This ride brings me to 273.4 miles so far this month with 26.6 to go. That's a lot of riding in a month. If you would like to help with this cause just go to my Great Cycle Challenge page and click donate. Any amount helps.

Only a few more days of the ride. I decided to mix it up a little today and ride a different way. I took a right turn off my normal route up the Ream Wilson trail toward Clearwater.  Most of the trail is shaded and in neighborhoods, a little goes through a frisbee golf course, a short section passes by the Phillies spring training fields, and then some is on busy roads. Overall nice ride, I should do it more often. I rode a little more than 14 miles so I'm real close to my goal of 300 miles for the month. Once again this is more than me just wearing out bike tires. The Great Cycle Challenge is an effort to reduce, prevent, or cure childhood cancer. If you would like to help me with this go to my GCC page and click "Donate"

  Today I was out for an early ride. I was hoping to beat the heat and the wind. I did beat the heat but not the wind. I was going to go farther but after a few miles out on the causeway grinding into the wind I had had enough but I still go in a total of 16 miles this morning.  The stickers I'm pointing to are promoting the Great Cycle Challenge. I've seen and talked to several people out here that are riding for the cause. I hope that if you are reading this you will take a moment to think about giving to this cause. It's easy and only takes a moment. Just go to  https://greatcyclechallenge.com/riders/ChanBliss  and click donate. 

  I rode 12.75 miles today in an hour and ten minutes. That is a quick ride for me. Even with the detour for music.  I heard the rhythm long before I got to downtown Safety Harbor. It was a good day for an outdoor concert at the Bar Fly .    After passing downtown I continued out to the causeway. It was a nice day to ride, not too hot and just a slight breeze. I was making good time till I saw something that made me stop.  A lone pink balloon floating above the rip rap. It kinda reminded me of It. So I texted my son-in-law, who is an expert on horror literature. He suggested that from his reading staying away from lone balloons was probably a good idea. Cause ya never know where a clown might be lurking. I now have a little less than 70 miles to ride in the next 6 days. I know I can make that mileage. If you could help me reach my goal of $2500 for childhood cancer research I will be very thankful. Just follow the link and click donate.

I rode a different route today.  I headed north toward Patty's house. I was meeting Jan there and the three of us were going out to lunch at the Tarpon Turtle . We had a nice lunch even if the guitarist was playing Jimmy Buffet a little too loud. Our tables looked out over Lake Tarpon. The ride was uneventful and the weather for the first day of fall was nice.   I had something I had not had before, a fish reuben. It was quite tasty and I'd have it again.  With today's ride I have 82 miles to go in the next 7 days to reach 300 miles for the month, I can do that number easily. The other number is $1042 to reach my goal of $2500. That number i need your help with. If you can give just a little that will help. Just go to my Great Cycle Challenge page and click donate.

  When I ride I get plenty of time to think about things. I think about how fast I am going, what I had for breakfast and what I'll have for dinner. I think about the other riders I pass on my ride and how this month I'm helping some kids. Often at this spot I think about otters. According to the sign they cross the road here. I've been riding this route for 6 years. At all times of the day, I have yet to see an otter. I've seen all sorts of other animals but nary an otter. Maybe someday.  There is a little more than a week left in the Great Cycle Challenge and I'm still a little short of my goal of $2500 for the kids. It is more that I've ever attempted to raise for this challenge but I think we can get there. Any amount helps. Just go to my Great Cycle Challenge page and click donate .

Hi all, I got a little behind in my blogging, so today is a twofer! Yesterday was a late afternoon ride that was cut short by the rain. Or more precisely thunder. I I don't mind the rain too much but draw the line with thunder and lightning. When I got out on the causeway and took a break at the 5 mile mark I heard a big thunder boom and that opened my eyes to the clouds that were gathering to the east. I figured I better head home before the skies opened up on me. Today the 21 day of the Great Cycle Challenge I decided to get an earlier start.  It was a much nicer day than yesterday. Sunny, not too warm and a slight breeze.   I usually go through the Waterfront park on my rides and decided to feature the new piece of public art in my photo. This was installed several months ago but unlike most other public art there is no information about the artwork or the artist.  After my ride I did a little research and found out it was a gift to the city by two long time residents of Saf

I like riding  out on the Courtney Campbell Causeway because of all the wildlife I can see there. I do see a lot of seagulls and other shore birds. A favorite of mine is the osprey, the mascot of my alma mater . The bird in the picture above I call a snake-bird. The official name is Anhinga and I have seen them swimming around Florida waters all my life. When they swim just their head and part of the neck is above the water.The bird "flies" underwater. This is a good picture of the bird drying out their feathers. Unlike ducks and such these birds feathers need to be "hung out to dry" and that is what it is doing.  Had a good ride this afternoon and got on almost 13 miles. 

Another late afternoon ride today. I tried to get in the whole 15 miles this evening but was only able to push it to 12.6 miles. Still that is on track to finish my miles.  Overall it was a nice ride. Even if it got a little windy toward the end. I even made it home in time for dinner. I think that if I leave at 4 in the afternoon I can get the whole 15 in before dinner.  If you would like to donate to this cause click  here

  Got a late start today and ended up riding in the dark. I started right after dinner at about 6:30 PM. The evening was nice for a ride and a few people were out. There was not much traffic and that made it even nicer. After about two miles into the ride the colors in the sky were really nice. Red, orange and pink clouds  framed the horizon to the west.  As it got darker I could see lightning flashes far off to the east. After this ride I think I'll upgrade the lights on my bike. If you would like to donate to this cause click  here

  Stopping after 10 miles for some water and shade. Got a little longer ride today, 15+ miles. If I can keep this up I should meet my challenge mileage by the end of the month. As a team we are doing great with both miles ridden and donations received. Thank you everyone that has contributed to this needed cause.  If you would like to donate to this cause click  here

Okay I took a few days off from riding and went on a little trip to see the kids, grand kids, and a few sights.  We started with a quick trip to Tallahassee to see Noah and flee from Idalia. We stayed there till the hurricane knocked out the power and the AC.  Next on our journey was a trip to Asheville to see the Biltmore and go to an art show.  I was going to try and ride during this trip but only go to one day at the Tru in Orangeburg SC. While the rest of the places we stayed listed stationary bikes as part of their workout rooms the bikes were well used and not fit to ride. So I didn't.  But now I'm back in Safety Harbor and have 15 days to get the rest of my ride done. I'm not exactly sure how many miles I have ridden because for the first three days the GCC app over estimated my mileage. I think I have about 200 miles this month. So that works out to about 15 miles a day till the end of the month. Not an insurmountable goal but a challenging one, I guess that's w

  I'm mixing it up a little today with my ride. It is much later and inside. Jan and I are traveling again and I didn't bring my bike so I'm having to use what is available.  This evening I am riding a Peloton stationary bike. I've never ridden one of these and surprisingly it flet very similar to riding a real bike. Well except that you were looking at the same old thing the whole ride, no breeze cooling me off, and I couldn't coast. But I could adjust it to fit in a similar way to my bike and the resistance on the pedals was close. If I have a choice I'll ride a real bike but this will do in a pinch. I was able to work up a good sweat.  According to the bike computer I was able to complete my 10 miles and I rode about the same time it would have taken me to ride 10 miles on a real bike. So I'm counting it on my GCC miles! 

  Today we took our bikes in the truck to a different area to ride. This ride took along sidewalks that bordered the Julington Durbin Creek Nature Preserve . I would like to go back in the preserve but the trails are all sandy and my bike doesn't handle that very well.   It was a nice ride and we only were almost hit by cars 2 or 3 times. Crossing the street while people are late for work is a challenge. People ya gotta watch out for bikes! If you would like to find out more or donate toward my ride click  here . 

  Today I'm in Jacksonville staying with my brother-in-law Tim and his wife Cheryl. We decided to get up early and ride while it was still cool. We were up way before anyone else in the house. Thankfully Cheryl set up the coffee maker the night before so all I had to do was press a few buttons and my morning jolt of java was on the way.  We had a nice 10 mile ride around the Mandarin area. Traffic wasn't too bad.  Today I was using the GCC app in a different way. The past few days it has not been recording my mileage correctly and that kinda bothered me. I had contacted the GCC tech help and they suggested that I link my Strava app to the GCC app. I did that and it worked just fine. So now all I have to do is set my Fit-bit to record my ride, that transfers to my Strava account that in-turn goes to my GCC app. Whatever, it works. If you would like to find out more or donate toward my ride click here .   

  Today was an early morning ride. Early enough to see the sun coming up. It was the chilliest ride I've had in several months. It was nice. There were more people out than I expected, I guess there are a lot of early risers in Safety Harbor.  Early in the morning the shadows are very long. Oh and yes the mileage for today's ride is a little off but I'll fix it and hopefully tomorrow the app will work correctly.  If you would like to help with this fund raiser here's the link. https://greatcyclechallenge.com/riders/ChanBliss

  The weather was a little nicer today. Mid 80s and for Florida low humidity, about 75%. I rode almost 12 miles today. The Great Cycle Challenge app is still not recording my rides correctly and giving me many extra miles. Technology, Sigh! Below is my actual route and distance.  In the picture I posted today shows how far the bay came up during Hurricane Idalia. That high water mark I can see all during my ride. Here the shore rises up to the road so the water did not come up as far. Other places I could see the high water mark on the other side of the street. Along the Causeway the water came up over the trail in many places but as far as I ride I did not see any places it went over the highway.  One of the interesting things I found in all this detritus washed up by the storm was thousands of red mangrove seeds. you can see them in the picture above, they are the long green and brown sticks. I noticed that many of them had already begun to sprout leaves and roots. I guess this is a

 It's here again, the 2023 Great Cycle Challenge ! I have challenged myself to ride 300 miles in the month of September and I have challenged myself and you to raise $2500 to find a cure for childhood cancer.  We are off to a good start, to date I have raised $1226 from friends and family. I have a team with 7 members so far. As a team we hope to raise $5000 and ride 1000 miles. I think we can exceed both of those challenges.  I did my first ride this morning and hoped to ride 15 miles. When I was done the app said I had ridden 214 miles in about 2 and a half hours. Quite impressive but incorrect. I contacted GCC tech support and they assured me the glitch would be corrected.  i'm going to try and ride as many days as possible this month and document them on this blog. I may have to do a few days on stationary bikes in hotel workout rooms or borrow bikes from friends but somehow I'll get the miles in. If you would like to donate to this wonderful cause follow this link  htt

  It is year nine of the Great Cycle Challenge and I am finishing up my training for that ride out on the Courtney Campbell Causeway. I look forward to this ride each year with both excitement and a little trepidation. I am trying to raise $2500 this year as well as ride 300 miles in the month of September, and we're not getting any younger.  I still have not gotten a new bike, this one has got me this for and I think it has another GCC ride in it. So keep a lookout  for my posts about the ride on Facebook, Twitter oops X, and my Great Cycle Challenge site.

 Day 11, Heading to Bentonville to see the People of Walmart .  Yea I know this is a little late. Life gets in the way.   October 18th we arrived in Bentonville AR. After checking into the Home 2 Suites in Bentonville we decided to visit the Walmart Museum . This is located in the original Walton 5&10 and has the story of Sam Walton's humble beginnings and the rise of Walmart to what it is now. It was interesting to see all the history of the store. We even got to see the Medal of Honor given to Sam Walton by George H.W. Bush. The museum was set up like a time-line of the growth of Walmart through the years. This was interesting to see and remember what I was doing at diffident dates.  Sam Walton's office was recreated in the museum as he left it the day he died. It was a time capsule from the 1990s.  His pickup truck was also there also preserved as he left it.  For dinner we decided to try out a restaurant recommended by a  New York Times food critic. Yeyo's Mexican R

 Day 6 , October 15, Hot Springs. Here we stayed at an AirBnB on Lake Hamilton. It was very nice but before we got to our new residence (If you are keeping track this is the 5th place we've stayed so far on this trip) we stopped by downtown Hot Springs for a tour.  We started at the Fordyce Bathhouse Visitor Center. This is the park headquarters and has been beautifully restored. We were able to tour the bathhouse and see how it looked in its prime.  The sculpture of the Spanish Conquistador  and the Tiffany stained glass ceiling were in the men's tub and steam room. The ladies section was not quite as well appointed.  Here is the women's dressing room . While nice and functional it was not quite up to the standards of the men's room. Down the hall from this room was the third floor sun deck where the ladies could catch some sun without any prying eyes. I'm not sure how much sun they got because the outfits displayed there were long sleeved, ankle length dresses.  T