Day one: two fast criteriums, 3-1/2 hours total ride time including warmup and cool down. 15th and 23rd in 40+ and Pro, respectively.
Day two: left house at 6:15 headed east on Yamato Rd to coastline road A1A, went north 1 hour and backtracked same palm-tree, yacht and mansion lined road. 3 hours.
Day three: repeat day two, but no so far up the coast. 2 hours.
Day four: same as Day two, went farther up the coast and met family for a seaside breakfast in Delray Beach. 3 hours.
Day five: Rest day. Legs were really sore and fatigued day before. Did some suntanning and swimming like previous days, but much more of it.
Day six (planned): going to head south on A1A towards Miami, then double back to Palm Beach and home. Hopefully 4 hours.
Day seven: meeting the locals (mostly Zmotion, Coco and Garneau guys, presumably) for a fast group ride at 7:30 am (should be a one hour ride each way) probably 4-5 hours total.
All the training and racing has been "by wire". That is, no computer, no gps, no powertap, no speed or mileage. Just by my five senses alone, combined with some intuition, past experience and common sense. I don't even own a wristwatch, so all I had to use for a reference is my blackberry- for the time that is. The roads are as flat as Ally MacBeal's chest. Route A1A has the Atlantic Ocean on one side, the Intercoastal waterway on the other. It's a strip of land hardly 100 yards wide. It's gorgeous- those manicured and gated Mcmansions, private drydocks, yachts, palm trees, turquoise water, sandy beaches.. There's a designated bike lane and lots of riders heading in both directions. True there aren't a lot of young people around, but it's easy to get over this. It's between 65 and 70 degrees in the early morning. On day two the wind shifted and thousands of Man-o-wars were blown onto shore. My son touched one thinking it was a harmless jellyfish- his hand burned for hours! The M-o-W is not a jellyfish, it's a composite creature built from four separate organisms working together. It floats on the surface of the water using a self inflated "sail". Quite disgusting looking. Tentacles up to 50 feet long and potentially deadly. Water is 74 degrees..
Sunday we head back to wonderful RI. It's not expected to be a joyful reunion. Kudos to my mom for moving to Florida. We'll be visiting her more often, that's for sure. Many thanks to Relentless Cycles for the bike they rented to me for short money. Hat tip to all the racers who came out to the Rosewood Series crit on Sunday. I salute the promoters for a very professionally managed race. This has been a nice trip/camp for me. I didn't lose any weight but my legs are like veined marble and I'm mentally refreshed. My only regret is remembering about my allergy to excessive sun after it's too late- I'm covered in these tiny itchy pimples wherever I'm tan, per usual. That's the least of my worries because I don't know how I'm going to ride in the cold ever again!
Thanks for reading.
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