Tampa - peaceonabike

TAMPA, FLORIDA

About to board a party bus for the 2.5-hour trip from Tampa to Fort Myers. There are six of us on the bus. The others, there were about 35 riders today, got rides from somewhere.

Aboard the party bus (pictured: Douglas)

This was Day 2 of a 200-mile charity bike ride, the Pan-Florida Challenge. It has been 10 years since I last rode a double century – at RAGBRAI. With no rides longer than 15-20 miles most of the winter, would I even be able to do one century?

Yesterday went well and today went even better. The 100-mile second day was actually 106 miles. But at no point were my legs ever hurting me or my energy level low.

Uncle Dick is in Memory of Richard Lowmaster

The ride started when the A riders left the start line. About a minute later the B riders would go. I had looked at the group of four guys in the B group and thought I was in the right group (C). Yet I rode with those guys yesterday until I dropped them so maybe I should be with them. But I let them go.

Another minute or so and then the C group pulled out. There seemed to be 12 of us and I immediately went to the front. The others lined up behind me and I carefully pegged my speed at 16 mph. Our riding speed was supposed to be 15-17 mph and by my calculation, 16 mph was in that range.

“Too fast! You’re going too fast!” I heard a voice, or maybe two, from within the group. This was not going well. I slowed to 15 then after five minutes decided to give others a chance. I moved to the back and sat behind Mark.

We were going 14 mph. I was not happy. I was also concerned about being in the sun too long today and needed to go faster. I could see about one mile ahead and could barely see some blinking red flashers on the four bikes of the B group.

It was more instinct than thought but I pulled beside Mark and told him that I was going to bridge up to the B group. I’m not sure what Mark may have thought but I only shared my plan with him. What’s the worst that could happen? Try and fail. But at least I had to try.

The line was stretched out on the shoulder or in a bike lane. I was 12th wheel when I took off. When I passed the front rider I was going 24 mph and still increasing my speed. I soon settled in and looked for landmarks up the road. The first was a pole and it took me more than 3:00 from the time I saw the group pass it until I got there. Then it was 2:15. And followed by 1:45 and 0:55. I was closing and even faster than I thought.

When I got to 0:30 I caught a support vehicle. The driver asked if I was trying to catch the group and I replied that I was. He then asked me if he should go tell them to slow down. LOL. “No,” I replied. “I will catch them.”

If my numbers are right I had chased them for more than 16 minutes. I chased for 5.3 miles. That was probably the most or second-most enjoyable segment on this two-day ride. There’s something very satisfying about doing a chase and being successful.

In retrospect, I probably should have gone right by then to the front of their group. Then I would have had five surprised faces instead of one. But I pulled in behind John who was surprised to see a shadow next to his. It was early morning and going north, we had nice long shadows to our left.

But there were five instead of four that I saw leave the start line. Then a woman peeled off the front. It was Laura who I had ridden with yesterday. She greeted me loudly as I did her.

The winds were strong. Almost exclusively headwinds as we were headed north. At Mile 50 we came to a rest stop and two riders dropped out. One said it wasn’t fun riding in the wind. We were down to a group of four.

However, we also entered more rural roads and we had a support driver who was willing to let us draft off him. I was always willing to hug a bumper but didn’t want to hog a bumper. And we encouraged our weakest link, a rider whom we were always dropping. Once he got the hang of drafting at 15 mph the driver sped up to 17 mph and our rider quit. “I can’t ride at 17 (mph),” he said. This was in the B group where one was supposed to average 18-20 mph. The C group, in which I started was 15-17 and we had a rider who couldn’t ride at 17. The more I thought about this the more I thought I was right about my riding speed. It’s just that everybody else was way off.

At a lull on a backcountry road, I worked on getting our group to do a rotating pace line. After 3-4 minutes one of our riders said “Good luck with your chain gang” and quit cooperating. That was very unusual. After the ride, he said to me, “Well this wasn’t my first rodeo.” I guess he was too good to cooperate with us. Oh well.

I asked Christopher why he was on a cancer ride. He told me he lost his mother, Theresa, 60, to brain cancer one year ago this weekend. I asked him what he thought about our two riders quitting. He told me that he was riding in honor of his mother and he was going to finish the ride no matter what.

I shared the same conviction. I was riding for every name on those stem caps I had. As soon as I put a new name on the bike I was riding. There was no way I would jump in a car.

Chris also told me he is a plastic surgeon in Miami and his wife is a surgeon living in Minneapolis. I think she is finishing her residency and they will live in Miami. But she flew down to visit him this weekend and he took off on a two-day cancer ride. This is what love looks like.

Bike corral before heading back to Ft. Myers

I never felt any energy depletion. I wanted to ride. At the last rest stop, I put on the name Jacob. And I knew that “Jake the Hero” would get me home. I would be riding for him but also with him.

Riding for and with Jacob – Jake the Hero

We picked up some stragglers and Chris and I went to the front for the last five miles. I heard people calling out to go slow so we would all finish together. Okay, I could do that. It didn’t mean anything to me if I was in a group or a group of one.

We finished in a small park. My luggage was there so I changed into casual clothes and out of my riding kit. They had dinner in a picnic shelter catered by Mission BBQ. This was my kind of dinner.

We were to board at 5:00 p.m. but are waiting on one person to finish. We had been told yesterday that anyone out on course at 4:00 p.m. would be SAGged in but I guess that didn’t happen. And I’m okay with that.

Then she finishes. She appears to be one of the oldest participants. What an effort she gave to finish. I don’t mind being delayed so she could complete her ride. What a contrast to the two in our group who just quit at Mile 50.

What a ride. Two Hundred (206) miles fighting cancer. With no real winter training. I like this!

FUNDRAISING: $1700

EPILOGUE: This was a great two-day event. Fundraising was daunting although it was 50% of the required amount for first-year riders. It was small, small enough to be intimate. I would consider making the drive for a two-day event but in 2023 they featured a 100-mile ride on Saturday in Fort Myers and a 100-mile ride in Tampa on Sunday. In 2024 it was a Saturday-only event. Good cause but not enough cycling to get me to drive 1,000 miles.

FORT MYERS, FLORIDA

My Uncle Dan became a widower in 2020. My mother was already a widow and the two of them faced the possibility that they would never see each other again. I promised my mother that if she could sit 12-14 hours, one-way, in a car, I’d make a trip from Pennsylvania to Florida so she could visit her brother.

Over the winter I started looking for a cancer charity ride and found the Pan-Florida Challenge. This was a 200-mile ride from Fort Myers to Sebring on Day 1 and then Sebring to Tampa on Day 2.

What follows are my observations. I have no complaints, just observations.

I checked in yesterday at a Brewery in Bonita Springs. Nice volunteers checked my name off a list and handed me a bag that contained stickers for my bike and helmet plus a bib with my number to wear. Also included were an event jersey and bib shorts that I ordered.

The event hotel was the Hyatt Place in Fort Myers. When I checked in I learned their breakfast was not until 7:00 a.m. We were supposed to check in at the event by 6:30 a.m. I thought I’d pass a fast-food restaurant on the way to the event but I was wrong.

My GPS with a saved location took me out into the country and I went by the entrance without realizing it. Mild panic set in as I was thinking I’d miss the start. My bike’s Wahoo computer had the day’s ride on it so I turned it on and answered yes when it asked if it should navigate to the ride start. And that is how I got to the event on time.

My biggest decision was what to wear. I had been given an event jersey but for two days which day should I wear it? If both, then I’d be trying to wash it later tonight. I decided to save it for tomorrow and wore my Rooster Racing Inc. kit today.

At the starting line, I could see that only 3-4 other riders were not wearing an event jersey. I was fine with that because I would wear it tomorrow. There were riders only riding on Day 1 and some riders had two jerseys from riding this event before.

I wanted to do something very special for this ride. I had stem caps made for my bike to ride in honor of or in memory of cancer warriors.

I would begin the ride in memory of my wonderful cousin, Kay Walborn. Kay died in 2018 from brain cancer.

We had to declare a riding speed before the event. The A group was 21-25 mph. The B group was 18-20 mph. The C group was 15-17 mph. I knew I could ride in the B group but for a recreational cancer ride, I registered for the C group. I was prepared to ride 100 miles solo and 16-17 was an honest assessment. Honest.

The A riders were sent off first followed by the B riders one minute (or so) later. The C group was sent off and I was somewhere in the middle of maybe 12 riders when we reached the main road. Almost immediately I was in a group with two women, Lucinda and Kristine, and one man. Lucinda took a lengthy pull until I went to the front to take over. The guy dropped off and the three of us rode to rest stop one.

At rest stop one my priorities were to change the stem cap, refill bottles, grab something to eat, and then roll on. But we seemingly grouped up, maybe all of Group C, and rolled out together.

I pulled out of line while on a country road to ride double file. I was next to Dave from Westfield, Indiana, when he asked me if he was riding on a flat. I looked and told him he was. We both called out “flat” and pulled off. No one came with us. I was with him for 10-12 minutes before his flat was fixed. Dave then told me he was riding the Metric route and was turning around at that point. I was by myself.

If someone else had stopped at least there would be two of us to “chase.” But I was ok by myself. And sort of enjoyed it. A SAG vehicle came by and the driver must have wondered what I was doing. I was beginning to understand this was a ride where people stayed together, much like the Saturday morning no-drop shop ride. And I was all by myself, through no fault of my own I will add. The driver asked if I was OK and I assured him I was.

At rest stop two the group was resting. I pulled in, changed a stem cap, grabbed some water and a bar, and off we rode. Into the wind. We were going mostly north and there was a strong headwind coming from the north. We stayed together, probably a dozen of us, with me dropping only once for a photo op. I quickly caught back on.

The railroad photo op (Dairy Rd and US 27)

And then the day would change for me. We came to rest stop three.

Rest Stop Three (just out of frame after the left turn) – Venus, Fla.

After quickly refilling bottles, eating half a banana, using the port-a-john, and grabbing a bag of trail mix for the road, I informed Lucinda that I was going to soft pedal until they caught me. I don’t do well standing around as lactic acid builds up and my legs feel like crap.

After 15 minutes and they still hadn’t caught me a vehicle came by and pulled right in front of me. I followed him closely – 18, 20, 22, 25, 28 mph – all into a wicked headwind. We did this for more than five miles until we caught the first group on the road. I went by two men and then caught two women who had their own support vehicle. I felt good enough to blow by them and go ahead but was content enough to ride with them.

My ride partners for the final 20 miles were Laura and Kristina. Kristina was from New York City and visiting her parents. I asked her if she ever drafted a vehicle and she hadn’t. I went up to the car and encouraged her to join me. Eventually, she did and then she was hooked. It was beautiful to witness. I tried to get Laura to draft but she finally revealed a secret. The driver was her husband.

We finished our 100 (99) and I went back to make sure it was 100. Then I went back again and found some of my group coming in. Lucinda had never ridden a century before and she needed to turn the odometer to 100 so she and I went out again to get her the final mile.

At the finish, for the third time, my support driver thanked me for knowing how to draft. He said he offered a couple of other guys the same courtesy but no one knew how or would draft off him.

At the hotel, the Residence Inn by Marriott in Sebring, I found they did not have a reservation for me. Apparently, I had signed up for the 100-mile ride and not the 200-mile ride which I intended to do. Thankfully our event director had an extra room to be used so that worked out ok.

Dinner was provided and included an awards recognition as well. It was in a building between the Residence Inn and Tru by Hilton, right on Little Lake Jackson. Good food and a great location.

I worried most about how my body would respond. Riding every day in preparation is one thing. But doing a one-hour ride in winter of 14-15 miles is not the same as riding 50 and 60-mile rides. But I did ok. No twinges of cramps. My big question is how the second day, a hundred after a hundred, would go.

A view of Little Lake Jackson – off the deck of the dinner facility

What to wear. I may have missed it but saw no guidance on when to wear the PFC kit. Since I was riding for two days and had one jersey, I made the decision for the second day. I did this in part because I wanted to finish the 200-mile ride in the PFC kit. This is similar to Ride the Rockies where the cool kids know to wait until the last day to wear their RTR jersey for that year.

I would say that today 90% wore a PFC jersey. They were either blue or yellow depending on fundraising level. But there was a special green one – for survivors. I only saw one rider, Lucinda, wearing the green. And tomorrow, I will be in green.

◆ Everyone has a story. Some I made stem caps for. But riding for others empowers me and I talked to someone today about every single donor.

Note: Any names which may appear in this post on riders’ bibs that are similar to the names of people mentioned herein, are purely coincidental.

Tag: Tampa

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