Tampa's Freedomfest Meant Freedom From People Today

Before the thunder struck and the rain poured this afternoon, I snuck in a quick 32-miler over the Gandy Bridge and back.

Here's a Share the Road sign on the Tampa side of the Gandy Bridge as I head west to the Gandy Bridge.


Yes, escape from Hillsborough County.


Yup, the Friendship Trail is closed. I have a feeling Pinellas and Hillsborough counties are going to deep-six the Trail bridge.


There it is -- closed.


When I came back to the Tampa side, I biked down Gandy Avenue to Bayshore Blvd., and biked to the city's Freedomfest festival to mark the opening of 40 percent of the Riverwalk trail along the Hillsborough River.

I heard the promotion and publicity for Freedomfest were weak -- and that was obvious because Freedomfest meant freedom from people. Check out the crowd. When I was there around 2 pm there were about two dozen people there, tops.