Bicycle Stories

Monday, June 9, 2008

Roberta Enjoyed Today's Rain

A trek by Lake Roberta showed that today's thunderstorm helped the old cattle drinking hole.

Hardware Store Goes Up In Flames

A fire toasted the local hardware store in Seminole Heights last night. After completing the Flatwoods ride, I pedaled over to the Tampa Bay Hardware store to see the damage. It's gone.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Another Bicycling President (Candidate)

Obama rides a bicycle. W. Bush was big on mountain biking.

Saturday, June 7, 2008

A little more than five years ago, I met a bright and earnest intern at the Florida Today newspaper in Melbourne named Juan Ortega. He was a web site designing whiz, but his love was for reporting and he soon was on his way to the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale.

And along the way, he met the love of his life -- Shoady Rice, who wrote mortgages in Melbourne.

Today after a morning Seminole Heights Bicycle Club ride, I got in thecar and drove 140 miles east to Melbourne for a 4:30 PM wedding that united Juan and Shoady in holy matrimony.

It was sweet and earnest and beautiful celebration of their union. I was happy to be there.

A short and succinct ceremony -- and Juan and Shoady were married.

Juan and Shoady were loved by all.

Juan looked dapper.

My favorite dance scene -- Shoady's mom and a Juan family member do the cha-cha -- whoa baby.

DANGER, DANGER!: White people on dance floor.

Juan dances his way to Shoady.

Get Better Soon, Buddy

Back in January, first there was an email. Then we talked on the phone about starting a bicycle club in Seminole Heights. Then we met at the local Starbucks to see about launching a local bike club.

Ever since meeting Mike Limerick and his wife Yvon, it's been a wonderful ride of a friendship. We launched the bike club in February, picked up steam with some wonderful folks who joined and now have a legitimate club of riders who pedal the streets of Seminole Heights.

Mike and I have become good friends during the past months, so let's just say I was more than a tad concerned when I heard Mike had a bike accident in the Tour de Cure diabetes fundraiser in the St. Augustine area last Sunday.

Mike was cycling in a 100-mile ride with other road cyclists when an aggressive driver honked his horn, spooked a cyclist who tapped wheels with Mike and Mike fell off his bike. Mike escaped with a nasty bruise on the side of his hip and other assorted bumps and bruises. The driver drove over Mike's $6,000 road bicycle and destroyed it, leaving it cracked in four places.

Thankfully, Mike is OK, a bit gimpy and getting around with a cane. Mike said the driver got away from the hit-an-run without anyone IDing his vehicle and Mike's insurance will not cover the loss of the bicycle. Police should have filed it as a hit-and-run, with the driver destroying personal property. But the policeman didn't. Instead, he practically blamed Mike. Mike has looked into the accident and said there's little he can do without the driver's ID.

We stress wearing at the Seminole Heights Bicycle Club and here's why -- Mike's helmet cracked in three places when he crashed. And if Mike had fallen into the path of the driver and not to the other side, we might not have been able to see Mike this morning waiting for us SHBC cyclists at the corner of 10th Street and Hamilton Avenue during today's Seminole Heights Bicycle Club slow family ride.

We stopped for about 15 minutes to chat with Mike -- and we wish Mike a speedy recovery and we hope he's pedaling soon enough.

One of the wonderful treats about the SHBC is Jack "Ghost Rider" Sweeney, who shows up with the most marvelous bicycling machines. Today he arrived with his Xtracycle extension, which allowed son Gray to sit comfortably over the rear wheel.