Biking the Withlachoochee Trail in Florida

Mike and John take a break from our 70 mile ride...temperature in the 80's
Feeling good!
Turtles on the trail.

Florida-Mike and John hanging out May 2009

Another Florida hangout..O'Maddy's in Gulfport serving surprisingly good food.
Gulfport is Florida's version of Capitol Hill. The shirt says "If you are too weird for Gulfport, you are too weird."
Mike and John hanging out yet another time. I got tired of the bar scene and went shopping.

More Florida May 2009

The view from a rooftop bar called the Sloppy Pelican. It was John's last night here.
We went to Tropicana Field, affectionately known as "The Trop" to locals to see the Rays play baseball. Maggie, my oldest friend, came with us. She's a big fan. We all had a great time, and the Rays won!
Inside the Trop-it's enclosed.
John with his Margarieta at Maggie's place. We had just finished a 70 mile bike ride. It was Mother's Day and Maggie's daughter Meagan and her boyfriend cooked us a fabulous meal.
Mike got one too!

Florida 5/09 Hurricane Man Swim 2.4 miles

Hurricane Man 2.4 open water Swim: The start of the" young'uns" less than 18 yrs old..energetic and FAST!
2.4 miles happens to be the Ironman distance swim. I wanted the experience of swimming in the salt water with the tides.
We're off! I'm the only one with a green cap.
At the starting line up. I was thinking, "What have I gotten myself into this time?" I mistakenly got a green cap rather than the gold ... master swimmers ranged from age 18-70 + These women look tough and they ARE!!
I am happy it's over...1:33 minutes gave me 1st place in my age division of 60-64 year olds. There was only one other women in my age group but I was ahead of her by a significant 20 minutes. The water was warm and salty which gave me a sore throat while swimming. All I could think of while swimming was a tall glass of ice water to wash out my mouth. Another surprise: inside my suit was very itchy the whole way. It was so annoying! Later I found out there is such a thing as sea lice...had to scrub hard afterwards. The event entry included a full breakfast of you name it: eggs, sausage, pancakes, biskets and gravy, etc etc.

It was so nice to have my support 'team' there. Mike and John Hahn. It's hardly fun without someone to share the experience with.