My beloved NY Mets and their repeat NL Cy Young award winner Jacob deGrom are in Port St. Lucie getting ready for the season and we are in central Florida doing the same thing! His curve ball is better than ours, but can he ride single track on a tandem?
We have escaped the miserable February weather in the ATL to visit with some friends and warm up.
On our 17-day trip there were 13 rides. We brought two bikes and what seemed like everything we own in our trusty minivan.
The adventure started with Heidi and Al and some of their favorite rides.
The new twist featured our Fandango off-road bikes on the beach.
Big smiles while heading south in a tailwind were wiped away when we had to make our way back in 10-15 mile an hour headwinds.
Tavares was our next stop.
The two rides from the seaplane city featured lakes and traffic. We found a fun and yummy restaurant called BTW – burgers, taco, waffles – and we had them all!
We also visited our first Twistee Treat of the trip.
The citrus trees were in bloom and they were also full of fruit. How do they do that?
The smell of citrus blocked out the smell of sweat on one of our warmer days.
On to Ocala and a visit with Laura and Earle. Riding in Florida’s bucolic horse country is always enjoyable but we worry that too many people are moving to central Florida and peaceful horse farms are turning into subdivisions which just turn into more and more traffic.
Our five-star accommodations in Ocala included a lot of homemade treats.
We were able to take advantage of Ocala’s greatest HITS. That’s “Horses In The Sun” for those of you without a program.
And yes, there is a Twistee Treat in Ocala as well!
After our long weekend as house guests we relocated in Ocala and did some (paved) trail riding.
Next up, we play in the dirt at a different sort of tandem rally.
Eve and Roger's Cycling Adventures 
Congrats on 50 years of marriage, Al and Heidi! (and the new bike)
I would love to here your thoughts on riding in Ocala, we’ve been thinking that might be a fun place to stay for a week or two and ride some winter. With the hills and back roads it seems like it would be good riding. This winter we stayed in Bonita Springs for a week and did day rides but had to drive to ride location because on the traffic and people mass in south Florida. We rode on Sanibel two days riding across the bridge from the mainland and then using the paths on the island. The state has a lot of bike lanes but the way people drive there is a little unnerving to us. I wish the attitudes of some/many of the drivers matched to infrastructure. 🙂
Paul there is definitely some beautiful (and hilly) riding in horse country. We like Ocala, but parts of it are filling up with lots of housing, more people and more cars! We avoid South Florida as far as a riding destination
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