Ever since I sold my condo which was right by the Flatwoods Park (I could literally hop a fence and be there, which I used to do all the time), I haven’t been riding much. For some reason it seems now like a lot of troubles getting a bike on a car rack, driving to the park, etc. I did go road biking few times this year, but haven’t managed to take my trek 4500 out much lately. So, a couple of days ago, all of a sudden I decided that I wanna go ride at Flatwoods and for the first time ever I took my D70 with me on the ride.

Unfortunately, it was kind of late when I left, so I didn’t get much time before dusk settled in. I snapped about a dozen of pictures and spent the rest of the time riding. What can I say… my back wasn’t up for it :) After about 40 mins it voiced its concerns regarding the length of the trip and then withing next 20mins, realizing that I’m not surrendering, it made my life really miserable :) But I did make it to the finish, clocking about an hour and thirty minutes for the entire ride (which is not much, considering all the stops for picture taking). Here is the gallery.

The weather turned out to be gorgeous today - around 70F midday. This looked like a perfect opportunity to bring some variety into my cardio routine, which lately has been pure elliptical. As the early spring is kicking in (yeah, I know it’s still February outsite, but don’t forget - we’re in Florida ;-) days are getting longer. Now if I leave work at 5pm sharp I can be at Flatwoods park by 5:30pm latest. This leaves me a cool hour for the ride.

I haven’t been riding for a couple of months now (if not more). Quick tire pressure check (both the front and the rear ones were around 50psi, that tells you… :), refilled water bottle, picked up a helmet and a pair of gloves and around 5:40 I was in the saddle.

The air was crisp and fresh, bike handled quite well and overall I felt awesome. The sun was setting down and it was getting a bit cooler, which I usually appreciate as it makes riding more enjoyable. Besides, this particular park feels somewhat mysterious as last traces of the sun light are slowly retreating, surrounding the woods to the growing shadows… darkness is settling in…

This photo was borrowed from Alan Snel’s “Bike Stories” blog. I keep planning on snapping few of those myself, but at the moment, my D70 is just too much of a camera to take with me on a ride…

By now the park was almost empty - not too many cars in the parking lot and therefore I didn’t see too many people out on the track. I thought my butt would get sore after such a long “vacation” and I was prepared to make a couple of stops alone the way; however, to my surprise I felt fine and completed the entire 12 miles loop without any breaks. I was also amazed by the timing: usually after a prolonged break I clock around 43-45 minutes, and as I keep riding, in a couple of weeks I improve to 37-38mins. Today, without killing myself, I clocked 38mins. I guess those squats and deadlifts I’ve been working on for the last few weeks must be helping!