Bike Rides and Routes – Page 21 – Palm Beach Bike Tours

June 11, 2008September 27, 2018

When the 2001 Bianchi Talladega was Brand New

The Bianchi Talladega was the coolest bike I had ever owned, well with the exception of the Sears Spyder that I had early on. That bike ruled the neighborhood when I was on it.

Bananna Seat Bicycle -- The Spider

But back to the Bianchi. I purchased the bike and got a good deal on it because I knew someone who knew someone at the bike store. Actually, the someone at the bike store I think was more interested in the someone I knew which really made me a middleman. So I got a great bike at a wonderful price.

First Trip: First Dent

I had the bike for less than a month and tore it down and packed it up to be shipped to West Palm Beach, FL on the same flight that I was on to do a ride with Ken and Wally and Jan Norris. The ride was from someplace (I’ve forgotten because of a head injury on the same bike, but that comes later on…) to Key West, FL.

I unpacked the bike from the Thule Round Trip Bike Travel Case (that a certain someone from the bike store had loaned someone I knew so that I could ship my new bike safely) and low and behold something as heavy as an anvil had been sitting on the case all the way from St. Louis, MO to West Palm Beach, Fl because there was a noticeable dent in the bike frame. Grrrrrr.

The ride to Key West, Fl was wonderful. Except for the ride across the 7-mile bridge where I picked up some broken glass and got a flat. The tire was ruined, not just the tube. Fortunately, we had our very own SAG. Unfortunately, the SAG was not on the same bridge as I was. So we took the front tire off and someone else (neither of the before mentioned) rode ahead with my tire to meet the SAG in order to get to a bike shop before it closed to purchase a new tire and tube. That left me with having to hoof my new bike across the bridge, a long way across the bridge. Did I mention it was a 7-mile bridge?

First Trip: First Victory Hoist

The rest of the ride was perfect once the bike was back together. It was on that ride that I started hoisting the Bianchi over my head to document each ride.

Here is the first time that the Bianchi was “celebrated” after a ride. It is always good when there is water on a ride and I can ride down to the water’s edge, get off and wade into the water and hold the bike up in the air. People look at me like I am a lemming heading out to my own demise when I do it. Silly people, I suspect they don’t ride a bike.

The Bianchi with it’s strong yet light frame endured a lot in the years that I owned it (with the exception of the dent from the airline). In fact it proved itself to be quite the iron horse on one occasion. Technically it is a stainless steel horse with a mixture of Reynolds 631/525 aluminum and carbon fiber materials. Nonetheless it proved itself to be a formidable opponent when pressed into service.

I Had This Accident…

I was riding on some of the Ozark Mountain hills in Jefferson, MO on the Bianchi years ago while training for a ride that I was going to do in Mountains of Tennessee later on. I was riding alone out on some obscure hills when I had my first accident on the bike.

Two dogs came out of a country lane and while I was used to dogs nipping at the pedals of my bike, I was not prepared for what they did.

They ran right in front of my bike.

We, of course, collided and I was thrown over the handlebars. I suffered a concussion (yes, I was wearing a helmet) and that has left me with some precise short-term memory loss that continues today. The Bianchi on the other hand came through like a champ. A few scratches on the brake hoods was all that it suffered, amazingly because I was flying down a hill when I hit the two dogs. Here is a photo of the road I was going down.

And here is what the back of my Bad Dog jersey looked like after hitting the road. Note the abrasion above the “A”.

The bruises I suffered are not suitable for posting here.

Best Miles Ever

The miles on the Bianchi that Matt mentioned were some of the best that I have ever ridden. And here are some photos that I hope tell the story of how much fun this bike was to ride.

The TURBOSPOKE ™

Ken was nice enough to send me a unique gift that made the Bianchi popular for a 100-mile ride one day.

It was called the TURBOSPOKE and it was a glorified baseball card in the spokes noisemaker. It sounded great for the first 2 miles of the ride. But after the third mile it was just too much for me and all the other riders that I rode past. Oh sure there were lots of jokes and it was a novelty that provided me with a lot of fun, in addition to never having to say “on your left” when I rode up on anyone. They could hear me coming from quite a distance and did not need any other warning. Riders accused me of having an engine on my bike at first (it was that noisy), but I would just tell them that it was a two-stroke engine that was powering it.

The second day of 100 miles, my group asked that I not use the TURBOSPOKE; it was driving them crazy. Enough was enough and although I kept the TURBOSPOKE on, I took out the plastic card that made the noise for the second day 100-mile ride.

I have hoisted the bike in Armstrong

Three States, Three Mountains

I have hoisted it at the top of Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN at the Three-state Three-Mountain ride each year (except this year when I had a new bike).

First year.

Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN - Part of the Three State, Three Mountain Ride

Second year.

Tunica, Mississippi

I have stood in cotton fields at mile 90 of a ride in Tunica, Mississippi.

Giant Ketchup Water Tower

I hoisted it high in front of the Ketchup Bottle water tower over in Illinois.

Bianchi's Distinctive Paint Job

One of the best things about this Bianchi is how easy it is to find in a large group of bikes. The distinctive paint job is the equivalent of tying a ribbon to your car antenna.

Cycling with Lance Armstrong

Bad Dog Mark Steinhoff: 2005 Ride for the Roses, Austin, TX

Not sure about the 25,000 miles that Matt said I personally put on the bike, but it always rode well (love the granny gear in that triple ring) and when I rode in the 2005 Ride for the Roses in Austin, TX it cut through the same hills that Lance rode on when he was training and THAT day as well without a whimper.

Riding with Lance Armstrong in Texas in 2005

In fact, here is a photo of me and Lance riding together that day. Lance is the guy on the left of me who is listening intently to my story about hitting the two dogs…and saying to me, “that’s one crazy ride dude.”

Here I am explaining to Lance Armstrong about my dog toubles.

Okay, so maybe I was added into that photo with the help of Photoshop, but I was there on the Bianchi that same day as Lance, I just didn’t raise $15,000.00 in order to have the pleasure of riding with Lance at the front of the pack.

Climbing Tower Rock

climbing down the bank to the Mississippi River

Which brings me to maybe the best Bianchi photos yet. The day Ken and I decided to climb Tower Rock, which sits in the middle of the Mississippi River. Normally there is river water around it all the time, but this particular year the level dropped and so we headed up there to do something we might only have a once in a lifetime chance of doing. Climbing Tower Rock. And why not up the ante a bit and take the Bianchi along as well?

So passing the Bianchi torch to Matt also means passing on the “Hoisting of the Bianchi” as well. I guess I should have gotten that in writing when we were negotiating the price…

–Mark

: Bananna Seat Bicycle — The Spider

: Got a Flat, Walking Across the Seven Mile Bridge

: First Bicycle Ride Victory Hoist

: Where I Had The Accident

: Bad Dog bike jersey after hitting the road hard

: Some of the best miles I have ridden were on this Bianchi Talladega.

: Detailed view of the TurboSpoke mounted on the Bianchi.

: Day Two: TurboSpoke Still on the Bike but Disabled

: Cruising Through Armstrong, Missouri

: Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN – My First Year on the Ride

: Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN – Part of the Three State, Three Mountain Ride

: Mile 90 in a cotton field in Tunica, Mississippi

: Ketchup Bottle Water Tower in Illinois

: The paint job really stands out in a crowd of bicycles.

: Bad Dog Mark Steinhoff: 2005 Ride for the Roses, Austin, TX

: Riding with Lance Armstrong in Texas in 2005

: Here I am explaining to Lance Armstrong about my dog toubles.

: climbing down the bank to the Mississippi River

: walking across the river to get to Tower Rock

: steep climb with Bianchi Talladega

: near vertical climb up Tower Rock

: where the dents really came from

: at the top of Tower Rock

: victory on Tower Rock

June 4, 2008September 27, 2018

He’s Not Biking, But He’s Using a BOB Trailer

The weather was perfect in South Florida back in March of 2005, so I headed out for the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (LOST). (Temps were 63 to 74, but the weatherman lied about 5 mph winds, decreasing to calm. They were really 5 to 7, increasing to 7 to 10, by my wind gauge.)

About eight miles into my ride, I saw something breaking the horizon. I figured it was another biker or hiker, but we didn't seem to be closing as quickly as I would have thought.

When I got closer, I didn't see a bike, but there was some kind of contraption on the ground and colorful stuff scattered all over the trail. Looked kind of like a rag bag had vomited its contents. The guy was busy stuffing the bits and pieces into waterproof bags.

Turns out I'd run into Steve Fugate from Vero Beach, who was on the last legs of his marathon hike around the country. Continue reading “He’s Not Biking, But He’s Using a BOB Trailer”

June 4, 2008September 27, 2018

OK, I feel insignificant

I posted earlier about the East to West Coast (of FL) ride my kid and I did at the end of 2007. The total distance was about 180 miles over three days. (OK, we cheated a bit, too. When we got to the urban riding portion of the trip, we bailed. After all, cars and congestion are the same on either coast.)

Then I read Alan Snel’s account of riding from the East Coast to the West Coast, 170 miles, in ONE day.

A tip of my magic foam hat to him and his support crew.

He elected to ride SR 60 across the state. It’s been about 20 years since I went across that way, so I’m assuming that the road is a lot better than it used to be.

In the old days, you could always count on hitting rain just about the time you were getting to phosphate country and the roads would have deep depressions where the heavy truck traffic had washboarded it. Those ruts would fill up with water and make it hydroplane city. If you got there just as the rain was starting, you’d find the phosphate dust would turn the road into a skating rink. The road spray would coat your windshield with a white film that you couldn’t wash off with windshield washers.

Whew! Brings back a lot of bad memories.

June 1, 2008June 16, 2008

Ride of Silence – A Minority Opinion (Maybe)

I’ve debated for a couple of weeks whether or not to make this post, because it’s likely to be about as popular as kicking a puppy.

I’ve ridden my third – and last – Ride of Silence.

When I realized that it was getting to be that time of year, I turned to the Ride of Silence web page to find a local ride, which turned out to be an eight-mile loop in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. That seemed a little short, but it was convenient for my son, who could ride from home, and for my daughter-in-law, who was on the way. I added two coworkers to our band.

It was a much smaller group than I found in Boca Raton, FL, in 2006 and 2007, but, a ride is a ride. Riders ranged from young to old and were astride everything from beater bikes with rusty chains to light-weight carbon babies that cost more than three times my first car.

We started off with police motorcycle escorts fore and aft, despite that we were doing a loop in a mostly gated residential community.

After the roll-out, the group was cruising at 10 to 12 miles per hour for the first 10 or 15 minutes while everyone got sorted out.

At the 20-minute mark, though, the pack started tightening up when the speed dropped to 6 MPH. Riders started weaving into each other.

Shortly after making a turn, my cyclometer showed that my speed had dropped to 4.6 mph (confirmed later by looking at my GPS track) and I unclipped several times thinking I was going to have to come to a complete stop.

I had riders on all four sides and we were were coming close to touching wheels as we tried to maintain our balance. I don’t like riding close to folks I KNOW and I didn’t know these folks. I pulled up next to one of my coworkers and said, quietly, “This is too dangerous for me. I’m abandoning the ride.” [If the picture doesn’t look like we’re too close, you’re right. It was the last time we were still riding fast enough to safely hold a camera.]

I sprinted away from the group (if you would qualify 14-18 mph as a “sprint.”

When I passed the lead motorcycle cop, I said, “This is too slow. It’s dangerous back there.

“I know,” he said. Continue reading “Ride of Silence – A Minority Opinion (Maybe)”

May 18, 2008July 27, 2008

Matt’s First Bike Century — 100 Miles in Florida

My son, Matt, and I wanted to end off 2007 with something special – a cross-Florida trip from Hobe Sound, FL, on the east coast, to Ft. Meyers, on the west coast.

The weekend of Dec. 9 turned out to be perfect: cool temps with a strong tailwind out of the east. By the time we got to Port Mayaca, though, the wind had shifted slightly to the north, meaning that our next leg would have a strong headwind component.

Our original plan was to pick up the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (LOST) at Port Mayaca, and let it carry us north, east and west around the Okeechobee arc of the Lake. Then, we would jump on 78, a newly paved rural road with good shoulders and make it into Moore Haven. The LOST sits 30 feet above surrounding terrain with no windbreaks, so the prospect of headwinds wasn’t pleasant.

A cheap Radio Shack wind gauge confirmed that the winds were 12 to 15 mph and gusting higher. We decided to ride south on 441 to pick up the LOST at Pahokee. We weren’t looking forward to this stretch, because the road is narrow and under construction. What shoulder there is is badly broken. As it turned out, the southbound section wasn’t as bad as we had feared. It wasn’t great riding, particularly with a strong crosswind that left my shoulders sore from trying to keep the bike straight, but I’d do it again in a pinch.

We stopped at Canal Point for a snack and to replenish our water. I had sucked down almost a whole Camelbak of water and would have been dry in another 10 miles or so.

The road improved once we got to Canal Point and the run into Pahokee was nice. We climbed back onto the LOST and scoped out the improvements being made to the Marina. The campground was mostly wiped out by the 2004-2005 hurricane seasons and a fleet of very nice looking trailers have been brought in for rentals. They look like a nice place to stay if you want to make Pahokee your fishing and biking layover.

The trip south along the LOST was great except for the strong cross wind that would occasionally gust strong enough to almost knock you over. My brother, Mark, likes to lift his bike overhead to celebrate milestones. Matt, who rides a heavier bike, opted to just PRETEND he was lifting his bike when we chanced on this pile of rocks used to reinforce the dike. Continue reading “Matt’s First Bike Century — 100 Miles in Florida”