We started the morning at 8:30am with a group picture of all the riders that came for the 5-year reunion. There were three people missing (Fred, Maggie and Nate) in the photo but they were there for the start of the ride. It was a brisk start with a temperature of 57, however it warmed up nicely to about 71 degrees - perfect riding weather.
We drove to a starting point in Clearwater, about 16 miles from the hotel. We followed the Duke Energy Trail, the Ream Wilson Trail and the Courtney Campbell Causeway Trail. We turned around at the Ben T Davis Beach. From there we took a slight detour into Safety Harbor for lunch at the Whistle Stop Bar. With a group of over 30 people, it took a while for all of our meals to arrive. Our group only had one waiter, but he did an amazing job. Unfortunately, the longer than anticipated lunch meant we headed back to the hotel during rush hour and had a tight window to get to Big Storm Brewery for our planned C2C Trivia Night. I rode just under 36 miles.
As back story, Bubba is the tour director responsible for our Coast to Coast (C2C) ride in 2018.
Because Bubba could not join us in Florida, we had planned a video call with him just prior to starting trivia. His sister, Grace, who lives locally asked if she could join us. She did and brought buffs for each of us as a gift from Bubba. It looked as if we would start the video call late, however, our technical guru Rita got us all set up on time. I texted Bubba and let him know we were ready to go and to log in. He texted me back and indicated he would be on in just a couple of minutes. About two minutes later I heard a commotion out front. Unbelievably, Bubba showed up in person!! Everyone was super surprised. Sue was the last one over to the brewery and I met her out front. I walked with her in and told her “We made it through another day.” Grace kind of distracted Sue so that Bubba could surprise Sue as well. It made for a perfect night. Later in the evening, Bubba explained to us that due to unforeseen circumstances, he really didn’t know until one week beforehand that he could attend.
We did play C2C trivia that included 24 questions. Examples were: “When we arrived in Concan, TX, who hung up their bicycle in a tree to help it dry out?” In California, which Interstate did we pedal on because there were no other road options?” The winning team, with 21 correct answers was Van, Georgie, Geepa, Tom, Audrey, and Dave G. Their team’s name was the “Speedos.” The second-place team with 20 correct answers was Frances, Eddy, Henry, Mark, Loren and Joe and their team’s name was “Geezer.” Every player won a prize with most of the prizes having a bicycle theme.
After the brewery event ended, six of us headed to Culvers for a scoop of ice cream. After a very long day, it just seemed about perfect. Then we walked into the hotel lobby and there were about 15 Coasters with Bubba having wine and cheese, so my day got a little longer. I am finally writing up my blog at 10:00 pm.
Group picture. Missing from the photo: Fred, Maggie and Nate. They did meet us at the trail start.
Sue along the trail.
Start of the day.
Sue’s husband Dan and I at the water top / snack break.
View from the Courtney Campbell Causeway Trail.
Our group enjoying the view.
Mickey, me Janet, Gayle and Sue. Thanks for the photo Ellen!
Just after Bubba arrived.
At the brewery: in the foreground are prizes for trivia, in the back of the room are riders looking through photos from 2018.
Janet during trivia as she read the questions.
Bubba and the “Florida Five.”