New Toys

 

Wesley Chapel, Florida 

 

We have had a busy week dealing the food poisoning and  poison ivy.    As I mentioned on our last blog, Al got sick after eating some snacks they had laying out at Whole Foods.  He was a pretty sick boy and it’s taken a full week before he could really eat again.  He had a routine doctors appointment Wednesday anyway, so he mentioned it to the doctor.  The doctor said food poisoning usually lasts 5-7 days and Al was on the long end of the cycle, so he gave him a prescription for Cipro (antibiotic).  He said if he didn’t feel better in a day or two, he could take it.  I don’t think he will need the prescription, because he finally seems to be better.  He lost 6 pounds though! 

He has had a rough week because he has also continued to be bothered by the poison ivy that apparently  growing somewhere near our campsite.  I guess we’re (me)  going to have to go outside with Roundup and see if we can locate it.  

The summer rainy season has started and now I remember why I don’t like Tampa in the summer.  It’s hot, humid and we get big thunder-boomers with lightning every afternoon.  They usually only last a few hours but yesterday it rained into the night. We were disappointed because we bought new bikes yesterday, and wanted to ride them!

You might remember, we both bought inexpensive bikes in the Keys.   We really enjoyed them, but we decided to leave them there since we didn’t have our bicycle rack with us.

My Keys bike is an older Trek bike with a fancy paint job.  I was amazed how easy to ride this bike was and I really enjoyed it.

Here is my Key West Cruiser.  Yeah, it’s a geezer bike.  Als’s is very similar. 

We have been missing our bikes and regretted not bringing them with us, so we started looking on Craig’s List for some for some nice used bikes around here. We intended on buying more single speed cruiser bikes, like the ones we have in the Keys, but one thing led to another and we ended up with new 7 speed bikes.

The problem is most of the cruiser style bikes you find are just used versions of the cheap bikes they well on Walmart.  I got spoiled after riding my Trek bike and once I knew the difference, it was hard to go back. 

We did some looking and research and with the help of our biking guru’s Stephanie and Barry, we decided it was between the Trek Pure, and the Specialized Expedition.

Stephanie and Barry are big into mountain biking and have very expensive bikes made by Specialized.  Their around town bikes are the Trek Pure, so we got to test drive them around the park.  Very, very nice!

The difference between the Trek and the Specialized was very little, so we ended up with the Specialized brand. They were a bit cheaper, they were available and had the colors we wanted.

 

I chose the step through low entry model. It’s still a geezer bike, but a little less “geezery” than my Keys bike.  They will stay with us except when we go to the Keys.

Al got the more  “manly” bike.

This company makes high end racing bikes and off road mountain bikes, but we didn’t see ourselves going on 100 mile road trips or mountain biking, so we chose these bikes which are built for comfort and a light trails.  That’s about my speed.  :)

 

There are miles and miles, and miles of paved bike trails around this area as well as plenty of off road trails.  Our plan for this morning is to go out to Flatwoods Park.  Its an 8 mile bike and rollerblade trail.  We used to go there to rollerblade, but haven’t been for years.  We’re trying to get there before it gets too hot, but we don’t move too quickly in the mornings!