I was up relatively early getting ready to do something I have not done since Burlington, VT.....ride my bicycle. Our Inverness hots, Richard and Rhonda, are avid bicyclists, and specifically avid tandem riders. TLE was not up to a vigorous ride.....I hoped I was. We left their home around 8:30 am to ride 2.9 miles over to the Withlacoochee State Trail where we would ride another 6+ miles south to our turnaround point. To be fair, I was not aware of the distance we were going to ride Friday, and when Richard announced we were almost to the turnaround point I blithely asked "How far have we come?" to which he replied "9 miles" to which I retorted "Wow, I had no idea we had come that far!", and I did not. Why? I hadn't plugged in my Garmin GPS cyclocomputer for a few months, and its battery had run down, so I was riding without any data input....rare for me. I like to know how fast I am going, what my average speed is, and how far I have ridden. I was just taking it on faith they would not ride me into the ground, and my faith was not misplaced....
On the Withlacoochee State Bicycle Trail with Richard and Rhonda
resting before the return ride
.....in all I fared pretty well on the 18 mile ride, but the last 2 miles back to their home we were riding into a stiff headwind, and I gradually fell behind them, arriving home a few minutes after them. I was reminded of how much I love to ride my bike, and how little I have done of that the past 6 months. I have got to remedy that situation!
About 45 minutes after returning from our ride Richard and I got busy installing TLE's new passenger seat. In all it took about 5 hours beginning to end, but we finished bolting it to the floor just as it began to rain. Naturally, I was outside tightening the nuts on the bolts, two of which come out in our house battery bay, and two in the right front wheel well, so just as I was tightening the last nut with my socket wrench I began to feel sprinkles on my back.....perfect timing.....
The new passenger seat installed with power
....I've got a little cleanup to do Saturday, but that will be a breeze. The chair works, and it can be turned around easily to provide extra seating when we are stationary. So our mission in Inverness has been accomplished......now to work on replacing my seat!
Around 6 pm we went inside the house to eat dinner with our hosts and were treated to smoked pork tenderloin, and roasted vegetables. We sat talking, and sipping wine until well after 9 pm. Again, as I have written many times, some people you meet along the way you just connect with on a deeper level, and feel as if you have known them all your life. Richard and Rhonda are just such people, and we have cherished our short time with them here in Inverness. Life is good, and satisfying.....thanks for stopping by!
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That seat does look comfortable. Did you have to drill holes on the floor panels
ReplyDeleteYes I did had to drill new holes..... this seat has a totally different bolt pattern.
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