It is forecast to be a nasty weekend with Thunderstorms and possibility of Tornadoes! Nice weather to be heading out in to begin training again after my surgery! I am supposed to work in a two hour ride today and a 3 hour run tomorrow.
I was up at 4 am and hoped to squeeze my ride in between passing bands of storms. What I am still getting used to here in Miami is that it can look absolutely miserable out...yet still be in the high 70's to low 80's. In Canada when the skies are a mean gray and the winds are howling the temps are usually low and it is freezing out!
I headed to the workout mecca of Miami...Key Biscayne. Athletes of all kinds gravitate here for many reasons. First and foremost, it has the only hill in the area...the William Powell Bridge! Cyclists power up and down on this and runners come out to train here. You have Ironman athletes, triathletes, cyclists, marathon runners, joggers ... you name it...all slogging up and down the bridge!
One storm had just ended so I arrived here and prepared to get in my ride before the next storm started. My plan was to bike to the end of the key and take some side roads to put in my two hours. This ride was mainly to loosen up my muscles and tendons for tomorrow's run.
I passed Jim who was dragging a sled behind him weighed down with a tire. He had a cop following along behind him getting video of him dragging the tire on his cellphone. Hopefully this is not against the law!
My route took me past the Miame Seaquarium, which is a huge tourist draw, but just beyond that is my favorite stopping point...This Banyan Tree. This particular tree is my favorite tree in Miami. It is just magnificent!
Look at the branches, the trunks, the roots. This tree is positively alive with personality...it is straight out of Lord of the Rings. I love the roots...they are huge and snake their way along the ground. I stop here every time I ride to admire this tree.This bike is set up to memorialize three cyclists who have lost their lives riding along this route. It is just horrible. Their have just been some nasty accidents along here, and I am alway aware of that as I ride. I just can't believe that there are some cyclists who will speed along here with earphones in...it is just not safe.
At the end of the Key, you can look out over the water and see Stiltsville. This is actually what it is called. There are 7 buildings here that just hover above the water, supported by stilts. It looks like a mirage, because they just seem to float out there on water! It really is amazing.
Once I turned around and got back to the bridge, I pushed up hard and this is what you can see from the top. There is the Rusty Pelican Restaurant where you can grab some good eats, or you can continue on down the bridge and head toward downtown Miami. It really is a spectacular view of the city.
At the bottom of the bridge I paused for a bit to watch the windsurfers play...I have got to try this someday. You can rent these here, or try kayaking, jet skiing... you name it, they have it. I talked to the owner of the shop here, and I am going to come back and try out the paddleboards. It looks like a great workout for the abs!
Everything seemed to feel just fine following my two hour ride. My nose is still running like a sieve though, which is very annoying. It just seems to continually drip...I wonder when this is going to stop? Tomorrow I am going to go for a 3 hour run and see how the legs are doing. The days just keep ticking away toward the Tour des Geants...no rest until the end of September!
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