Just recently we had the pleasure of being one of the hosts for a FAM tour for journalists from California, Oregon, New England and Florida.  The point was to show there is more to Fl. than Disney and the beaches.  They did some flats fishing, snorkeling, kayaking, a birding walk, and of course eating at some favorite local hot spots.  Our portion was only about an hour and a half of cycling on the Withlacoochee Trail.  All said they had a wonderful time and one gal came back to ride and explore further.

    On another note, we're finally getting some much needed rain from tropical storm Beryl.  Maybe an early storm season will bring the water table up so we can continue to have water to drink and bathe in.  I think society has to re think this whole notion of having the lush green lawn, at least here in Fl.

Bike to work week

Hey folks don't forget May 14-18 is Bike to work week!

Cats on the Withlacoochee

It was early morning around 4:30 on March 4 when the wind began to howl through the open windows causing the vertical blinds to slap together and blowing maps and papers off the dining room table and rattling the bedroom door in its frame. Awaking to this barrage of noise made me wonder if the Catrike rally Sunday ride on the Withlacoochee was going to take place. The front moved through in about an hour and a half but sleep seemed evasive so at 6:30 I got up and drove South to place directional signs and paint showing where to turn to get to the restaurant for lunch. On going to the shop, people were already there and friends brought up some snacks and tasty baked goods for the throngs about to arrive. Soon cars with trikes mounted in various ways started showing up. Before long the area around the shop was a mass of humans and trikes, phones and cameras clicking away, face book notices being sent and tech getting the word out that the ride was on. Off we were around 10:30 in a staggered start to River Ratz Paddlers Pub only 9 short miles away. Some did a fast run while others took in the scenery with a easy pedal. Some people were even lucky enough to see Gumby the camel.
There was a corn hole tournament under way when we got to Ratz but everyone seemed pleased with the food and service. I got a chance to ride the new rear suspension Road. Got the derailleur full of sand with a little off road excursion but a dip in the river took care of that. See the pic on bentrideronline.com. See the rear suspension in this blog. Anyway the weather and ride turned out just great and it was nice seeing so many Catrike friends again. We received an award for being in the top 10 of Catrike dealers, and the company gave trikes to most of it's employees who have made this fine company what it is today. I feel proud to sell such a fine product made here in the good ole USA. Thank you to all who helped out with this endeavor and all who showed up in spite of early weather gloom. As they say, "if in FL. you don't like the weather, just wait a bit and it'll change" this time for the better as it was a perfect day for a ride. See you all next year.

Withlacoochee trail portion

REMINDER: The Catrike rally Withlacoochee Trail ride on Sunday will start from Hamptons Edge Bike Shop in Floral City and go to River Ratz in Nobleton for a 18 mile out and back total with lunch between. Tortoises (slower riders will leave at 11:00 am hares (faster riders 11:15 am.) or just try to get yourself to Ratz by at least 12:00. They're expecting lots of people, so don't be in a hurry, relax and enjoy the view of the river, have a beer. We will have coffee and snacks here at the shop starting at 9 am. Parking is behind the library, Ferris Groves field, Capital City bank parking lot. The veterinarian's lot must be kept clear for emergency horse trailer use.

New items in store for you trikers.

There will be some new trikes arriving soon at Hampton's Edge Trailside Bicycles one being the Greenspeed Magnum, with adjustable seat back and forth and up and down. Will not fold but will break down easily with QRs. The other addition will be a new brand for us, another German recumbent bike and trike builder, HP Velotechnik. The first order will consist of 3 Gekko FX foldable trikes and one Gekko non foldable . The folding model can be folded in about 7 seconds without removal of the seat. We're excited to get our hands on these new additions and trying them out. The Scorpion is of interest to me especially in the full suspension model but that will have to wait for next months credit card. Stop in and check these out and give me a chance to practice folding the Gekko FX. I want to do it as fast as the guy on the HP Velo vedio on you tube.
Lets not forget to come on down to downtown Floral City for the kick-off of the Strawberry Festival and the brew & bbq Friday night March 2. Beer tent, 2 bands, and town merchants specials abound. We will have libations and maybe even a free gift for those who wander through our door. There will be buses running between Floral City town center to the festival on Sat. and Sun. and the trail will be lit up with luminaria from Ferris Groves parking to town center on Friday night. So hope to see you there.
On Sunday there is also the Catrike rally ride from our shop to River Ratz in Nobleton. We leave at 11:15 to be there by 12:00. Slower people should expect to leave at 11:00. It's about a 9 mile ride to Ratz. Please RSVP if you haven't already.

Strawberry Festival & Catrike Rally

Get ready for some big happenings in Floral City. Friday March 2 from 6-9pm there will be a kickoff party for the 25th annual Floral City Strawberry Festival in the Town Center located in front of the library. There will be live music, food and even beer. The Shops will be opened for people to stroll through. Saturday the gates will open in Floral Park for the Festival where there will be Farm fresh Strawberries and lots of vendors. Saturday is also the 1st Day of the 8th annual Catrike Rally in Winter Garden, FL. See Catrike.com for details and to sign up. Sunday March 4 is our day to host the Rally. We will open at 9 am and have some coffee and treats (maybe even some strawberries) for our guests. We will start the line-up for the @8mile ride to River Ratz Cafe in Nobleton at 10:30 so we can all take our pictures. The Restaurant is expecting us at 12n so those who would like a leisurely ride should leave at 10:45. The people who have seen it all before can leave a little later.

We are very excited to be going South on the Trail this time. In the past we have always gone North. We are shaking things up this time and hope we have a beautiful day to have lunch on the Withlacoochee River. Everyone who plans to attend the Sunday Ride will need to RSVP to us at trailsidebicycles@gmail.com so we can let the restaurant know how many to expect.

We will post any updates on the blog. Looking forward to seeing old and new faces!

Happy New Year 2012

Another year is gone and in a might hurry I would say. The years seem to go by much faster the older I get or maybe it's because we're busy. We hosted the annual New Year day party for the Withlacoochee Trail riders and had around 60 people or so to the house. The weather could not have been better and it was nice to see everyone out of their riding clothes and in street clothes, although many rode their bikes and were dressed accordingly in cycling attire. Thanks to everyone who attended, and all the good food you brought. There is a new year of cycling ahead so lets go for a ride, well maybe when it warms up. We're not used to temps in the 30s here in sunny Florida. Happy birthday to Chuck Charles and happy New Year to all.

Christmas on the coast

Took a few much needed days off and headed for the East coast of Florida, to Merritt Island and camped at Manatee Hammock Campground on the Indian River. We heard there were painted buntings at the visitors center and lots of good nature walks through some of the wet lands. Leroy and Diane Jacobsen also went, as Diane is the one who told us about the buntings. We were not disappointed let me tell you. We saw painted buntings right off. Such beautiful birds with blue, purple, red, and green feathers. Because of their colors they are being trapped and sold as cage birds so they are endangered now. In another area we got to see Florida scrub jays which also are endangered. At the Viero wet lands we walked around the ponds and saw all kinds of water fowl, ducks, coots, herons, egrets, spoonbills, ibis, grebes, mergansers, hawks and of course in any Fl. wet land, gators. The best was watching a Great Blue heron catch and eat a fish about a foot long, and also watching a gator sneaking up on a bunch of coots although the coots were keeping their eyes on that gator. Took a short kayak paddle on the Indian River from the campground and saw manatee and dolphin. Had a wonderful time seeing all the wildlife and evenings just sitting around the camp fire talking about the days fun with good friends. What a great way to spend Christmas.

Take me to the river

Today started out chillier than was expected as we headed out to kayak the Oklawaha River, Northeast of Ocala near Silver Springs. From Ray Wayside Park if you go right you'll end up at the head spring of Silver River, go left as we did you go with the current down river to Gores Landing or further if you want. We shuttled cars to Gores Landing which provided us with a 10 mile easy paddle. Nice color since there were not any hard freezes yet and the river was full of water birds and song birds provided a sound track for the trip. A stop at The Blue Gator for dinner topped off a perfect day. This is the kind of day off we need, something different with good friends, Diane, Mary Ann, Deborah, Lee Ann, Charlie, and our new friend Bill. Looking forward to a camping trip over Christmas to Manatee Hammock near the East coast and Merit Island in search of the elusive Painted Bunting.

Heritage Days

We hope you will join us on Dec. 2 5:30-8:00 pm for the start of Floral City's Heritage Day's celebration. The town will be all lit up. The store's will all be OPEN. We will be serving libations and the Lions Club will have their famous fish fry! Saturday will have various events going on around town. Floral City is the place to be this weekend. Join in the fun.

Spoonbills at last

Heard from some friends that there were Rosette Spoonbills on Bennette's Creek off the Northern part of the Withlacoochee river in Yankee Town near where it feeds into the Gulf of Mexico. On Monday our day off from the shop we drove up there with kayaks in the van to go check this out. The last time I was in Yankee Town I stayed at the Isak Walton Lodge which had burnt to the ground and is now rebuilt and opening soon. The one thing I remembered about this area were the no-see-ems or flying teeth. They were there to greet us this time too. After getting directions to Bennettes creek we got on the water and right off the bat we saw a dolphin, then paddled off looking for the 1st left after the last house which we took, and a right at the "no wake " sign which we also took. We paddled all the way to the Gulf and not a Spoonbill to be seen. Planned it right by the current and the tide so we wouldn't have to paddle against either out or back. Saw 2 more houses nearer the Gulf and figured we turned too soon, maybe that wasn't the last house we previously saw, so back we went to where we thought would be the correct turn. Saw lots of birds, little blue herons, great blue herons, ibis, egrets but no spoonbills. The lady at the campground said we didn't want to find bird creek because it was easy to get lost, well, we found it by accident. Paddled all the way to the gulf again this time by a different route then back toward where we started out where I found a guy at the first last house and asked him where Bennette's Creek was. He pionted back the way we just came and said," see the woods about 500 yards up, just look for the floating logs, that's the creek". Back we went and finally, Spoonbills, wood storks, black crowned night herons, oh and on the way bald eagle. What an adventure sore shoulders and all. Can't wait to go back and go all the way up Bennette's creek to the gulf.

Ataxia ride, Clermont

This past weekend we did the ride for Ataxia and took some Catrikes for some of the riders to use to do the ride. Very inspiring to see some of these people with this disease who had to be lifted from a wheel chair and lowered to the trike to do the ride. Did I mention there were hills and wind. David Henry who wasn't in a wheel chair did 25 miles on the Expedition, (without the ride kick in the pic). Natalie Denny who had to be lifted from her chair and placed in the trike did 16 miles in the hills from Clermont to Killarney Station and back, total 16 miles. This is the ride we did and I give here kudos for here effort on those hills. We saw several people walking up some of the hills which she could not do since she can't stand or walk. I'll think about those people with this disease the next time I have a little physical pain or discomfort. Pictured is Kyle Bryant whom also has to be lifted from a chair, with Mark from Catrike, David trying the ride kick power trailer, Natalie climbing a hill, and her family who rode with her. I tried to put this on facebook but I couldn't get it to post.

Wing Flyers

Come Wednesday we should be getting our first order of Wing Flyers in. Stop by and take one out for a test ride.
Just one more way to have fun and get fit! See Ya Soon....

Ataxia Ride Sunday Nov. 6

Join us for a day of scenic cycling, great food , and fun in support of Friedreich's Ataxia research.

Ride Ataxia Orlando will offer 16, 25, and 50 mile routes on scenic country roads.

For more info visit www.rideataxia.org/orlando

Hope to see there!

Fold Rush

If your ordered a Fold Rush from us, please give us a call. We are bumbling idiots and lost your name and phone number!

Luminary Art Walk

We hope you will join us on Friday 11/11/11 6-8pm for the Luminary Art Walk. Hosted by the Florida Artists Gallery, Pink House Art Studio, Forgotten Treasures and Gifts and the Floral City Heritage Council. You will take a candlelight stroll through Floral City and view great art and meet the artists. Doesn't that sound fun? And to top it off you can stop by our shop and have a glass of wine! What a great way to spend and evening. Please mark your calendar for this great event.

successful events

This past weekend there were two events that look to be a success. One was the first annual Floral City "Bikes and BBQ" where many BBQ contestants sold out. The other was the annual Withlacoochee trail bike ride and there were lots of people on the trail and many visiting the shop, which we just had painted last week and had a sidewalk put in from the trail. Here are some before and after on the paint. The art was done by my best bud Terry Klaaren and was done in 2 days. There's more to come.

Vegas baby

We went to Vegas and are back and the most exciting thing I can think of is it was raining and cooler in Vegas than here. The day we went to the outdoor demo it was raining and down right cold as we could see from the vendors as they were shivering. Thanks to the bus driver who had panchos to sell, he could have gotten more money than a buck each for them.
New stuff in the shop which we found at the show will be arriving soon. One is a light that is an MP-3 player and speaker and a loud warning siren along with an LED flasher and light. Another is a bike and parts washer using microbes to eat oil and grease like used in the gulf oil spill. Also the "Ride Kick" electric trailer to hitch behind any bike will be coming too for those who need a little help. Next is the Nuvinci internal hub, no index , no gears, but like turning up the volume on a radio. And, not to be out done, some super drill bits that were impressive in their demonstration like Ginsu knives, and hope they perform as stated.
Home again and waiting for the heat to break.

Never ending story and some

I mentioned a dog I thought reminded me of Falcor the luck dragon in the movie "Never Ending story" His pic is in this post, not the best seeing how he wasn't cooperating with the photographer.
The ride from the GA. state line and the Chief Lidiga trail was uneventful with a little rain thrown in from on coming Lee. We did 16 miles in Alabama on the Lidiga mostly slightly down on the way from East to Piedmont and West of course back to GA slightly up on the way back. The trail in Bama is only 10' wide and is asphalt, and goes through woods and rural land. No nice twists or turns or challenging climbs or thrilling down hills. You can hum the theme to Deliverance here if you want. If you're going to do the Ladiga I'd suggest drive to Anniston and ride East toward GA. and have the down on the way back.
So that's all folks as we are home here in Fl and fly out to Las Vegas for Interbike on Monday. I'll blog anything I think would be interesting in Vegas at the bike show, but probably not too many bents there. I'm sure the hotel, Harrah's will have wifi.

Ride and a dog

First lets get the dog out of the way. The owner of this campground has a mutt that looks as close to Falcor the Luck Dragon in the movie from years ago, The Never Ending Story. I'll try to get a picture of him before we leave.
Now the rest of the story! Today another 40 miles from Rockmart to the Hiram Trailhead/ Homer Leggett Park and back. Points of interest were the 700' long @ 100' high Pumpkinvine Creek trestle, and a 700' long tunnel under Brushy Mt. Also for general info the name Rockmart is named for the slate quarry and dubbed "The rock market to the world". The ride today had little inclines kind of like "dead mans hill" before Floral City on the Withlacoochee, except much looooonger and a nice pedal on the way down. Much easier than what we learned is called "Trash mountain" that we rode up and down yesterday, because it is located beside the land fill. Should be called Stinky Mt.
Tomorrow we'll drive to Cedartown and ride into Alabama and the Chief Ladiga Trail, before it rains I hope. Lee should bring some much needed rain to this part of GA hopefully.