Jim Waving

Jim Waving

Sunday, May 4, 2025

Odessa, FL to Bradenton, FL

 69 miles today.  This was the first day we delayed our departure because of weather.  It was raining when we got up, but by 9 AM it had stopped & the rest of the day turned out to be sunny & warm.  Our route out of Odessa involved a bunch of turns through residential neighborhoods, which was really kind of interesting.  The rest of our ride can be summed up with this sign:


I’m quite sure this is the same Hy 41 that goes past Kettle Moraine Hardwoods way up in Wisconsin.  Down here it isn’t a limited access freeway.  It has a wide bike lane, and is a 4 lane divided highway.  We were going around Tampa today, didn’t really see much of the gulf.  There were a couple of bridges over some rivers that flow to the gulf, but they weren’t too steep.  Still 69 miles is a lot in the heat & a bunch of folks were suffering.

We also are trading out some riders.  2 of the women from Canada are headed back & 1 guy left for Virginia.  All of them had to get back to work.  In their place are 2 guys from Pennsylvania & the spouse of one of our riders from Chicago.

As usual, we had a good group go to dinner tonight & what a surprise - there was an ice cream shop right near by.  We commonly go for ice cream & tonight was no different.  They have something down here that I would like to see come to Wisconsin - Waffle Bowls.


I enjoy my ice cream in a waffle cone, but even in Wisconsin I often end up with a good tasting sticky mess.  With the waffle bowl, you get the best of both worlds.  Probably an innovation born from the hot climate where no one could finish a waffle cone without a mess.

That’s all for now!