June's Nite Ride - Friday June 9th I'll bet you'll thought that our chapter hasn't been very busy these last few weeks Wrong ! Even though our summer weather has kicked in we improvise in order to get in as much riding as possible. On Friday, June 9th we set off on one of our nite rides. This type of ride always turns out to be interesting because nobody but the ride coordinator and the CD's know where we are headed. Following our riders meeting at around 7:45 PM we mounted our bikes and headed out as the sun started to sink behind the Gulf of Mexico. The evening air temperature was in the mid 80's and the humidity was low for this time of the year. The temperature slowly dropped as we headed out through the rural areas of northern Pinellas, Hillsbourgh, Pasco and Hernando Counties. The moon's glow illuminated the large pastures and many lakes that we passed. Cattle and other animal silhouettes could be seen as we passed through the rolling countryside. The aroma of newly cut grasses occasionally filled the night air. Kathy did what in that orange grove ? As we passed the homes that boarded our route an occasional flicker from a television set would break the nights darkness. The occasional instructional chatter from Rich our leader kept us on our toes. Joe Hudd kept the gray matter in our brains functional by posing a question that we weren't able to answer correctly until we did our first rest stop. While taking a much needed break Buzz posed a number of questions about GWRRA. The correct answers were rewarded with a few "chapter dollars". Buzz are you sure GWRRA was formed in 1971 ? Oops he wrote down the wrong date! As we pulled into our last ride break location, the clock showed that another day had arrived. The morning air was now in the mid seventies and still relatively dry. The ride turned out to be an enjoyable event. We had covered almost two hundred miles during the six hours. ------------------------------------------------------ Breakfast Ride - Mangrove Restaurant Ruskin The 7:45 riders meeting seemed aweful early. Gee the sun had just begun to come up over the horizon. The weather didn't look particularly good. Tropical storm Alberto was getting its' act together out in the gulf of Mexico. From our vantage point we could see the clouds on the east side of Tampa Bay, the direction that we would be off to. We only had four bikes but considering the potential for a wet ride it was enough to " go for it". Our route took us south across the Sunshine Skyway, then northward up US 41 to Ruskin. As we exited the interestate onto US 41 we noted water had accumulated along the highway but the roadway was dry. The overcast skies kept the tempatures cool and as we pulled into the parking lot the bay was calm.
We enjoyed a good breakfast and then headed back home via Tampa. Mother nature had smiled on us and had not given us a bath. It was an enjoyable ride.
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