The Tour de Garden was held on Saturday, September 18, 2021. Like most mass rides in Florida, started pretty early in the morning. I arrived at 6:30 in the morning, found a pretty great parking spot, and pretty immediately found my teammate, Z, also getting ready for the ride. After getting our bikes and ourselves ready, we deliberately stayed back to have a relaxed start, not surrounded by a bunch of other riders, jostling for a place.
The ride almost immediately turned into downtown Winter Garden, a beautiful little town with newly paved roads which were super smooth. Z and I held an easy 17 mph pace, passing a number of slower riders as we found our stride for the day. Everyone we passed was cheerful and upbeat. The day was promising to have gorgeous weather, a little cooler and mostly overcast. Eventually, we ended up riding in a group of about 6 riders and by the time we left the first SAG station at 20 miles, it was down to just 4 of us, Z and I, and James and Joe, who we rode with for the rest of the day.
The ride turned into a mini Horrible Hundred, with a bunch of hills, including the dreaded Sugarloaf at mile 40. By then, we were all feeling the ride, and Z and James was having cramps in their legs. We decided to cut off a hilly 6 miles loop to spare James and Z’s legs from the climbing (not that I was complaining either. 🙂 )
By the time we reached the last rest stop, Z was doing better but James’ cramps were getting worse and he insisted we leave him behind about 10 miles later. Z, Joe, and I pulled into the park to finish our ride around 1:30. Z and I enjoyed some lunch and conversation before we headed home for the day. All in all, it was a great ride!
Thanks!
Shawn
