Tour of Sebring
Labor Day Weekend, 2005
A 3-day fully supported cycling event with multiple level rides and varying daily routes.
Sebring is tucked into the rolling terrain of central Florida's lake and grove region.
This Central Florida location is a prime area for the avid bicycle enthusiast.
Loading the car on Saturday, Sept 3rd.
Toyota Rav 4, ultimate small SUV gets loaded with
3 bikes, 6 wheels, 3 people and 3 bags.
We should be in a commercial.
The passengers are ready.
Love this pink tile bath tub.
Kenilworth Lodge in Sebring founded in 1916.
Ladies night out. Saturday dinner at The Outback; Yarnall, Gina, Susan and Laura.
Yarnall, Laura and Susan - Andrea, Gina and Bonnie have breakfast at 6:00am.
7:00am; Mark, Laura and Susan listen to the day's announcements.
The YHammerIT? red and black photo before our metric century ride.
Yarnall, Bonnie, Mark, Max and Laura.
After missing the green 62-mile route marking and taking a 4-mile detour the group humors the
photographer.
Laura, Mark, Gina, Susan, Max, Paulette and Yarnall.
The photo op that caught my eye just before turning around.
The group at a crossroads, waits for Susan who was in the zone.
After riding an extra 8 miles,
none of us wanted to go fetch her.
Notice the green route marking in the lower left foreground.
Oreo cookie with peanut butter is Laura and Bonnie's favorite rest stop snack. Yum!
It's 8 extra miles to the next rest stop or 10 miles back to the first rest stop.
It's hot,
windy and hilly; the pool and lunch are calling our names; What would you do?
The remaining group decides to turn around, making it a 60-mile round trip.
While we were making our decision, this group of motorcyclists pulls up behind us.
I jump in for a photo op.
They all wore helmets, were very nice and very loud.
It was a moment in the middle of an orange grove in the middle of nowhere.
April and Gina show me their numbers for their longest ride to date.
OK. So we didn't have the map with us on today's route and there were so many different colored road
markings that green and yellow-green looked very similar in the bright sunlight.
A soak and swim in the pool feels so good after cycling 60 very windy very hilly very hot miles.
Remember that perfect day?
It includes a nap.
and ICE CREAM! Delicious.
Yarnall and her white picture; white T-shirt, white shorts and vanilla ice cream.
If the US Open is on ...
... Gina can be found watching it.
Yarnall and Gina's towels hang dry after the pool.
Being the artist that I am, I thought they
looked liked hanging dresses.
This was outside our room. Even though empty, it made a great photo op.
Mike Powers after his 100-mile century ride.
Cool clouds, warm breeze, nice sunset.
With Amanda, our wonderful waitress at RJ Gators.
Remember those black mail photos... well this is mine.
So, do you think Gina's back hurts from cycling or from her cot?
Labor Day sunrise 7:30am, Jackson Lake.
Here they come.
and there goes April. Whoosh! Hey shouldn't she be watching where she is going not looking at the
photographer? It's a good fun photo though and way too early for cars. Glad that she's having fun.
Me, having a blast.
Highlands Hammock State Park, Florida's first state park.
Mark and Gina.
Notice the two deer on the left side of the photo?
I didn't; until the rider behind me yelled DEER!
before watching my life pass before me.
The deer gave me this "do you mind" look.
Very good thing, FL has small deer and I have extremely good balance.
Blurry photo taken while moving, but I like the look of the morning sun coming through the Cypress
Trees.
Where was this shade yesterday?
Self-timer photo op.
Bonnie, Mark, Yarnall, Mike, Gina and Ken.
Self-timer at the rest stop.
John's friend, John, Gina, Mark and Bonnie.
On the other side of the fence; Oscar, Yarnall, Mike and Ken.
Shadow photo with camera lens cover in center.
Good way to pass the very windy hot miles.
Here comes Mike.
and Mark, Gina and Yarnall.
The pee photo.
Gina notices this sign. I am very far ahead. On the way back we stop for a photo
op that was too good to pass up.
Resting, stretching and hanging in Sebring town center.
We just rode sixty hot hilly windy miles; we're allowed to be silly and have fun.
Sebring, 1912. Traffic circle, very similar to St. Armand's Circle.
Mike pointed out this wall mural to me.
Yarnall made this little guys' day by giving him a left over peanut butter cup.
Bike makes it back to the car.
and so do we. Ta da!
Gina and Yarnall off to take a shower.
And Yarnall is off.
Thanks for a great weekend!
Just in case you were wondering, five women traveling alone get to meet some really cool fun people.
Laura picked up Mark from Deland on her Saturday metric ride, Ken from Tampa hitched a ride with us in
the Park and then pulled us through many windy fun miles and Max took our group metric century photo.
All three were both great fun to ride with and helped make the cycling memorable and the weekend a blast.