Mt Dora Bike Festival

It's been two years since we've gone to the Mt Dora Bike Festival. This family weekend event is held every October and offers riders choices of bike ride lengths and difficulties. We've probably been there five times or so over the years (see our 2006 post), but this was the first time we had a group to ride with. It's even more fun with a group. There were about twelve of us that went up. We're all different levels and speeds, so it was nice to have friends to ride with even if we didn't see each other the whole time. We always got together pre- and post-rides.

Because we were with some strong riders, we ended up challenging ourselves with two rides that we hadn't attempted in prior years. On Saturday we tackled our first Metric Century ride - which ended up becoming 67 miles because of a missed turn near the finish line! I'll have to admit that I was staring at my emergency bracelet at that point - it has the SAG wagon phone number on it. I was strongly considering it (calling for a pickup) until I realized that we hadn't gone that far off course.

Sunday we did the 40-mile Assault on Sugarloaf Mountain. This area of Florida does indeed have hills, which is why we love this bike festival so much. The scenery is so unique to South Florida: trees, pastures, horses, cows, lakes, and lakes, and lakes...oh, and the hills! So I felt great after successfully conquering Sugarloaf...but then a few miles later I had to bike up The Wall, which was like hitting "the wall". I got up it, but it sapped the rest of my energy and I whimpered the rest of the way home. Funny thing though, Dorota didn't even realize that we encountered "The Wall" - that's how strong some of our friends are. Boy I was envious of her that day! Perhaps this is the encouragement I need to start riding more?

My favorite part about riding these hills are the downhills. Thrill Hill and another unnamed hill after Sugarloaf were awesome. My max speed was 39.8 mph. I might've broken forty if I didn't have to brake to keep a safe distance from Andy. When you're going that fast, all it might take is a pebble to mess up your day. But it is soooo much fun. So much better than the crawl uphill!

If you're ever in Central Florida in October, keep this bike fest in mind...