2011 Ride #2

So off to the Pinellas Trails again this week, but it wasn't with out it's pain points. For starters, it was 53F in Dunedin when we got on the bikes. It was also very windy with an 18mph ENE wind, which meant we'd catch a headwind on the way up, and a solid crosswind on the way back.

Again I was on the TREK, which still helped me fly along even in the wind. Ana was on her mountain bike, and was hating life because of the wind and the cold. My goal today was to ride the Pinellas trail from Curlew to the northern terminus. I had never ridden the section from Safford Avenue, to what I thought was the northern terminus. I found out when I pulled the maps up, that the trail actually turned right at US19 and went down a few more side streets until it ends at Keystone Road. Sadly, the trail is VERY POORLY marked and looks to dead end right under the US19 overpass. Quite honestly, the trail runs through some sketchy looking areas in Tarpon Springs (not that I felt worried about my security, but I certainly wouldn't be caught there after hours for sure!). Probably the scariest sections as far as physical safety concerns (i.e. cars crossing the trail) was to be found in this section too. In the section between Safford avenue and the other side of downtown Tarpon Springs it is bordered by one way traffic on each side. When you come to a cross street this becomes very scary, with the most frightening section at Tarpon avenue because it is very poorly labeled for all sides. At least the other sections have flashing lights (or even stoplights for that matter). The other fun factor is that after you get past the sketchy 'hood and dangerous intersections, you get to pass the sewage treatment plant. What a nice touch in the winter, I can only imagine what this will be like in the summer. Needless to say, I plan on avoiding the section north of Safford in the future, as it really wasn't a fun section.

Ride Stats and Maps:
Started: Jan 9, 2011 11:35:47 AM
Ride Time: 1:13:42
Stopped Time: 16:02
Distance: 17.97 miles (bike computer said 18.02)
Average: 14.63 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 23.40 miles/h
Fastest Speed according to Bike computer: 26.2mph
Climb: 16 feet
Calories: 452
Calories according to HRM: 1162
Max Heart Rate: 212bpm (this has got to be a sensor error)
Avg Heart Rate: 176bpm



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