Expedition to Florida

Tomorrow, Friday, September 30, 2005 marks an expedition from Savannah, GA to Florida in the bicycleSAVANNAH, LLC 17 (now 13) passenger van. This historic venture will be undertaken by Ed Jewell, Harry Hutson and yours truly. Historic? Yes, because the van has 118000 miles on it, it's the first official trip for the van as used by bicycleSAVANNAH, LLC, the rear seat has been removed so we can place three bicycles inside crosswise and with gas prices at $3.50 per gallon this is truly a historic undertaking!

We will drive from Savannah, GA to Baldwin Florida and start riding at the furthermost trailhead of the Baldwin-Jacksonville Rails to Trails. This trail about 40 miles long will absorb about 2 or 3 hours of our time as we will be driving to Inverness, Florida after we ride. In Inverness we will camp out at one of my best friends house (Chris Trangas) where Ed Jewell says he will only go with us if he gets the single bed in the one extra bedroom that Chris has. So, Harry and I will camp on the porch to satisfy this old crusty bike rider who at 70 years of age cycles 200 miles a week, every week! Well, he deserves it!
Saturday, we drive to Spring Hill, Florida where we will ride the SunCoast Trail, a recreational trail built alongside the Suncoast Toll Road that runs from Brooksville to near Tampa Intl Airport. This is a great trail for riding and Ed will probably do a metric Century on this day, Harry will come close to that, and your truly is a little more lazy and will probably do 40 plus miles.
Sunday, we attend the Annual Withlacoochee Ride in Inverness along with about 1,000 other bicyclist to raise money for trail maintenance of these great rails to trials. Stretching about 45 miles, the trail is a heavy favorite of many East Central Floridians and has increased tourism in that area, as well as, real estate values along the trail. Yours truly will set up a hospitality canopy with soft drinks, energy drinks, snacks and hand out my flyers for my 2006 "Florida Trails Tours and More!" Will park the trusty van (I hope trusty) near the start so people can read the sharp painting on the van about bicycle tours and events by bicycleSAVNNAH, LLC.
On Monday we head back to Savannah, but stop in Hawthorne Florida to ride the Hawthorne-Gainesvlle Trail. This is a 16 mile trail which we will ride out and back for 32 miles. After lunch at a very unique cafe that has every imaginable kind of cow on shelves and the walls, we will head back to our homes in Savannah.
Ed Jewell will get the most miles, Harry second and me third. I would guess Ed will getnear 200 miles of bicycle riding in the four days. Harry maybe 160, me about 130. Our combined ages is (70+76+82) 228 years, we will ride more than our combined age!

This is yours truly, Dave Sanderson. This picture appeared in the Savannah Morning News along with a story about the Historic Savannah Bikefest. Shows me with a little loss weight in the mid-section, my new bike and the Forsyth Park fountain in the background in downtown Savannah, GA. 

Worked as a volunteer to help on the Poolerfest 2005 Duathlon, a run, bike, run event in the bedroom community of Pooler near Savannah, GA. This picture is Iris Douyub, a outstanding senior citizen of near 70 years of age, who last year qualified and competed in the Hawaii Iron Man event. Simply a great lady! 

The Historic Savannah Bikefest is history. After a years work by me, this year's event was only 528 riders which means a breakeven for bicycleSAVANNAH, LLC my corporation. After cancelling last year's event because of hurricane Frances, Katrina causing a gas shortage scare and gas prices, the event did not have as many participants as previous years.Need to find a major sponsor if I am to continue this event.