First Ride of 2013!

Happy New Year all!  Today the Divas went on their first ride of the year.  It was a beautiful day and ride up to Astor, Florida where we lunched and laughed at the Blackwater Inn.



Morning Meetup

 

Sassy, the Orlando Chrome Divas mascot, is happy to hitch a ride.

 

Pit Stop

 

Lunch at the Blackwater Inn

Our beautiful view at lunch

Playtime at the Blackwater Inn



These boots were made for riding!





And we're looking forward to another great year of riding. 

See ya out there!

Christmas Lights in Lake County Ride

Today we rode west and enjoyed an early dinner at Hurricane Dockside Grill in Tavares and then Teresa led us on an incredible scenic ride to see the holiday lights in Mount Dora, Eustis and Tavares in Lake County.

 

Dinner overlooking the water at Hurricane Dockside Grill

Reindeer Diva

Look who we found at Hurricane Dockside Grill!

The Orlando Chrome Divas with Mr. and Mrs. Claus



Melanie, the Wallhooky Champ

 

"Cindy's here!!"

Ride to Stumpknockers

What's a stumpknocker? 

 

All of us who rode the 200-mile ride today now know.  And what a ride it was!  There were lots of curves, some tight twists and turns (Yes, in Florida!), beautiful tree-canopied streets and plenty of head-turning scenery along the way as we headed to Stumpknockers on the Square for lunch in Historic Downtown Inverness.  Except for a hiccup or two along the way when first Penny had to pull over early in the ride due to a flat rear tire and then Wendy's bike broke down after lunch, it was a perfect day of riding.

The Orlando Chrome Divas at meetup in Winter Garden

Uh-oh.  Penny's bike has a flat in Ferndale.

 

Pulling over to safety. 

 

Waiting for the tow truck.

 

Poor baby!

 

Jean looks happy to be heading back out.

Continuing on with the ride.
 How fortunate that there was a bicycle race going on and that we had police security at the intersection where we were stopped!

Photo op after a fantastic ride and our bellies full of incredible seafood at Stumpknockers on the Square.  Be sure to try the catfish if you go!

 

 

  And for those of you who couldn't join us and are still curious, here is Stumpknockers' definition:

 

The Stumpknocker is a fish that has long been a part of Southern fishing lore. You’ll find these small bream-like fish hugging the submerged cypress stumps where they live and feed – thus giving them the name Stumpknockers. Stumpknockers are found in large numbers along the scenic Withlacoochee and other Florida rivers.  Stumpknockers Restaurants is like its namesake – small and tucked away, but well worth the trouble to find.

Donating for Dollars

The Orlando Chrome Divas had a yard sale today in Leesburg from items donated by Divas and friends to raise money for our group.  By the end of the afternoon we netted a total of $260, made another charity organization very happy by donating all the items we didn't sell and rewarded ourselves with good, cheap food at the Leesburg Chili Cook-Off.


Divas Keri, Joni, Victoria Teresa, Wendy and Esther
making it happen.  Nice job ladies!

Look at all the stuff!

Daytona's 20th Annual Biketoberfest

Today was a beautiful afternoon and a perfect day to ride out to Daytona for Biketoberfest.  This month's ride was an open ride, so some of our family and friends joined us.  Once we got to the Speedway, Wendy's bike broke down.  Thankfully, we had a safe place to pull over, diagnose the problem (battery) and wait while we got a new battery installed (Batteries Plus just happens to be across the street!)  In no time at all our Diva mechanic, Victoria, had us back underway and we joined in on the festivities in progress.

At meetup

Hmmm... what could be wrong with Wendy's bike?

Victoria's got it all under control, doing what she loves.

Now it's a party!  The Divas have arrived.

Hey check us out in Examiner.com!

A big thanks to Bruce Larson for such a nice article about the Orlando Chrome Divas and some of the community services and charities we've been involved with.

 





Click here to read "Using a passion for riding to provide community services", by Bruce Larson

Pool Party 2012

 

Since August is usually our hottest month in Orlando and since we liked it so much last year, we decided to have a pool party again in lieu of riding.  But this year we had a special surprise when Cheryl, our awesome Safety Officer, demonstrated the proper way to pick up a dropped bike.

 

Here's the video:

 

Once Cheryl showed us the technique, we got to each try for ourselves. 

 

Go Keri! Go Keri!

 

 

She did it!  Woohoo!

So it was another great day of fellowship and fun, with a little FYI.  Thanks all! 

****

Update: Two weeks after our Right Your Bike tutorial, one of our Divas had this to report:
 

"Given the right situation (I dropped my bike) and the right shoes (wearing my riding boots) and the right motivation (I was mad)...I was able to pick up my bike from my training by Cheryl..."

 

Kinda cool, huh?