The day starts out at 05:55 Friday as we leave our house and head off to work. The ride to work is a short 25 miles and since we are leaving right after work, we have all of our gear with us or as my work colleagues call it "our homeless kit." 
Yes, with our vacation being just around the corner it is time to step up the training. We know what you are thinking: "What in the heck are these people talking about?", "Training for vacation, are they MAD?" 
Lucky little dog![/caption]
Our little adventure group[/caption]
Although it is wonderful to discover far-away, exotic places. A lot of times it is just as nice and sometimes just as adventurous, to go on an overnighter bicycle tour right here in Florida. Since I was feeling a little jealous of Ron's little getaway last weekend I was really itching to go on a little bike-camp-trip myself. Of course it didn't take a lot of arm twisting to get Ron to go along, so we planned on a weekend bicycle tour starting right after work on Friday.
I rode my bike with panniers packed to work, where Ron and our friend Sam met up with me after work to pedal through Starkey Park, up the Suncoast trail to a primitive campground near the trail on SR 52. 
I have been itching to get out for an overnighter for several weeks, so I decided to pack up and do it. However, instead of driving home after work and grabbing the bike and then heading out, I took my gear to work, so I could ride straight from my cube! There were several reasons for going this route:
1 - It would give me more miles.
2 - I could spend more time on my bike. 
Inverness, FL[/caption]
Yesterday we teamed up with Sam (long long time family friend) and Jessica (our daughter) for a nice long 50 miles on the Withlacoochee Trail. In August they will be bike touring with us in Europe, so it only made sense that they start "training" for vacation now. Jessica's bike is a gift from us for all the hard work she has done over the past several years. It comes complete with a SON28 generator hub, B&M Lumotec light system, a Tubus rear rack, and a set of Ortlieb rear panniers. She is ready to tour! 
Riding the L.O.S.T.[/caption]
Even before the ball dropped in New York city, we had already started planning our big trip for the year... well sort of that is. As many of you know, we are saving and planning for a 12 to 18 month, "career break", "sabbatical", "extended vacation", or whatever you want to call it. We like referring to it as our, "Global Bike Tour", so taking a vacation has been kind of on the back burner because we're trying to save every extra penny until we realized 2011 was the year of the PBP (Paris-Brest-Paris) Brevet. Pedal Power Touring was invited by University Bicycle Center of Tampa and was asked to setup and demo their Co-Motion Nor'Wester Touring bikes at this year's Bike Bash at Flatwoods. Considering this was a bicycle event, I felt it was only appropriate to ride...