I knew that the place to ride was on Bayshore, but I thought that a little exploring was in order first. I made my way east toward Ybor City, and came across a lovely bunch of run down houses with chickens running all over the yard. I spotted a guy making his way towards one of the hens, and they were tame!
I called out to him, "Are those your chickens?"
He seemed startled, and looked up at me and put his arms down to his sides. "No...they're not"
I had been sincere in asking, but then realized that he was trying to steal a chicken!! I had just put a stop to a chicken murder!
I rode on trying to find some straight roads away from traffic, but finally gave up and decided to turn around and head for Bayshore. Plus, the brick paved streets, while quaint for foot traffic, were giving me quite a headache.
Bayshore was only a short jaunt through downtown, I figured. After several near-collisions, I found my way. Of course, I was on the wrong side of the street. With no crosswalk in sight, I headed towards the nearest stoplight. I ran over a few lizards on the way and had to walk my bike around construction twice.
Finally I reached Howard Avenue and got across the road. Freedom! The straightaway was brilliant with the water on my right-hand side and the smooth sidewalk under my tires...I cranked my gears up and took off.
Then, after about 2 minutes, it started to pour down rain. Fortunately I had my sunglasses on that acted as a windshield, but it was pretty awful.
I got home soaked to the bone, missing the country roads of Indiana...
