We drove to The Villages, Florida to participate in the 2nd Annual Florida Tandem Rally sponsored by the Florida Panthers (Partners Aboard Neat Tandems Happily Enjoying Riding Simultaneously) Club. Their website is at
http://www.floridatandemclub.org/index.htm

We had an enjoyable time although I can't locate any of the pictures I took at the rally. Fifty four friendly couples were registered and the volunteer hosts did a great job planning routes and social events. While cycling through The Villages retirement communities we noticed many paved paths along the main roads but separate from the road. In most cases it was not very easy to get from the road to the paths. We rarely saw any bicycles (or for that matter, many walkers) on the "recreational paths". It appeared that the purpose of the paths were to provide routes for people to drive their golf carts without having to worry about vehicular licensing and lighting regulations. Rhona and I cycled on some of the paths and usually received surprised looks from the golf cart drivers. The local tandem riders did not seem to use the paths, preferring to ride on the main roads. Although the shoulders were narrow and there were curbs most places the vehicular traffic was usually courteous, especially when passing 25-30 tandems.