Bikecommuters.com and the Seminole Heights Bicycle Club co-hosted a bike ride the night of July 4th to go catch the fireworks in downtown Tampa. We only got about ten riders…LOTS of regulars were out of town for the weekend…but we had a blast and couldn’t ask for a better viewing area for the fireworks display.
Here’s our crew heading out from the Seminole Heights Garden Center:
It’s a pretty effortless spin downtown…not a lot of traffic heading down that way, and once we got into the downtown zone, being on bikes made a huge difference in navigating the narrow streets. We were able to zip right down to Tampa’s Riverwalk and scored a great spot to view the fireworks at Cotanchobee Park. Being able to “park” mere feet from our viewing spot was nice, too:
Lots of folks took their boats downtown, too — here’s a shot of the water traffic in Garrison Channel, with Tampa’s exclusive Harbour Island in the background:
And, of course, the main event…a pretty spectacular fireworks display with a stunning finale that left the crowd cheering. I ran out of both still- and video-camera memory just before the finale, but got some of the display recorded for posterity. Enjoy!
The ride home was a piece of cake, too. While thousands of “temporary” pedestrians headed for their cars, we simply got on our bikes and headed out. We were able to zip past dozens of cars caught in post-finale gridlock and made it home in only a few short minutes. No one even tried shooting bottle rockets at us!
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I kicked myself July 4 night for not following your lead. I don’t know if it’s the economy or what, but the streets were deserted.
It would have been a GREAT night for a ride.
Next year.
But, if I get a power assist from a bottle rocket or a Roman candle, I’m going to blame it on you.