Even after conquering the entire trail yesterday, I could not pass up the opportunity for a slow, easy spin on the Nature Coast State Trail with my fiends Bill and Jane, who joined, entertained, and rode with me for over forty miles in some very pleasant weather today. It was a veritable fair for the gopher tortoise as we saw more than half a dozen after watching a pair of bunnies dash across our path earlier on.
Stepped through a quick 100km in four hours this afternoon on the cleanest trail in the area. Four gopher tortoises, two snakes, and not a single other recumbent were sighted, but hey, it's still warm out. Just to be clear, 3752 calories were most definitely harmed during the making of this excursion.
Upon the high road passing Ivey Memorial Park in Branford, the trail took on the look and feel of the tunnel it must've been when trains passed through it regularly. A gopher tortoise and myself were among the few travelers out today, making our way against a steady breeze and a much gloomier forecast. As is often the case, the effort proved to be well worth making.
Though its name suggests it's thirty miles longer than it is, Ali Che'Ree and I rode from FL 100 west of Keystone Heights to Roberts Lane east of Florahome and back for a total of 41 miles today and thoroughly enjoyed being outdoors and in motion. Abundant sunshine and welcome breezes did not interfere.
Little River Springs shared its short slough with the tannins of the Suwannee River today under some of the prettiest skies I've seen in a while. This brief respite from severe heat and humidity makes for some mighty fine cycling here in north central Florida.
