Withlacoochee Bay Trail

Since it was too hot to ride a long trail, we picked a short one and rode it twice. This coastal location gave us a tailwind on both inbound segments and a few clouds kept us from actually overheating. Jerry Smith had just acquired a new Greenspeed trike and wanted to put it through the paces. It seemed to perform nicely and definitely corners like nobody's business. Mark and Phil joined in as we found our way to the Gulf on a beautiful morning!

Quite a few different birds were on hand this morning; even a Roseate Spoonbill was observed flying across our path. We rested at the Gulf trailhead and snacked on Jerry's boiled peanuts while a seasoned, local rider told us a story about some folks pointing to that marker way out in the channel and asking what that sign said. The story had it that the response was simply, "...Boiled Peanuts." That drew an enthusiastic roar of laughter from us snackers. This very fit visitor told us he cycled every other day and swam the next.



On the ride back in we stopped in to all the little overlooks and such, just to check out the lay of the park and visit with folks setting up for a day of fishing. Then our second pass was more concentrated on finishing before melting down, so it went quite a bit quicker. Phil and I had to stop as an unusual creature crossed our path and cried out as a must do photo op. Being the ride captain for the Crusty Retired All Bent Society (CRABS), it simply wouldn't do for us not to capture a photograph of Phil with the "team mascot" when it naturally presented itself.

After the ride, Mark and Phil and I headed south to Crystal River to lunch at Crackers on Kings Bay which had a quite tasty swordfish sandwich on special. Having to pass the park on my return path to the house I couldn't resist the trail and stopped in for a third sprint on my Sprint.

Photos for mobile devices

Madison County Four Freedoms Trail

Deanne and I drove up to Madison this morning to find a pair of foxes playing near the railroad on the way into town. Right on schedule, Thelma arrived with her new ICE Trike on board and after unfolding it, we set tires to pavement.



Deanne and I were both taken by what a difference the 26 inch rear wheel makes in the appearance of the trike.

Our focus quickly shifted to the obvious topic on this beautiful trail... how did they make it so that you feel like you are going downhill all the way? Just a delightful spin through the shade, dropping back in time to a very peaceful period, when everything moved slower. This is easily the most comfortable twelve and a half miles you are likely to pedal on a hot day. There are also several options for lunch when you return to Madison.

As we've said before, we will be returning to this trail again, soon.

Photos for mobile devices

Flagler Beach to Marineland Trail

This one follows A1A north starting out on the sidewalk and becoming a little more enhanced as it goes along. Mark surprised me by stopping in at the park just to see us off. A clear morning with a light breeze working itself up to set flags, kites and hats into motion was ours as we started out in search of the first patch of shade.



Shelton scouted ahead while Carol and I eased along comfortably in the back, drinking in the day. Just after finding shade, we decided to take the Palm Coast diversion on the way up, so hung a right at the overpass and made our way over the Intercoastal Waterway into Palm Coast to playfully explore the Palm Coast Linear Park and its several optional off shoots. There is a quite lovely trail segment running right alongside the waterway with a beautiful new trailhead facility at the southern end.

Back out on the A1A part of the trail, we headed toward Marineland and were soon reminded by signage that the Washington Oaks State Park would be readily accessible to us. Everyone agreed and that became our new destination. As you can see, there is plenty of shade to be enjoyed in that park and it is quite a beautiful place. When we left the park, there was already an undercurrent of excitement building. Carol & Shelton had both recently experienced Flagler Fish Company's offerings and there was not a prayer I'd be able to steer our group further north to Marineland once we began imagining the culinary options.

What can I say? We turned right!

Do Not ...miss any chance to eat at this surprising venue! You could easily prosper with nothing but their "side orders" section. The perfect polish for a ride day!

Chiefland Watermelon Festival

We took to the Nature Coast State Trail in Trenton at a sharp 7:00 AM to beat the heat and were pleasantly surprised to find the watermelon already being served by the time we arrived in Chiefland. The prediction of a hint of rain was just enough to provide partial cloudiness which kept the sun at bay until we were well on our way back.



There was also just enough of a breeze to keep the temperature down to a respectable mid-summer level. We met some friends on the trail who are local residents and new recumbent trike owners and threatened to join us on future rides. All this made for a very nice Saturday morning ride which included sightings of at least twelve rabbits (yes, we counted 'em), a snake, and many birds.

Hawthorne Trail

Nineteen riders, feeling the need to recover from holiday dining, met at Boulware Springs for a ride to Hawthorne and back. A light cold front had moved through the night before and presented a crisp, clear morning with a fresh breeze from the north.



David and Terry came down from Middleburg, Sheila and Larry from New Smyrna Beach and her brothers Al form Orange Park and Tom from Gainesville, Phil from Leesburg, Stix from Orlando, Mac from Seffner, Dutch and Martha from St. Cloud, Bill and Jane from Fort White, Mark from Citrus Springs, Bill and Amber from Archer, Sandra from Alachua, and Deanne and I from Fort White. We all enjoyed visiting and taking in the view as we pedaled over brightly colored leaves along this beautiful trail. While cormorants ducked into Johnson Lake for their lunch, we slipped into Dianne's Old Time Barbeque for refueling and more visiting.

There was a reunion feel to the gathering in general as many old acquaintances were renewed and some new faces were added to the group. The trip back seemed a little quieter with the pondering of making it over the hills after the full round trip weighing on the mind. But everyone made it back safely adding even more to be thankful for on a fine Thanksgiving Weekend.

Thanks everyone for coming out and making it a great day! Also, thanks for the contributing enthusiasm from those who were on their way, but unable to attend.

Enjoy larger versions of the photos in the gallery.

O\vo~

Space Coast Invaders

Larry & Sheila from New Smyrna Beach and Rick & Myhra from Cocoa Beach brought their recumbent trikes along on a visit to the Nature Coast State Trail in Trenton, FL in honor of Larry's birthday. We were joined at the trailhead by local recumbent residents Don & Mei and John & Jeanne brought out their new tandem from Gainesville for its first rail trail experience.

Ride Start

A gentle breeze from the east coaxed us readily on to the bridge over the Suwannee River where we paused to talk with some fishermen in a boat below. They replied they weren't doing all that well as Larry reminded them, "...that's why they don't call it 'catching'!"



Just then, Rick pointed toward a large splash downstream where a huge sturgeon, "...nearly five feet, cleared the water like a Marlin!" We mounted up and back-tracked a little to turn south down to Fanning Springs and took the small detour through the shade of the north side of town over to the Fort Fanning Park on the river and crossed over to the wayside park across the highway for a break.

Back across town to the trail we resumed our trek south via the completely canopied tunnel of shade on down to Chiefland. Having started after 9 AM, it was really warming up by now and we were beginning to seriously target some cooler plans. We settled on hastening back to the origin where air conditioning might be available with menus.

A nearly overheated troupe repaired to the Cracker Box in Trenton for some very friendly and generous servings of fresh salads, Reubens, fried shrimp and the like. All in all a quite enjoyable, and certainly warm, forty mile outing.

O\vo~

Patch and Go

I was enjoying my first ride in a week and things are going beautifully, until my seat actually broke as I crossed the Santa Fe River.



It looked to me as though I was going to have to "phone a friend", since "poll the audience" appeared to be disabled at the time and "50/50" had unacceptable odds, until I spied a telephone terminal post and things began to look more promising. There, buried behind a fallen tree and guarded by a small army of carpenter ants, was a discarded traffic cone.

The cone was torn and revealed a very useful thickness that seemed just sturdy enough to me to be useful, so I broke out my Swiss Army knife and got myself back on the road in minutes.

Forty-one miles, exciting repair job, and lots of traffic as city folk headed to the rivers and parks in our area.

Photos are in the gallery.

O\vo~