Day 190 Jan 31, 2017. Zephyrhills to Dunnellon, FL

Yet another beautiful Florida water scene.

 The trail reminded us of Michigan except the palm trees and

 mangroves : )

 John and I have been looking forward to today's ride because we knew most of it would be spent on the Withlacoochee rail trail. Much of the riding we have done in the last several weeks has been on busy state highways. While most of them have had bike lanes, the roar of the traffic wears on you after a while.

Trailside Bike shop - sells recumbents and trikes exclusively. Looking at their
website, it appears they sponsor a lot of group rides. One logical explanation
for thr number of trikes on the trail.

Of the 60 mile we road today, more than 40 was on the trail. As an added bonus, there were very few road crossings. We made excellent time.



At first we were surprised at the amount of traffic on the trail, but in the land of the retiree, there is no "week day" so we shouldn't have been. We passed tens of cyclists, many of whom were on recumbent trikes. Florida is definitely the land of the recumbent, which makes sense given the fact that recumbents tend to be easier on the body than uprights but trikes are still relatively scarce. Again, it is logical given the aging population in Florida, but this was our first encounter with trikes in this volume.

Maybe we'll take a break elsewhere.

Signs of spring?

Mile posts left over from the days
when this was a working railroad.

.

We planned to stop for lunch at the Inverness McDonald's but I missed the turn. Instead of turning around, I routed us through town to back track. Luckily, we passed the Little Italy Delicatessen and decided to stop there instead. What a find! It is run by an Italian couple who could not have been nicer. The food was great. A definite upgrade from McDonald's.




We arrived in Dunnellon, FL around 3PM, showered and headed out to dinner. The dusk is still pretty early, so there was not much time for anything else. Dunnellon survives on tourism and has a number of ecotours and kayaking opportunities. Folks come from all around to kayak the Withlacoochee River. It has an abundance of wildlife I would love to see, however it's winter here and much of the wildlife has left for warmer environments. In the end, we decided to keep on keeping on and head to Cross City tomorrow.

Day 188-189, Jan 29-30, 2017. Brandon to Zephyrhills, FL

Our original plan was to leave Brandon yesterday, Sunday, and cycle north to Zephyrhills. Sunday's weather forecast called for temps in the 50's, 15 mph winds out of the north, and rain. I honestly don't recall which one of us was the first to call for a soft rest day, but in the end the decision was unanimous.

You may have heard that the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus is shutting down for good as of May, 2017. They did a few final shows in Sarasota, their home town, then the plan was to go on the road for one last time. You may or may not have an opinion on this. Within our first mile on the bike this morning, we had to stop at a CSX railroad crossing to wait for a train. Lo and behold, it was the Ringling Bros. train! I felt like I was looking at the last passenger pigeon. End of an era. This train would never pass this crossing again. I was too busy gawking to think of getting a picture.

Our route today. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18769977

Not much in the way of pictures today. We did go past the Florida State Fairgrounds just north of Braden.


Notice the clear, blue sky.

Florida has a pavement eccentricity that is, as far as I can determine, unique to itself. It has been seen by us in every area of Florida we have visited. Every once in a while, you will come across  lump of concrete on the edge of the road. No rhyme or reason to it. It is as though some worker found his pockets full of cement, and decided to dump it where he was. Could be four or five inches high, or just an inch or so like the one we saw today. The first couple we came across we barely missed; now I tend to look for the things.



 We had a 10 mph head wind today, but with only 34 miles to ride, it was an easy day. Tomorrow we ride 60 miles, so an early start is called for.

Day 186-187, Jan 27-28, 2017. Bradenton to Brandon

In Bradenton we stayed with Alice, a warm shower's host. Her home is in a nice middle class neighborhood with mature trees, pools in the backyard and the Gulf of Mexico 1/2 mile away. Alice had just returned from a month long trip in India. Yesterday. Why she agreed to take us in for the night is beyond me. After pleasantries and showers, John and I went to get a mediocre Jamaican dinner while Alice attended book group. In the morning we swapped stories over cereal and coffee. Alice and her husband have traveled extensively. She is one of those women who get more done on a slow day than the rest of us do when highly productive. She filled us in on the local news; developers building condos over red mangroves, ruining important wildlife habitat; area attractions: the Robinson and Perico Preserves, museums, and art, and lamented that she wished she did not have to leave town that day or she would talk us into staying longer to see the sights.

Alice had offered to drive us over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, a long tall, definitely not for bicycles, bridge that would take us to St. Petersburg in a motorized 30 minutes vs a 5.5 hours of cycling. Unfortunately, our bike would not fit in her van, so she road her bike with us to the much shorter and bike friendly US 41 bridge leaded to Tampa. There we said goodbye and headed out.

Alice and downtown Bradenton, FL

The night before, since we were not sure if Alice would be able to give us a ride across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, we had not planned our destination.  Once over the US 41bridge, our first order of business was to pick a destination.

 The trip from Bradenton to Brandon, FL, was...well, boring. We spent most of it on US41, a 4 lane busy freeway. It had a bike lane, but listening to cars wiz by at 60mph tends to take its toll. 

Red Mangroves are small trees with reddish trunks. They grow near shorelines in clumps. Whether it is only during infancy or for their whole lives, pretty much all the creatures in the Gulf depend on the mangroves.

When manatees go rogue. 

For now we are staying in a Brandon Extended Stay America hotel doing laundry and waiting for horrible weather to pass. We know we are heading north from here but have not decided on a specific location. More later.

Day 184-185, Jan 25-26, 2017. Punta Gorda, Fl to South Venice to Bradenton

Our arrival in Punta Gorda turned out to be the beginning of a ten day visit. Our friend Jeanne has a place in an RV resort that has one of the closest and most caring communities I have experienced. Folks would stop you on the street to talk, wonder if they could be of help, ask if you would like to play cards or go kayaking or anything. Ken and Bev, neighbors of Jeanne, even offered to re-arrange their lanai so that we could store our bike there to protect it from a storm we had 1/23-24. We had originally planned to leave 1/23, but rain and 25-35 mph head winds dissuaded us.


Ken and Bev and us


Bev and Jeanne


The sign explains it all.


Banyan tree

I was too distracted by talking with Phyllis and Doug, friends since college to blog last night. I will blog tonight for today and yesterday.

Yesterday we rode to South Venice to stay with our friends Phyllis and Doug. The ride of 1/15 on US-41 from South Venice to Punta Gorda was one that did not deserve to be repeated. Two foot wide shoulder that occasionally disappeared, speed limits as high as 60 mph, lots of traffic, not a fun ride. We both looked for a route to avoid high traffic roads and succeeded. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18571667 Note that FL-776 has side paths or service road for over 90% of its length.


Leaving Punta Gorda, and crossing the Peace River bridge.

 
 Bridge sidewalks can be very narrow.


 Beach at Manasota Key. Lots of shells here.

 
Shells on beach.

Doug and Phyllis welcomed us to their home, and after the mandatory shower, we went out for a lovely fish dinner. Tired arrived soon after we returned, and Margaret and I fell into bed.


Doug and Phyllis


Today's ride also involved several islands. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18689737
The beach at Siesta Key is supposed to be the best beach in the U.S. We had to go see it.




Bridge we crossed from Sarasota to Bird Key


Coming down off the bridge to Bird Key


Lots of this type of draw bridge today

Tomorrow we head to Tampa/St Pete. Good night.

Day 174, Jan 15, 2017. Sarasota to Punta Gorda, Fl

Pretty much all of Florida

A portion of the old rail.

 At the suggestion of Dennis and Jane our Warm Showers hosts, we headed to the Legacy Trail near their home to begin our our trip to Punta Gorda. It is a Rail to Trails project that stretches from Sarasota to Venice, Fl. The whole length is paved, stretching through open countryside until the north side of Venice where is runs along the Inner-coastal Waterway. The Inter-coastal begins in Boston MA and ends in Brownsville, TX. Supposedly there are dolphins and Manatees, in this section, not that we saw any :-)

This was to be a work day: get up early and pedal straight through. It was a plan we made together and then both ignored. After a chatty breakfast we took off. Once on the trail I called a old friend of ours. She had left a message on our blog letting us know she was in Florida and leaving her phone number. It turned out that we were literally pedaling past her condo on our way down the trail. Long story short, we met up.

The old train station has been converted into a way station for
cyclists and a city bus stop.

Phyllis and Doug are old friends from college and young children before careers consumed our lives. they met us on the trail for a ride, many laughs and a wonderful lunch. It was as if no time had passed. We plan to spend a night with them on our way back.

The Peace bridge is a mile and half long bridge that spans the Peace River
just outside of Punta Gorda. 

We still had to get to Punta Gorda. Unfortunately, US41 was our only option. While it has a shoulder to ride on, it's heavily used. It sucks to spend four hours listening to traffic wiz by.  With ten miles to go, a second serendipitous event occurred. A car whizzed by honking its horn and waving. I looked over expecting to get a question about our destination or a "She's not pedaling" comment when I  recognized the driver! I knew Alice was in Florida with her husband Ed, but did not expect to run into her on the highway. We pulled into a parking lot for a chat. It was a welcome break from the noise and stress of US 41.

Eventually we made it to Jeanne's, not the way we planned but there none the less. Like much of this trip, things did not go as planned, they went better.

Day 173, Jan 14, 2017. Sun City Center, FL to Sarasota

Our route for today: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18492944

Really enjoyed our ride today. We started out going west then southwest on US 41. The wind was 10-15 mph from the NE to E; we were windstrong! Even with the necessary fits and starts of beginning a ride, we managed to average over 13.6 mph in the first hour. Route 41 had a nice shoulder for as long as we were on it, and early on, was not too busy.




Bridge over the Little Manatee River


 At about 12 miles into the ride, we passed signs for the Manatee Correctional Facility. Margaret and I were both surprised. Manatee look so gentle, and non-violent, but I suppose there are be a few bad apples to spoil the barrel as it were. It must be an ugly thing when a manatee goes bad.

Martin Luther King Day is a much bigger thing in the south than it is in Michigan. You can speculate as to reasons. When we passed through Palmetto, FL today, we just missed the start of the MLK Day parade, lots of police cars, and people lining the streets. We got to the end of the parade route, stopped at a Subway for lunch (and silently remembered James Lynn, a Big Ride rider who loved Subway), and crossed the bridge into Bradenton.



Sarasota, as you may know, is the headquarters for several major league baseball spring training camps. It is/was also the winter headquarters for the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus. Lots of history in this town. We passed facilities for both the Pirates and the Orioles.


Part of the Pirates' organization, I believe.

Tonight we stayed with Warm Showers hosts Jane and Dennis. What fascinating people! At different times in their lives they constructed a log cabin in New Hampshire, living in the drafty 16 by 32 cabin through NH winters, bicycled and hiked extensively, and are both published authors. I am sure that I am leaving out facts and details.

Warm Showers can be a hit or miss affair. Sometimes your hosts are fantastic, sometimes good, sometimes not so much. Our last host lived in a house with failing plumbing, overgrown yard, and casual cleanliness. The one before was very courteous and kind, but only one in the family spoke English. Rarely, and today for only the second time, you meet people that would be your best friends, if only they lived near your home. Jane and Dennis are like that. We talked until 23:30; Margaret never stays up that late.

If anyone cares, the high temperature today was 78F, with mostly sunny skies and reasonable humidity.

Day 172, Jan 13, 2017. Lakeland to Sun City Center, FL

Central Florida has a more lush look to it but the damn Spanish Moss is back.

The water tower outside Publix (a lg supermarket chain) main
 bakery.

T
Today being Friday the 13th, John and I have been having fun blaming it for anything we could. Sprinkling? Cars coming to close? Can't find a spot to stop for lunch? Left our detergent in Cocoa? No ground level room?... damn that curse!

Actually, it was a great trip today. The weather was overcast, but warm and the trip flew by. Yesterday's trip was exhausting for me. I am not sure why. It may have been because each of the tires were 30lbs low on pressure, a fluke or perhaps John wasn't pedaling :-). Whatever the cause, I felt better today.

Florida is one of the largest cattle producing states in the USA.

It is also great to be in a motel tonight, especially one with a laundry room. We spent the last two nights with Warm Shower hosts, while normally enjoyable, the last two were ...interesting. Tomorrow we head to Sarasota and our last Warm Shower host before we arrive in Punta Gorda at our friend, Jeanne's place.

Just when we were about to give up, John caught sight of picnic
pavilions. : )

Day 171, Jan 12, 2017. Kissimmee,FL to Lakeland, FL

Another beautiful day for a ride. Are you getting tired of hearing that? We got an early start, leaving our Warm Showers hosts about 08:00. A little over a mile later, Margaret spied a Denny's; we spent an hour there having a large breakfast. We were riding 58 miles today after all.

Route for today:  https://ridewithgps.com/routes/18382343

I find myself wondering about the history of the places we travel through. About 16 miles into today's ride, we turned onto Old Tampa Highway. This was a narrow road with deteriorating black top overlying red brick. Not a great road. Certainly not a main road.



About a mile in on this road, we came across this.



It says:
"Oct 1930, Welcome to Polk County, Citrus Center"
Looks like there may have been plaques attached in the past, but they appear long gone. What was so important about this little road that it rated a monument like this 86 years ago?

We did see LOTS of citrus groves today, all of them after we passed this point.



We also saw some really tall mangroves. Margaret was wondering if all mangroves were bush like. That was the only kind we saw along the Indian River. Not so much apparently. Notice the knees, the lumpy things coming out of the water near the trunk. They help to supply oxygen to the tree so that it can grow in standing water.

 

We did about nine miles today on rail trails, and saw a dinner plate sized turtle on one of them.



Tomorrow we ride 50 miles to Sun City Center and a motel. We are actually seeing a few hills. Today we had a 2.8% climb, tomorrow one of 2.0%. Yeah, I know, not much. Goodnight.

Day 170, Jan 11, 2017. Cocoa, FL and Kissimmee,FL

We flew into Orlando's Sanford International Airport on Jan. 7th planning to get an Uber to Cocoa. In typical fashion, the plane was late so we did not arrive until 11:45PM. I was concerned that we would have a hard time getting an Uber for the hour drive to Cocoa but we were picked up in 2 minutes! John chatted with the driver the whole way to Nancy and Jim's home, allowing me to "close my eyes" for a minute ...or 60.

It was fun spending time with Jim and Nancy. Beside binge watching Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, we had many a delicious meal and a lot of good laughs. On the 10th, Jim drove us all down to the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. What a great place! We began at the Visitor's Center which was well worth the stop. It has interesting displays and lots of information. We then drove along a 7 mile wildlife viewing path. We were able to spot herons, egrets, pelicans, eagles and my favorite, the roseate spoonbill just to name a few. Roseate springhills look a lot like flamingos, except their bill is flattened out at the end like a spoon. They were also many alligators sunning themselves on the banks. We really lucked out, Jim and Nancy said the last time they went, they did not see any animals at all.

Fun facts: to determine the size of an alligator, estimate the length of its snout in inches, turn the inches into feet and you have the length.
If you are being chased by an alligator, run in a straight line. Fast.  Zig sagging will just slow you down and the gator will cut you off.

Unfortunately, the morning of the 11th arrived and we had to head out to Kissammee. Fortunately, the it was warm and mostly sunny. We were a little concerned about riding 57 miles after taking a month off but we made it just fine. Tomorrow we head to Lakeland, 55 miles away.  By Jan. 15th we should be in Punta Gorda at our friend Jeanne's place.

* For some reason, the program will not upload my pictures. I will add them later.