Plant City to Tampa – Bringing it Home

Murals of Ybor City (Tampa)

The headwinds were manageable and the temperature was favorable (mid-70’s) through our quick 30-mile day.  Between Plant City and the edge of Tampa, we rode busy highways, crowded streets, and a couple of “breather roads”, i.e., little traffic, but poorer conditions.  We rolled into and through downtown Tampa like old pros, using a network of trails and greenways, negotiating our way through construction zones, and over and under bridges, and arrived at our home for tonight and the next by 1:00 p.m.

During our 18 days of bicycling we covered 700 miles, with the majority of miles being off-road trails.  One thing that impressed us during our non-trail miles was that almost all of the drivers were attentive, courteous and patient.  We were also impressed by central Florida’s local and municipal governments’ stewardship of natural resources and public recreational opportunities.  And we’d be remiss if we failed to give a shout-out to all the hotel staff and B&B operators who were always extremely gracious and helpful.   

Tomorrow we will do some  sightseeing, make a USPS run, and  drop off our bikes at David’s World Cycle to break down, pack, and ship home.  On Wednesday, we return to Olympia where we will begin planning our next cycling adventure.

Happy in Tampa Again,

Diane & Rob

Hitting the streets of Plant City early in the morning. 

Taking a breather from heavy traffic just outside downtown Tampa. (McDonald's had bike parking... good on them.)

Lighter traffic and better yet, we have an urban bike path.

But then we have to work our way through a little bit of construction.

Once out of the construction, the path forward is strewn with flowers.

Then a quick jaunt along the Tampa waterfront.  And over.........

.... a small bridge we go.  

Then a jaunt along the bay where we turn onto a tree lined street to our motel.

                            Hugs and Kisses from Diane and Rob. One more ride in the books. 

. 

Auburndale to Plant City – Better Part of Discretion

Diane entering the Circle B Bar Ranch Preserve

We had planned to be in Ybor City by end of day, but we exercised discretion.  Facing strong headwinds and chance of rain, but not wanting to forego the Circle B Bar Ranch Preserve, we traded less miles today for more tomorrow, turning today’s planned 51 miles into a more manageable 36 miles.  Tomorrow’s ride into Tampa will be about 30 miles.  We still had headwinds and we did get drenched in a cloudburst, but we quickly dried out and arrived in good stead at the Holiday Inn Express, with an upgrade to studio.  Nice!

There were lots of people enjoying the Preserve, but no one was seeing alligators at all, let alone Humpback or Fabio.  But we did see one moving down the water in search of something tasty.  We did about five miles of bike touring, and saw gobs of birds, the songs of which never ceased.  And it is a lovely well-maintained preserve. 

Other than the Preserve trails, which were gravel, the only trail we rode today was when we left the Preserve and immediately were on the Fort Frasier Trail, which we rode for about four miles. 

Tomorrow will be our last full day of touring central Florida, and it will be an all on-road experience until we reach Tampa.  We’ll do some Tampa Bay stuff the next day, and fly home the day after that.

Resting up in Plant City,

Diane & Rob

Diane begins her search for gators. 

No gator yet, but Diane spies a bird.

Still looking.

At last success! (Look near the far bank. Its snout is slightly obscured by the hanging vine in the middle of the pic.)

With the gator of the day spotted, Diane begins the task of picking her way around the roots busting up through the Trail and leading us out of the Reserve.

But not before Rob can get his wildflower pic of the day :)

And our dawdling in the morning is rewarded by a short but drenching rain at noon.  Such is biking. 

Clermont to Auburndale – Alligator Love on the General James A. Van Fleet Trail

We had a very good day, despite adverse winds all day and 90-degree temperature during the last two hours.  We saw lots of wild life – a pair of sand hill cranes with their colts (yes, that’s what they call the baby cranes), gopher tortoises, two bald eagles, and a white Ibis. (Not to mention the biting flies that helped keep our breaks short.)

On our bikes by 8:20 a.m., we pretty much sailed out of town, having conquered most of the hills the day before.  We biked 20 miles before reaching the Trail, mostly on shaded country roads with little traffic.

The Trail runs through the Green Swamp, the headwaters for the Withlacoochee, Hillsborough and Peace rivers. The trail is tree-lined, eight-foot wide, smooth, flat, and straight as an arrow, except for one very slight curve in its 29.2 miles, and its 6.7 mile extension in Auburndale.  We got on the trail at mile 20, rode it to mile 0, then all of its extension.  When we exited we were only about three miles from the hotel—yes, it was a divided four-way, but we had a good shoulder! 

We knew to expect alligators on the trail, and we saw the warning signs, but it wasn’t until about the third little bridge that Rob spied a prize specimen, forever to be known as “Arnold” due to his muscular, well-oiled look.

Tomorrow, Diane hopes to see her heartthrob, Fabio, and/or his big brother, Humpback, two famous resident gators at the Circle B Bar Ranch Preserve, and then on into Ybor City.

At home at the Best Western in Auburndale,

Diane & Rob

Sometimes the small country roads outshine the trails.  Florida Boys Ranch Road. 

The Van Fleet Trail runs straight as an arrow for over

 25 miles.

But the Trail does have its amenities, such as these rest areas.  But be choosy some come with their own resident biting flies.

Also very cool were these Bike Rx Boxes

In each box was everything you needed to fix a flat. As well as tools to deal with
minor repairs. 

But the real reason to ride the Trail is to be found in the mid section, when you start seeing these signs on each bridge crossing the small creeks.

Two photos of "Arnold," a 12 ft plus beauty. (Photos taken from above over the bridge railing.)

 

Apopka to Clermont – Lust for Gators Satisfied

What a day!!  On our bikes by 8:15 a.m. again, and after a few easy street/highway miles, we were on Lust Road, the entry to Lake Apopka.  Right away we saw alligators, out in the water doing their thing.  At the Historic Pump House, there are usually two options for cyclists – (1) go left to the Magnolia Park Trailhead, a four-mile trail that stays along the water; or (2) go right and end up at the Green Mountain Trailhead, a 15-mile ride that is sometimes along the shore, sometimes through the marsh, and sometimes right alongside canals.  We had wanted to do option 1, but that part was closed for construction.  That was ok by us because we had planned for the long haul, in terms of refreshments. 

From the moment we entered Lust Road and throughout the ride around the lake, we could hear and see a variety of birds. And there were many, many alligators to hear and see.  The most thrilling was when a big guy, about 9 feet long, crossed the trail about 50 feet ahead of us.  He was carrying newly caught prey – we couldn’t determine what it was, but it was about the size of wiener dog.  We had a nice snack break at one of the sheltered picnic tables, but we kept a steady pace, because there was little shade, and the day was heating quickly.  The trail itself was rough, but our road bikes did just fine.

And then we reached the trail head, and went out to the highway – it was about ten miles to the hotel and, according to Google Maps, about one hour’s ride.  And according to Rob (renowned liar), once we got to the Hancock Trail which runs south along Hancock Road, it was all downhill to the hotel.  Not!!  One huge, long hill after another, some of which we had to walk, with a trail that would sometimes leave the highway and go down a hill while the highway was going up, and then would rise to meet the highway close to the crest of the hill.  Crazy.  Well, we outthunk them and rode the sidewalk alongside the highway.  Also, by this time, it was 90 degrees!  But we soldiered on, and soon were rewarded with another early check in at the Clermont Hampton Inn.

After showers and resting up a bit, we went across the street to Carrabba’s Italian Grill for most excellent food and service. 

All in all, a wonderful day that delivered what we bargained for (except for the hills).

Tomorrow, we do country road miles at the beginning and at the end, with the General Van Fleet trail in the middle.

Resting up at the Hampton in earned air-conditioned comfort,

Diane & Rob

Alligators near, far and all around :)

Beautiful birds as well.

And lovely water flowers. 

Our old bikes carried us around the loop.

     And ferried us to our next motel for the night. 

DeLand to Apopka – Four Trails Make the Day

Murals by Sonksen

Again we got off to an early start – on our bikes by 8:00 a.m.  Two blocks after leaving the hotel we were on the Alabama Avenue Greenway Trail, leading us out of the heart of DeLand.  Then we took easy biking city streets to return to the Spring to Spring Trail and retraced a part of that trail to where a segment, which we had not yet ridden, turns south to Lake Mary.  This was a sweet section, with lots of environmental variety.  At the end of that section, we used off-road connector paths to get us to the next trail, the Cross Seminole, again varied, but more urban, which connected us to the Seminole Wekiva Trail. 

The Seminole Wekiva Trail was the best of all!  One very interesting and incredible feature was master artwork – murals painted on wooden fences – by artist Jeff Sonksen.  You can see a short video posted by one fan, John Demshock, here.  You can also follow the artist on Facebook at Paint the Trail.

We had to leave this beautiful trail shortly before reaching its end to get to our home for the night.  After having such a pleasant day on the trails, we had to negotiate three miles of a six-lane highway, sometimes using the sidewalk, but sometimes riding in traffic.  (Sometimes riding with the traffic is much safer than using the sidewalks, because cars can come at you from almost any direction and are less likely to see you.)

Also, again, we misjudged the distance.  It was not 49 miles, as advertised.  It was just shy of 38 miles, a pleasant surprise since we are both recovering from colds.   Once again, the Hampton gave us early check-in and even upgraded us to a King Studio.  Very Nice.

Neither of us likes to eat a restaurant lunch when touring.  Often leftovers from our dinner the night before are consumed for lunch.  We each carry a cooler pack on the back of our bikes which will keep things iced throughout the day.  Today was no exception.  And we had an early Mexican dinner, with lots of leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch. 

Speaking of tomorrow, it’s ALLIGATOR DAY (we hope) at Lake Apopka. 

Cool and comfortable in our King Studio,

Diane & Rob

If it seems a little difficult to follow the narrative of today's route, it is because this
was the most complex day route on the trip. See the day's strip map above :)

From the bottom part of the Spring to Spring Trail. (Forgive the shaky photo.)

A greenway section of the Seminole Wekiva Trail.

A more urban street trail - the Cross Seminole. 

And lastly two approaches to highway crossing.  First an over, then an under.

Debary to DeLand – It’s all about the Trail

The Spring to Spring Trail from Debary to DeLand was gorgeous, as were the side roads we took to bridge the gap between two sections of the trail.  When we got to the second section we rode about ½ mile and decided to review the trail description.  Turns out this 7 mile section of the trail was alongside a highway, and relatively uninteresting.  Since our plan had been to ride the trail up and back, we decided to forgo the 14 mile experience.  After all, it’s all about the trail.

We had earlier taken a planned side trip into Blue Spring State Park.  We had hoped to see manatees which winter over there but, alas, their winter was over!  Their playground, however, was beautiful and we saw lots of fish and a bald eagle which caught a fish right in front of us.  We also got to see an organized crew of snorkelers who were removing invasive underwater plants.

Having decided to forego the last section of the trail, we headed to the Courtyard by Mariott, our home for tonight, and once again were able to check in early.  DeLand is a vibrant little college town, home of Stetson University and the Courtyard is downtown.  

We had a delicious Greek lunch at Santorini.  It had a great GF menu and we both pigged out, even though our day’s ride was certainly no workout. To compensate, though, we strolled around town, and stopped in at the local bike store and chatted with the owner.  It was a well-seasoned store, the kind Rob likes to check out, looking for rare used bike parts.  No such parts were available, but he and Rob shared their affinity for old steel bikes, with Rob admiring three fine examples of his old stock.

Later we had a light Thai dinner, and then went in search of ice cream.  We were not disappointed!

Tomorrow promises to be a longer ride, making up for the two short ones we just enjoyed.  We will re-ride part of the Spring to Spring south, connect with the Cross Seminole Trail, then the Seminole Wekiva Trail, ending up at Apopka for the night.

Diane is prepared for a longer hotter ride, though, with her energy drink of choice, Java Monster Loca Moca, as well as her new cold fruit drink (replacing the old V-8 Fusion), i.e., Tropicana Watermelon!

Well fed in DeLand,

Diane & Rob

Bike bridge over railroad tracks at Blue Springs Park along the Spring to Spring Trail.

The waters of Blue Springs, full of Gar but no manatees. All gone for the Summer and Fall.

But Diane found a manatee friend. 

And Rob found a fellow bicyclist. 

Lastly, Diane's new "go juice."