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.