St. Augustine to Flagler Beach – Down the Intercoastal Waterway

Another great day that began with a nice breakfast at the Penny Farthing and shortly afterward we were on our way.  Rob had perfectly planned and executed our route out of town which was a bit complicated. First was getting to and over the Bridge of Lions, then through neighborhood streets before joining A1A, then through other neighborhood streets, crossing over A1A Beach Blvd, then a quick stop at the bike shop for good air, then a couple of neighborhood bike paths, then joining A1A Beach Blvd, following it until it merged with A1A (Scenic and Historic Coastal Byway), which we rode all the way to Marineland. We had a pretty good shoulder and traffic was manageable.  When we got to Marineland we took a lunch break, such as it was – leftovers from our pack.  Then we hopped on the Marineland-Flagler Beach Bike Trail, which parallels A1A the whole way.  At Flagler Beach, the Trail ends, and we rode a couple more miles on A1A to our hotel, with a great ocean view.

A bit of history: 

The Bridge of Lions is a historically significant double-leaf bascule bridge (a movable bridge using a counterweight to balance a span through its upward swing to let boats move underneath, i.e. a drawbridge) that spans the Intracoastal Waterway.  It so happened that as we started up the bridge, the gates came down to halt traffic, and the spans came up to let a boat pass.  Of course, that meant pedestrian traffic backed up on both sides of the spans, preventing us from zooming down the other side.  Oh well, such is life.

The Intercoastal Waterway is a 3000-mile inland waterway along the U.S.’s Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts, from Boston to Key West, then back up Florida’s Gulf side and around to Brownsville, Tx.  Some sections of the Intracoastal Waterway comprise natural inlets, saltwater rivers, bays and sounds, while others are artificial canals.  There is a rich history to the development, growth and upkeep of the waterway.

As we biked down to Flagler Beach we were between the Intercoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Ocean.  It was so good to smell the ocean and recall the other two times we biked to the Atlantic (in 2003, from  Westport, WA to Provincetown, MA; and in 2011, from Cape Flattery, WA to Key West, FL).  This time, of course, was a much shorter journey, but we did bike coast to coast (St. Petersburg on the Gulf to Flagler Beach on the Atlantic).

We arrived in good time at our hotel.  Rob did the laundry while Diane prepped for tomorrow’s ride, and a rain storm passed through.  Then we had a great dinner at the Island Grill (Ahi for Diane and Chicken Gorgonzola over penne pasta for Rob, and a shared GF Chocolate Lava Cake topped with whipped cream for us both.  Great meal!

Tomorrow we bike further south, and a bit inland to avoid Daytona Beach traffic, to New Smyrna Beach.  Promises to be 41 miles of good weather. 

Happy sails to you!

Diane & Rob

For your photographer, today was about traveling quickly from A to B -- so not many photos. Rob

Running south on A1A, across one of the inlet bridges. One of the few times we actually saw the ocean. 

On rare occasion the Trail/bike path left the side of the highway for a stretch of hammock or swampy land. See above and below. 

But for the most part, the bike trail was really a long straight wide sidewalk along A1A.

With a few patches of wildflowers. 

But tomorrow promises to be a more interesting ride. 

St. Augustine By Foot

What a day!  Slept in just a bit with time for coffee before being served a delicious breakfast – quiche, fresh fruit, biscuit for Rob and gluten-free toast for Diane.  

And then we were out and about as pedestrian tourists.  We found the exhibits and presentations at the Ponce De Leon Archaeological Park very interesting.  As one could expect of the oldest city in the United States, there were plenty of historical markers to read and learn more about the city.  Rob calculated we walked at least four miles sightseeing, and we feel pretty spry.  Unfortunately, even though we drank of the Fountain of Youth, we really don’t think we got any younger.  

We worked up a good appetite and decided to have lunch at The Floridian, but it was a bit disappointing, so we didn’t try their desserts.  Later, however, the lemon gelato Diane had been longing for was found at a different place so we returned to our B&B quite satisfied.

Tomorrow promises to be another relatively short day to Flagler Beach, and since breakfast is not served until 8:30, we’ll probably sleep in a bit again.

Sending you sunshine,

Diane & Rob

St. Augustine is a city of fine Spanish architecture, flowers, tree lined & narrow brick streets and spiced with a little Florida kitsch. Rob

Flagler College (and excellent example of  the Spanish influence) in the middle of the City.

Diane at the College gate. 

Examples of flowering plants found throughout the historic district.

Beautiful tree canopied street.

An example of the narrow brick streets and our favorite St Augustine restaurant.

Did we mention Peacocks are a big thing in this City?

Now we come to the kitsch :) Rob

We drink from the Fountain of Youth... apparently to limited effect. 

Full size facsimile of a famous statue in front of the Ripley's Believe or Not "museum."  (Diane says you should be able to recognize it by the size of its...........................................feet.)

Once started down a somewhat tawdry path, as is often the case, we end on
a highly questionable note.  This sign is on the front of a tiny defunct business.
What service or product sold is unknown. 

Palatka to St. Augustine – Quick Ride Notwithstanding Adverse Wind

Four hours door-to-door, three of them riding – 20 miles on the Palatka to St. Augustine Trail and 8 on highway and city streets.  We started the day by cycling on the Memorial Bridge over the St. John River.  Our only “hill” of the day.  The Trail actually starts on the Bridge, and continues northeasterly.  Another beautiful central Florida trail, mostly shaded, with wildflowers abloom.  

At mile 18 there was access to a highway rest area, where we stopped for a leisurely snack.  It would have been what Diane calls a “full-service stop,” i.e., bathroom, picnic table, shade, and drinking water, except the water was too foul-tasting to drink.  But we each had one full water bottle and only 10 miles to the hotel, so we were in good shape.

Two miles later we were off the trail and onto State Route 207, hauling a** (in senior cyclist style) into 12 mph headwinds.  Soon, we arrived in historic St. Augustine, where we have booked a two-night stay at the Penny Farthing B&B, a lovely and hospitable Victorian home with many amenities.

Quickly showered and fitted in our street clothes, we headed out on foot to sight see.  A bit hungry we settled on a Greek/Polish restaurant, Gaufre and Goods, where we devoured Pyzy (potato dumplings stuffed with ground seasoned lamb) and Yemista (bell pepper and  tomato, each  stuffed with lamb, fresh mint, parsley, olive oil and spices and served with baked vegetables and feta cheese).  Oh so good!

Back to our B&B, we enjoyed happy hour snacks, teas  & wine served by our host and back to our lovely room to catch up on our blog.  Tomorrow we tour the City and enjoy our Friday Night Date Night!

XOXO Diane & Rob

A traditional approach to the pics today - with the start, middle and finish to the ride. Rob

Diane conquers the hill of the day. Note, last night's motel can be seen over the
railing. 

Florida's wild Lake Iris along trail. 

Our B&B at the end of the day's ride.

Next to riding bicycle tourists love to eat. The great Greek meal described by Diane above. 

Cheers to all :)

Gainesville to Palatka – A Glide to Hawthorne, But a Wrestle with the Wind on into Palatka

Our workaround to avoid the Hammock Hills & Curves worked just fine.  A few miles on Hwy 20 and we hopped on the trail to Hawthorne.  It was a sweet morning.  Birds and flowers along the way, including a mated pair of Florida Sandhill Cranes so close you almost touch them.  As we were getting ready to exit the Hawthorne Trailhead after a short break, we got involved in a lengthy conversation with a bicycling couple about our age. Interesting and fun, but it made our day on the road longer, because the headwinds kept getting stronger.  

We said goodbye, good luck, ride safe, etc., then we were off again.  A short ride down a city street and once again we were on State Route 20, a divided four-lane highway with four-foot bike lane, for another 26 miles, with 10 mph headwinds and frequent long gusts to 18 mph.   We had planned to test a different route, a packed dirt road, but Diane chickened out, concerned the road would be too sandy to ride.  But she was not afraid to take advantage of Rob’s faster pace by drafting his rear wheel as he pushed through the wind, with vehicles whizzing by us. 

We arrived in relatively good stead at our hotel, right on the banks of the St. John River, and were booked into a room with a river view.  Very nice.  Dinner was at Angel’s, the oldest diner in Florida.  We scarfed down burgers and fries, and a chocolate peanut butter milk shake.  Hit the hay early (determining to sleep in just a little since the next day’s ride to St. Augustine would be a short one. 

ZZZZ – Diane & Rob

When you are fighting headwinds, you don't stop for many pics.  You just grind your way through. 

For viewing, a few from along the Hawthorne section of the trail. Rob

A very healthy mated pair of Florida Sand Hill Cranes.

Beautiful alligator water but no alligators - drat.

A much needed trail-head amenity :)

Wildflowers are in bloom all through the middle of the state. These are along SR 20.

Diane happily ordering a naked burger, sweet potato fries and planning to partake of my peanut butter, chocolate shake. Note the menu board over her right shoulder - HB is for hamburger and CB is for Cheeseburger :)

Ocala to Gainesville – A Great Ride

We left Ocala at 11:00 a.m. after waiting for the rain storm to pass through.  Eight hours (5 ½ hours actual ride time) and 49 miles later we were in the Hampton Inn in downtown Gainesville.

We had a great day, even though we had to ride several busy highways, some with little to no shoulder.  We passed through one after another gorgeous horse farms, some with longhorn cattle as well, taking a short break here and there.  Our favorite break, though, was at the small town of Micanopy, where we had a nice respite, including ice cream at the local café.  And Rob did a little WD-40 maintenance on Diane’s chain.

And then we were off again, and in another six miles,  we connected with the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail.  It is wonderfully smooth and very interesting.  It runs through part of the Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park.  In the late 1800s, the eight-mile-wide Paynes Prairie was a lake, with fish camps, steamboat charters and barges that transported citrus. Then, suddenly, a giant sink hole formed and the lake drained very quickly.  Within days, the prairie went dry (and scarily, could do so again without warning).  For now, though, Paynes Prairie has smaller bodies of water that drain underground to recharge the aquifer that lies below.

Most of the trail is fairly flat but there is one section called The Hammock Hills & Curves. The hills are steep and the curves sharp.  For us there was not so much climbing as there was descending.  But it was challenging and quite exhilarating.  Then the trail leveled out again, and we connected to another trail that led us to dedicated bike lanes and thence to our hotel.  

We quickly showered and headed out to dinner – Cuban fare this time – at Emiliano’s.  It was so delicious – Paella for Rob and for Diane, Piñon, layers of sweet plantains, chicken fricassee, and mozzarella cheese, topped with chimichurri sauce, served over rice.  Oh, yeah, and Sangria for Rob, and Mojito for Diane.  By the time we got back to the hotel and prepared for the next day (including re-routing the next day’s ride, to avoid the hammock hills and curves) we were too pleasantly sated and tired to post to our blog.

 Well we have gotten through the two rainy days but have had to deal with strong headwinds.  Such is biking. Below a few "resting theme" pics for your perusal. Rob

The steel steed in Florida horse country.

Resting under the spreading Live Oak tree.

Resting long-horns.

Rest stop at the Flemington country store. Love the bike parking. 

A flat quiet restful run up to Gainesville-Hawthrone Trail. 

Citrus Hills to Ocala – Wet, Narrow, and Pretty Much Nonstop

Well, our wishes did not come true.  The rain did not hold.  It began as we left the hotel at 9, and steadily increased throughout the day.  It was not until we were about 6 miles from our hotel that it dissipated somewhat.  

We had a short ride on the connector trail that took us back to the Withlacoochee Trail, where we continued north for a few miles.  Then we rode a heavily traveled narrow county highway with no shoulders for four miles, connected with a four-lane highway that had a three-foot wide bike lane and rode it six miles, then got onto the Marjorie Harris Carr Greenway.  It is a lovely trail, winding almost constantly through the woods, with some nice ups & downs.  Had it not been raining we would have ridden its whole length of 15.8 miles, but jumped off the trail after about nine miles, to take another narrow, no shoulder, extremely busy county road into Ocala.  We only had one very short break during 38 mile, six hours point-to-point ride.

We had carefully packed most of our belongings in water-proof bags and put them in our panniers.  Then Rob wrapped the four panniers with garbage bags we had packed for such occasion.  Success!  All that stuff stayed dry.  But our shoes and gloves and bike shorts were soaked.  We were also pretty cold by the time we got to the hotel.

Long hot showers, followed by a delicious Mexican restaurant meal, warmed us up nicely.  Then we went to work getting ready for tomorrow’s ride.  Rob cleaned the bikes and gave them a good maintenance check, and Diane did the laundry, including washing and drying our shoes and gloves.

And now we are ready for another good day of riding tomorrow—to Gainesville.  It will be mostly road riding, but we intend to use back roads as much as possible.

Dear Readers, Just two pics today.  It was just too wet to use the camera. Hope to do better tomorrow. Rob 

I have prepared trip maps for most of  our daily ride. And Diane likes a daily narrative of turns and miles along the route.  I often use Google Maps to check our location and progress throughout the day. But I like maps as back up to my smart phone.  In addition I made notations  on the map of services along the points of interest.  As you can see from the pic above and the one below, water intrusion ruined the maps.  In addition my smart phone battery just barely got us our new truncated route and died about one mile from our hotel.  

(Diane's narrative fared better that my maps)

West Brooksville to Citrus Hill – A Glorious Day on Four Trails

The following mileage information is made possible because Rob replaced the battery in the sender component of Diane’s bicycle computer.   That was a no easy feat because although Diane had brought a replacement battery and the instruction sheet, she had neglected to bring the specialized tool to open the battery cover on the sender.  (But Diane’s ingenious suggestion to use the tips of her tiny scissors on the two indentations on the battery cover and Rob’s agility in doing so, allowed him to replace the battery!

Only seven of our 47 miles today was on highway/city streets.  We started and ended with short connector trails, and in the middle, ten miles on  the Good Neighbor Trail and 28 miles on the Withlacoochee Trail.  They took us through a variety of environmental niches, with shade throughout, and mostly favorable wind.  The Good Neighbor Trail was winding with gentle ascents and descents.  And even though we steadily gained elevation on the Withlacoochee, the trail was so beautiful you didn’t really notice. 

Bicycle Florida Spring Tour was in full swing – we had the pleasure of meeting one cyclist who had cycled from Seattle to Washington, DC in 1998, when he was 70 years old.  Now 91, he is still touring and loving it!  Very inspiring. 

Still looks like rain tomorrow, though maybe not as heavy as first broadcast.  Fingers crossed.  Tune in tomorrow night to see how it all turns out.

Hi All, today's pics feature just a couple of the "micro-environment" along the bike trails. These included small Cypress Groves, lily-filled ponds, larger lakes, Florida swamp and Lodge Pole Pine. 
Rob

Diane biking through a stand of Lodge Pole Pine on the Good Neighbor Trail.

Diane biking the Withlacoochee Trail

This wildflower and butterflies were consistently found along the lake shores.