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." 

Mims to Debary – Less Miles Less Rain A Speedy Day

Geckos on our B&B widow before dawn

We expected to ride 40 miles today, and we expected rain and headwinds late in the day, so we were on our bikes by 8:00 a.m. Somehow, we miscalculated our mileage, and the forty turned out to be only 33.5 miles (unlike yesterday when the expected 35 turned out to be 44.5, or the day before when 40 turned out to be 46).  Plus we arrived early enough to escape headwinds, and in fact, had tailwinds most of the ride.  And except for a few scattered drops, there was no rain.  Plus, the Hampton Inn let us check in early. 

The ride today comprised the remaining 30 miles of the East Central Regional Trail (except for the 3.5-mile gap in that trail, where we rode a nice section of the Maytown Road) and the first 3.5 miles of the Spring to Spring Trail.  It was a lovely ride, with wildflowers unlike any we had seen before, two deer, two sandhill cranes, and a flock of black vultures feeding on some poor creature.

Tomorrow we ride more of the Spring to Spring Trail and expect to see manatees at the Blue Spring State Park.

Dry & Cocooned at the Hampton Inn,

Diane & Rob

Let the day's ride begin!

And Diane leads the charge.

But we are slowed by flowers

And in the end reminded to "look both directions" when crossing country roads.

New Smyrna Beach (NSB) to Mims – Right Route – Wrong Day

The day started off great.  Shortly after leaving the B&B we were on a connector trail that led us to the northern leg of the East Central Regional Trail.  It was beautiful, shaded, and smooth.  As planned, we left the trail to ride east through the Turnbull Preserve, another quiet and shaded road, to US 1, where we made a planned stop at the Dollar Store for drinks and goodies to get us through the afternoon.  

What was not planned for were the strong headwinds from the south, which we would be riding into for the next 17 miles, the first two of which were on US 1, a rough rock-chip surface.  We were glad to get off onto the Kennedy Parkway – NASA - Cape Canaveral which was a pretty smooth surface and very little traffic.  But there was very little shade and/or clouds on this hot and humid day and 20 mph headwinds over the next 15 miles.  Even then, we were able to maintain over nine mph, while biking, but when we found shade we would pull over, drink ice water out of our trunk packs, take a quick breather and shove on.  

Finally we turned away from the wind in the last 7.5 miles to Titusville, which gave some relief.  At one point we heard a loud strange noise, and Diane exclaimed, “What was that???” and Rob calmly answered “an alligator.”  She didn’t believe him of course because he is such a liar.  

Coming into Titusville, we crossed the Indian River on a very high bridge (which the locals use to view the rocket launches at Cape Canaveral), and Rob skillfully led us to the Main Street Philly for refreshments to cool our bodies down.  Then we got onto to the southern leg of the East Central Regional trail, leading us to our lodging for the night, The Wayward Traveler’s Inn.  

Later, Rob pulled up something on his phone and had me listen to it.  It was the same noise we had heard on the ride in.  I should have believed him because it was the sound of a bellowing alligator!

Diane smiling as we sail down the northern section of the East Central Trail early in the morning. 

Wildflowers along the Trail.

Part of the Kennedy Pkwy... low traffic but windy and hot. 

And you take the shade where you can find it.

A visual illustration of the wind we had just pushed through. Mid afternoon and Diane is now not smiling.

But Diane perseveres and push up and over the bridge into Titusville. 

Then we ride with the wind through Titusville up to Mims and our B&B for the night. 

Our B&B host was kind enough to let us eat dinner from her pantry.  She left us to our own devices but
that proved somewhat vexing when we ran into a "new fangled" can opener.  Without our host to guide
us Rob turned to his 45 year old army issued "C ration" can opener and beans were served. 

Flagler Beach to New Smyrna Beach – Without Going Through Dayton Beach

We woke to foggy vista of the Atlantic. 

Success! Most of today’s ride was on city streets, side roads, and highways.  And most of it was enjoyable, except for headwinds.  

When we left our hotel, we ran a maze of construction-zone manufactured walkways, for one mile.  The northbound land of 1A1 was scrunched to the seawall, and the southbound lane was the construction zone (southbound traffic was diverted to a side street).  Zigzagging through the middle of the construction zone were barricades creating access for  bicycles, pedestrians, many of them walking their dogs.  It was a crazy scene.  

After riding 1A1 for a while, we cut off on High Bridge Road, aptly named because once again we crossed the Intracoastal Waterway on a drawbridge and once again our timing was off and we had to wait for the bridge to open and close.  

Then we rode the Old Dixie Highway which goes through Tomoka State Park, where we were able to ride a side trail winding peacefully through the park.  (There were a few skeeters which bothered Rob more than Diane.)  Going through the Ormand Beach area, we were on “sidewalk bike paths” a good portion of the time.  These were linear parks along the Intra 

coastal Waterway. Then we rode about five miles each on 5A (divided six-lane highway) and US 1 (divided four-lane highway) before we ended up at the Anchor Inn B&B—a very comfortable B&B with lots of amenities.

Diane successfully runs the road construction maze.

Riding beautiful palm shaded High Bridge Road.

Held up by the raised draw bridge, Diane tried to talk this bike club into
forming a "pace line" to draft us along but they declined.

After getting off the Old Dixie Hwy, the rest of ride was very urban with rest stops taken at convenience stores.