Rides

Day 8 - Orange groves

As I was leaving my camping spot in the morning I looked back at the sign and saw a tent symbol on it  it was a legal campground! I thought I was stealth camping.

Finally got away from the busy traffic and on to some quiet roads. Pulled off the road at one point and was greeted by a van all decked out as a SAG wagon for Bike Florida. They put on a multi day ride along the lines of Cycle Oregon. They were out scouting the route. 

It was a gas to reach the orange groves. They were small at first but later got much larger. The trees were fairly small as well. I resisted the temptation for some time but eventually gave in and picked one. It was very juicy and sweet, but not an eating orange. I guess they all go for juice. Later in the day I saw some big trucks filled with oranges and then (with Tom in his truck) passed the Peace River Citrus processing plant where they had huge bins full of them. 

I had told Tom to meet me in Wauchula at 4:00 but I got there well before 3. There was a sign coming in to town saying "State Academic Champions" and listed a bunch of years. I stopped at a convenience store and the cashier asked me where I was from. I said Oregon and she gave me a blank stare. She had grown up in this town but had never heard of Oregon. Wauchula seemed like a nice town though, with a large Hispanic population. 

I hung out in a nice little park and waited for Tom. When he arrived we loaded up my bike in his truck and headed to Tampa, where I would spend two nights with Tom and his cousin Sandy. 

Day 7. Headwinds and no shoulders. 

It was much farther from Fort Myers Beach to Fort Myers than I thought and I got off route. My route may have been a little shorter but if followed a busy road. The head winds were brutal all day. Really wore me down. It was much cooler today and I was hoping for big miles, but not with this headwind. 

Got a little past Port Charlotte and camped in a nature preserve near the Peace River. 

Arrived in Key West early and did a loop of the town before checking in to the hostel. There is about two miles of really nice beach. 

Hundreds of bicycles on the roads. You can rent one just about everywhere. Everything from rusty old beach cruisers to new fat bikes and Electra townies. Also motor scooters and tiny electric cars. That combined with the trollies and tour buses and the streets were a free for all. Bicycles have the right-of-way and pretty much just cruise through intersections regardless of the light. 

There are thousands of tourists and probably hundreds of homeless, although I only met four of them. They were the friendliest people, and probably the happiest. I mean if your going to be homeless Key West is certainly the place to be. 

Since all of the homeless ride around on bicycles with all their stuff in a basket, the indiscerning tourists were not able to distinguish between me and the homeless. My high end touring bike and quality gear escaped the casual viewers, although there were a few people who knew their bikes and chatted with me about mine. 

I did not enjoy the hostel. Sleeping was fine. My bunk mates were quiet and I slept well. It was all the smokers that drove me out of the otherwise lovely common area courtyard. Makes me appreciate Oregon's no smoking laws. 

Day two was hot and windy. I walked down to the beach to take a swim but the water was uninviting and I skipped it. Played my ukulele for the passerbyers along the beach walk. Once again my biggest fan was a homeless guy. 

Ride up and down Duval street and then made my way to the ferry. It's about a 3 and a half hour ride, at high speed. Past through the rain during the ride and it had stopped by the time we landed. Found the spot right next to the terminal that Rob from Australia had told me about and set up my tent at about 10:30. 

Day Five. Took it nice and slow. No hurry. It rained overnight but cleared by morning. Huge puddles though. 

About half highway and half path today. Some gorgeous paths through Sugarloaf Key, but in typical Florida fashion they would abruptly end. About 10 miles from Key West there was a nice path that used some of the old bridges  The ride into Key West on A1A was right along a sea wall and was delightful    

Rode though the crazy tourist part of town. Lots of people on beach cruisers and motor scooters, and lots of tour trolleys. Got to the Southern Most Point where dozens of people where waiting for a photo op. I managed to get a good selfie. Found the Hostel but I was 2 hours early.  Found a bar on the beach and had a beer. 

Day 4 - Destination unkonwn. Tried to find a campground but they were either full or too expensive. Tried to find a place to wild camp but did not want to try camping in the Key Deer wildlife refuge. Ended up at the Big Pine motel. At least there is wifi.

Another perfect day for riding. Mostly cloudy with a good tailwind. Met two couples on Co-Motion tandems from Ohio heading north. Met a couple from Canada going south packed very lightly for motel camping.

Not so much nice bike path today. Seven mile bridge was quite intimidating, but with the tailwind went by very quickly. Seening the old bridge right next to it was a tease. I hope the complete the bike path on the old bridge someday. Further south there was a bike path crossing a lot of old bridges, but they were all closed. I was told they were open just two years ago. Fell into disrepair I guess.

Rode through Marathon today which I guess is the biggest town before Key West. Even has an airport with small jets. Big Pine is fair sized as well. Wherever the sandbar is wide enough it becomes a city. Most of what I rode through today was barely wider than the road.

Stressed about where I will stay in Key West as none of the Warm Showers hosts replied. Motels are in the $250 range. I booked a bunk in the hostel. I would much rather camp but could not find a spot. Tent camping is $60 in that area, with few ammenities. Oh how I long for the Oregon State Park hiker/biker sites.

Day 3, another long one. I am now officially in the Keys. 

Got up at what I thought was first light but it wasn't really that early. Took my time getting going. It was hard to leave Paradise Farm. I doubt I'll find anything near as lovely on this trip. Glad to have connected with Ernest as well. 

From Homestead the South Dade Trail continues a few more miles to Florida City. After that it is bike lane on US1 for about 15 miles to Key Largo. The rest of the day was 90% bike path, some right along the highway, and some set back nicely.  For about 8 miles into Key Largo I had a mostly headwind, but after that it was mostly side/tailwind. By late afternoon the wind seemed to stop completely and it got pretty hot. 

I met Oak, from Sacramento, and Leah from Sarasota who were traveling north. They had tried and failed to get a boat from Key West to Jamaca, so are headed to Miami to fly down. 

Got to the park pretty fried and tired after to long days. Looking forward to a couple of shorter days from here to Key West. 

Day 2.  Misques, rough roads, and wind. 

Got out super early. Decided to follow the ACA route which meant heading over to the beach. The Lehman causeway had a nice bike lane. A1A was a combination of bike lanes, sharrows, and competing with the traffic. Not bad at all. Things were looking up until I got on the Venitian causeway which was supposed to take me back over the bay,  only to see a big "Bridge Closed" sign. Of course ACA and everyone else tells you to always check local road conditions, which I did not. I rode up to the bridge anyhow thinking maybe I could squeeze through on a bike. No such luck. The draw bridge was raised. 

So I back tracked which added about 5 miles to the day and went over another causeway which was much busier, but had a good bike lane. 

Then I was in downtown Miami. Crazy but I survived. Here the ACA route is quite good, taking some side streets that have bike lanes or sharrows. Eventually things mellowed out as I got south of the city. 

Coconut Grove was quite nice. Mostly through quiet neighborhoods, some with modest old homes all surrounded by dense palm trees. I rode around a bit looking for something interesting, but didn't find it. There was one part of town which had a large outdoor eatery which was packed. 

Eventually I got on the Old Cutler Trail. The ACA map said the trail was rough and a good alternative was South Dade Rail-To-Trail which parallels US1, but first I had to get further south. Rough is an understatement. Tree roots had pushed the pavement up so much it was really unridable on a loaded touring bike. A bunch of road bikers were riding Old Cutler Road so I abandoned the trail and stuck to the road. There was no shoulder but the speed limit was 35 and traffic was not bad  

Once I was far enough south I cut back west to get to US1 and the South Dade Trail. It was about 5 miles, which may have added a bit to the total. The trail was nice. Wide and mostly smooth and well separated from the highway. The only problem was the busy side streets that had to be crossed every quarter to half mile. This wore me out. It requires a lot of effort to start and get a loaded touring bike up to speed. One there it takes much less energy to maintain speed. Especially since the wind was mostly at my back. 

Paradise Farm

The highlight of today was my Warm Showers host at this beautiful organic farm. I didn't get to talk to the owner Gabrielle very much, but spent some time with Ernest who works there and takes care of the B&B guests as well as the bike tourists. Ernest is from South Africa and has toured all over the world. The farm has gardens, greenhouses, and a large avocado orchard. The place is a true tropical paradise. I hope I can return. 

Sue's house to Laurie's house (my sisters). The tour has begun. Perfect temperature but very windy. I was riding into the wind for about half of the ride. Such is Florida I guess. Hope I get some tailwinds.

First ride in Florida. Testing the bike after reassembly and scouting the route out of here. Perfect temperature but a little windy. Mostly north wind which will be great if it continues. 

Rain held off but not the wind. Reverse loop out Tangent, Seven Mile, Periwinkle creek. Back over Gibson Hill, Oak Grove. Tomorrow a plane ride to Florida.

Just wandering around after the rain stopped. Still warm and spring like. 

Two rides actually.

Back on 20 and through town. Sunny and 60 degrees. Spring!

Dry but cool. No wind though. Fast pace. Good training but wore me out. 

Not over Decker, just too it. Took the Saga out for a spin before packing it up to ship to Fla. 

Put the Brooks B-17 back on. Not sure about touring with the Selle Anatomica. I've done 2  tours on the B-17 and it was fine. 

Loaded up with groceries. Much more weight than when touring. Felt fine. 

Cooler. Threatening rain but it held off to Sheed into the wind. Back on Driver. Sun was coming out and wind at our backs. Very nice until Tangent when we could see very dark clouds over Corvallis. Made it to 34 when it opened up and hailed on us. Hail rain and cold, but thankfully we didn't have to ride into the wind. 

Snuck out between rain storms. Still got rained on. Windy too. 

Another nice day. Just kept getting sunnier. Wind out of the west but not bad. Took a side trip up Oak Creek. Out Fern to Airport and back Bellfountain.

A couple of trips into town. Still warm and not too rainy. 

Rain held off almost all the way. Albany via Metge. Back out Periwinkle Creek to Grand Prairie to Seven Mile. There is a bike path for several miles along Preiwinkle Creek. It was partly sunny on the way back but we could see dark clouds over Corvallis. Sure enough as we approached on Tangent drive it dumped, really dumped for about 10 minutes and then stopped just like that.

Beautiful day. Upper 50's. A lot of meandering on the maze of farm roads between Peoria and Shedd. Longest ride of the year so far.

Headed out Peoria Road to Tangent and Oakville following the usual route but then took Kendall Loop. It's gravel for about a mile. It was fresh large diameter gravel but the road had a solid bed and I had no problems sliding or loosing traction. It was rough going though and took a lot of effort. Nice road though through the grass fields. It turns to paved again for another mile or so before hitting Greenback. Took Bratain which is where I stopped on the bridge over Muddy Creek. It was nice and sunny and warm so I stopped and had a snack. Then Peoria park and out Fayatteville across 99E to Boston Mill road to Thompson's Mill. Then Roberts Road to Linn West and back to 99E. Then Oak Plain road to Potter road to Abraham. Then back out to Fayatteville and back Greenback to Green Valley, etc.

I started out into the wind which eventually died down but then shifted. I had as much headwind on the way home as on the way out.

Rain held off and temps in mid 50's

Out Fern Road. Was going to go to Bellfountain but it started to rain so I headed back.

Up Jackson Creek. Then down Granger to Hwy 20 and in to town. Also short ride with January on the Piccalo. Also down to Osborn for MVBC meeting.

Rain, heavy rain. Wind, strong wind. But not cold. 

Hwy. 20 into town. River path through Willamette park. Airport road to Peterson. Up Beaver Creek 2.3 miles when it got too steep for my current condition. Back Belfountain. No rain! Cold south wind but not  too strong. Good ride. 

Via Springhill, back Riverside. 6 miles from yesterday around town. Rain stopped and forecast said it would hold off until afternoon. It didn't. Got pretty wet. It was warm however, almost 50.

Rainy ride. A bit warmer though so not too bad. Some extra miles from a couple of days ago.

It didn't rain, it warmed up a bit, and the sun even poked through a few times. Out Fern road to Peterson and over Decker to 34. I felt much better today and was able to stay at the front and go the distance. Now for some longer rides.

Oh, and the clunker tires I put on were not so bad. Had more confidence knowing I had some tread and flat protection.

Philomath - Fern Road - Airport. Stopped at south Co-op. Then bike path back out to 53. I got some cheap heavy duty tires. Continental Tour. Makes the bike feel like a tank but shouln't get any flats and I can save my good tires for when the roads are clean again.

Just a short ride into town. Things have thawed with temps around 34, so still cold.

With the tenners to Llewellyn and then solo over to Fern and back through Philomath. About 28 at the start but no wind and sunny. Stayed warm enough to enjoy the ride. Hit a wall at 20 miles. This will be a long road back to get in shape again.

First out Peddibone with the bike club. I fell behind on the hills and then got a flat. My feet were getting cold as well. It was right around freezing, clear with a stiff north wind. I was able to pump up the tire and made it home. Had some tea, warmed up and fixed the tire. Actually the rear tire was pretty shot. 3,000 miles on the Compass Baby Shoe Pass might be all you get. I swapped the front to the rear and put on one of the Soma GR tires on the front. I may be shopping for some sturdier tires soon. Once the bike was back together I headed out to Philomath. It warmed up to about 40 and it was a very nice ride, with the wind mostly at my back.

Crescent Valley - Lewsiburg - Granger - Peddibone - Hwy. 20 back to town. A few hills to test my recovery. Definately lost fitness.

Went with the short ride. Cafe closed at Adair so came back to MoC Corvallis. Then solo for a few extra miles.

The sun was actually shining a bit. Still riding very slow. No issues though.

Several short rides starting 5 weeks after hernia surgery. Flood waters are receding but more rain on its way. 

My dream of 6,000 miles for the year has been dashed by a hernia. I'm able to do short easy rides but not much more. Will find out about surgery tomorrow.

First ride on my new Rivet saddle. This one will need breaking in the same as a Brooks. The fit is great, just needs to develop some give.

Nice day after a few wet ones.