Bit of frost again on Thurs AM. Camp spot is sheltered from early sun warmth. Cold.
Plan is to go ride Santos round trip to land bridge which is an overpass over I-75 that looks like a real land bridge:
Left XG, drove short distance to Santos TH. At TH OMBA created a skills area & a pump track. My plan was to hang & wait for temp to climb before my ride. I tried to key out several trees.
A Sheriff’s car w/ a bike rack was in parking lot. I wanted to talk to the officer to learn of law enforcement comments about bike trails. Officer showed up. He rode in is duty clothes. The bike is a cheap hard tail w/ rim brakes & platform pedals. He was happy riding in his get up. He offered little insight about trails.
Replaced chain & installed the eggbeater wear plates on the high top Specialized shoes I have been wearing so far. The eggbeater erodes the sole of the shoe making the pedal / cleat interface seem loose.
Rode a few of the skills. I rode an 8″skinny that was less than 18″ off ground. A break through for me. There were various boulders to climb up & over. Th larger ones had chain ring grind marks on them. I don’t do that w/ my stuff.
Headed out following IMBA Epic & Land Bridge as goal. Trail was supposed to be marked w/ blazes. I missed or it was missing a marker & did a big loop back to TH. Tried again. Started moves on rattlesnake and the chain started skipping on cluster. Darn, Cluster wore out. Turned around, made it back to TH because trail was flat & no climbing load was on chain. Drove short distance to bike shop to buy a cluster & check on bike parts. Ordered cluster from sister shop for tomorrow pick up. Weak shop. No brake part. Crossed up shop owner, never had as cold a person as she. Reinstalled old chain which doesn’t skip as chain & cluster are worn together.
Decided to stay in XG again @ $23/ night. Picked campsite 12 that sun warmed early. Rode on Florida Trail that I learned is closed to bikes but there was no closure notice where I jumped on. I encountered a hiker, not only was she cold she was killing me w/ her voice. Opps.
Headed out made it past my furthest loop & found epic markers to Land Bridge. Greenway is maybe 1/4 mile wide. In it there are higing, biking, & horseback trails, all single use. The horse trails in deep woods look like firebreaks.
Different flora:
Epic mostly follows easier trails as they are more linear. 28.27 miles in 3 hours, climbed 1318′ somewhere. Warmed up during ride, took off tights: bare legs.
Took shower @ XG before dark.
Clear night.
Email from Rob stating that he had to abandon Friday’s ride because he is building a pump track in his yard this weekend. His wife is all for it after riding the public one.
Plan for Friday is to manage the time in getting an AM ride & shower & out of XG by 1:00 and then check in @ bike shop.
Some frost on ground, sun warmed van quickly.
Rode pavement to TH. Plan was to ride all the intermediate blue trails & red advanced trails as I could. Rode part of Vortex until I spun off to ride Twister that ate up my time. Still 11.45 miles in 93 mins, gained 651′.
Took shower & made the gate w/ minutes to spare.
Drove by bike shop on way to grocery store. Decide to try Winn Dixie instead of Publix. Checked out produce section & walked out. Publix is better chain.
back @ bike shop. Cluster is there but no mail. Bill & girl did not receive any mail. I called Charlie @ Formula & asked what’s up. He said that the status showed received. Address was for highway 44 not 441. Who got the mail? SHop owner shows up. Asked her, finally got to understanding to check the locked mail box. There is was. Bill replaced the broken part, the plunger, in $7.00 labor. I can now adjust the rear brake to brake before the lever crushes my fingers between the bar.
Headed out scenic drive on highway 441 to Sanfelasco just N of Gainesville. Road ran thru countryside before Gainesville. Rob told me FL has the largest number of cows than any state.
Found laundromat on S outskirts of town. Run down but manned by a helpful English is second language person. Put line dry clothes in dryer and selected low heat. Might have damaged the pieces from the heat.
Drove thru UF on highway. Students all over. Very warm: short sleeve collared shirt & driver’s window rolled down.
Found camp spot just off highway in small industrial park. Railroad track, drainage ditch, & small band of trees seperate me from road. Checked tracks out: very rusty.
Tomorrow is Sanfelasco & then push back North. Need to return to FATS & Bill to ride rest of trails. Then back into N GA for Olympic course, Ellijay mountains, and more.
Ocala, FL is 2779 miles from Spokane. Bar Harbor, ME was 3041 miles.
Might not need heater tonight but windows need to be closed. I am not ready for warm temps. Head North back to cold.
Hey Crag, Ocala is near Flagler Beach where some of my family tree has its roots. An aunt & cousins are still there. My immigrant grandparents moved down there from the Great Lakes area. There ended up being quite a Polish community in the area. Dziadzia (grandpa) would hop the rails north during the depression to work and send money home. He made it clear to the logging camps of the Pacific NW in search of work. I’ve been down to this area of FL a couple of times. Hard to imagine it being too warm for you this time of year! Enjoy!