Biking the Withlacoochee

It's been a colder than usual winter here in sunny Florida and there hasn't been much incentive to engage in outdoor activities.  It's finally getting warmer although it's still more rainy than usual.

Becky, one of my neighbors here in The Islands suggested a group ride on the Withlacoochee Rail Trail.  The forecast was good.  Here we are first thing in the morning having just loaded the bikes on the back of the van.  Becky is on the left and her friend Jill is on the right.  We drove over to Inverness, unloaded the bikes and set off to the north on the trail.  We biked about five miles, arriving at Sabina's, a restaurant right on the trail in Hernando.  We decided it was far enough for the first outing of the year.  Sabina's serves a nice breakfast which we enjoyed.  We then hopped back on our bikes and cycled south.

A passerby snapped this photo of us.  All told, it was a ten mile ride.  The Withlacoochee is a wonderful trail, relatively flat, paved and a joy to ride.  We'll be back, perhaps to ride in the other direction as soon as we have a chance.

Arcata Marsh

This morning we awoke to light drizzle. After a good breakfast we set off on our bikes (with Linny and Perry in the trailer being towed by their mother) to the Arcata Marsh. The city uses treated waste water in over 300 acres of created wetlands to provide a habitat for wildlife, particularly migrating birds. The property used to be a landfill. There are walking and bicycle paths and an interpretive center.


By the time we had completed the two mile bike ride the drizzle had stopped. While the sun never fully broke through the clouds, it became bright enough for sun glasses and warm enough to walk in shirt sleeves. Perry and Linny walked quite a way along the gravel paths and were quite interested in the various birds we saw. When they finally tired their parents hoisted them into back packs.



We made a stop at the interpretive center where there were kid friendly activities and much needed rest rooms.

There were wild blackberries and a wide variety of wild flowers along the trails. Here are some of my first flower closeups:

Queen Anne's Lace

Bull Thistle

Bull Thistle

Everlasting Pea

Everlasting Pea

There were lots of wild blackberries. You can see from the green ones pictured here that taking a walk in the Arcata Marsh in a week or two will be a delicious adventure.

Here are some that were already ripe and quite tasty.

Update

It's been nearly a week since I last posted and the time has flown.

We had a day visitor last Saturday, a good friend from FUSP (First Unitarian Society of Plainfield). It was a warm, sunny day and we were able to have lunch on the screened porch for the first time in weeks.

Sunday we made our usual trip over to Citrus Springs to attend services at NCUU (Nature Coast Unitarian Universalists). Following the service there was a pot luck with a wide selection of delicious offerings. Dick and I had picked up a spiral sliced ham to bring and it was well received. We have been touched by the warm, friendly atmosphere at NCUU. The members encourage us to participate in many aspects of the congregation's life despite being snow birds and we are grateful.

Monday our friend, Maryann, also a member of FUSP, arrived to spend a few days with us. Maryann is an active outdoor person and we spent time biking, walking and kayaking. Here we are in Floral City taking an ice cream break during our ride on the Withlacoochie Trail.

Dick was with us (he took this photo) and we all rode about 17 miles, from Inverness to a spot south of Floral City and back. It was a beautiful day and the trail was getting some use. We saw quite a few people on recumbent bicycles and tricycles. We also saw this fellow, who was not riding a bike.


He was moving along at a brisk pace.

Progress continues on Decimal. I've finished both sleeves and am in the midst of the border pattern on the body. Knitting across 205 stitches for each row is a slow process. The pattern is easy to memorize with just enough challenge to keep it interesting.

Use It or Lose It

Dick on his way to the gym
Originally uploaded by rallaronson

Dick has been committed to exercise ever since he had triple by-pass surgery in 1993. In NJ he uses an elliptical trainer in the basement of our apartment building. Now that we are in Florida, he has joined a gym, Tuffy's, about three and a half miles from our condo. Dick rides his bike to the gym nearly every morning unless it's raining or too windy. Since this is "sunny Florida" Dick rides nearly every day. Once he arrives at the gym, he puts in 45 to 50 minutes on the elliptical trainer.

Dick is proof positive that people can recover from open heart surgery and live healthy, active lives. He watches his diet and exercises seven days a week. He's a role model for anyone with heart disease.

East Coast Greenway Ride

This morning Hubby and I met up with a group of bicyclists. The plan was to ride south along the shore of the Hudson from the George Washington Bridge to Hoboken, take the ferry to Manhattan and ride north along the west side bike path in New York City and cross back into NJ on the G W Bridge. These routes are part of the East Coast Greenway.

About 30 people showed up, with a wide variety of bicycles including three or four tandems and a recumbent. We set off shortly after 8 AM. The leaders were very knowledgeable which was important. Only some sections of the off road path are complete and we would ride for a mile or two along the river and then have to ride on the street for a bit. The leaders controlled car traffic when we were out on the road and knew just when to rejoin the bike path.

The participants were primarily from New York, New Jersey and surrounding areas, but there was also a couple from Belgium who happened to be visiting. There is considerable interest in the East Coast Greenway which will ultimately be an off road walking and biking trail that stretches from Calais, Maine to Key West, Florida. Many sections are complete, but there are also many miles currently on public roads. This ride was intended to build enthusiasm and support (volunteer and monetary) to close the gaps.

All new development on the riverbank is required to provide a thirty foot wide buffer to allow public access to the river. Each development has interpreted this differently and there are many different paving styles along the way. The real challenge will be to insure that the various developments continue to maintain the pathway. Already there are some spots that need a bit of work.

Once we crossed the Hudson, we joined the bicycle path that goes up the west side of Manhattan from the Battery to the George Washington Bridge. This is a beautifully maintained path although like any amenity in NYC, it's heavily used and some care was necessary when passing or being passed.

We made a brief stop at the Little Red Lighthouse under the bridge and then began the arduous task of climbing from the river bank to the level of the bridge. Many of us found it necessary to push our bikes part of the way but we all made it. I found the trip across the bridge a bit nerve wracking because the walkway is rather narrow and it's two way. There were many bikers coming from NJ and some of them were riding rather fast. At some points the trail snakes around the bridge supports making sharp turns in narrow spaces.

Soon we were on the other side and heading back to the park where we left our cars. Following the ride, most of us repaired to T.J.'s Steak Pit in Fort Lee where we enjoyed a lunch together.

The Confederation Trail

DH and I have been on Prince Edward Island for the past week riding the Confederation Trail. It's converted from the old railroad line that ran from end to end on the island. We had hoped to bike with our friends Joe and Tink from Princeton, but Tink had a serious biking accident a week or two before we left home and they had to cancel.

We started our trip in Charlottetown, the captial of PEI. We stayed the first night at The Rodd Charlottetown, an old Canadian railroad hotel that has been lovingly restored. On the advice of an AMCer we met in Maine, we took in the dinner theater there, a musical called The Nearlyweds which was hokey but fun.

Monday, July 7

We got up early on Monday morning, had breakfast and moved our car to a parking garage nearby. Our ride to Tignish, the eastern end of the trail was scheduled for 9 AM. At 9:20 we called the outfitter, which is located in Missouri of all places, and were told the van was running late. At 9:35 our driver appeared, loaded the bikes and our bags, and drove us to Tignish.

We had lunch at M and J's Bakery and set off for Alberton where we were scheduled to spend the night at the Hunter House Inn. The trail is well groomed with a surface of crushed gravel. We rode 14.6 miles including a short spur to Alberton and some road miles to reach the inn. Diane and Phil were great hosts and the room was lovely. After we showered and dressed for dinner, Phil drove us to the Boat Store in nearby Northport, on the water, where we had a good seafood dinner. Although Phil offered to pick us up after dinner, we decided to walk back to the inn. It was a bit further than we realized, but we made it.

Tuesday, July 8

After a good night's sleep we had a delicious breakfast at the inn and set off on the road, back to the trail and on to Bideford. We stopped in O'Leary for lunch at Vinny's Restaurant and then biked on to Ellerslie where we left the trail to ride to Bideford and Hilltop Acres B & B. Total mileage for the day was 34.5 miles. Wayne and Janice, gracious hosts who have biked the entire trail themselves, drove us to dinner at The Doctor's Inn. This was a special treat. We were the only guests at dinner and the meal was cooked to order based on the choices we had made the day before when we made the reservation. DH had scallops and I had sole almondine. There were many courses and plenty of wine. We finished off the meal with strawberry pie. Strawberries are in season on PEI during July and over the course of the week we had them for dessert in many variations.

Wednesday, July 9

We had a simple but ample breakfast and hit the road back to the trail. We fought a strong headwind all morning. This was one of the longer days, 36.4 miles and we were relieved to arrive in Summerside, our planned lunch stop. Wayne had recommended that we eat on the coast at Sharky's and we had great seafood again. We were establishing a pattern with DH nearly always ordering the lobster roll while I had PEI mussels. We took a walk through downtown, looking for a book I had enjoyed at Hunter House with sketches of the locomotives and cars on the old PEI Railroad but were told by a book seller that it was hard to find on the island. We got back on the bikes and set off for The Home Place in Kensington. We misread Henry's directions and rode quite a way off course before asking for directions at a local home improvement store. Back on track, we found the inn, quite close to the trail. On Henry's recommendation, we ate at the inn.

Thursday, July 10

Kensington to York was to be our longest day and we were a bit concerned when it started to rain before breakfast. Fortunately, there were two or three short showers but no real heavy rain. We put our rain jackets on a few times and then took them back off because it was too warm. Up until now the weather had been almost too warm so we were glad the showers cooled things off. We stopped in Hunter River at the By the River Cafe for lunch and then continued on to York and the Little York Inn. Total mileage for the day was 38.2

Our material from Henry didn't say anything about dinner that night. When we arrived in York, Robert, our inn keeper told us he could have made dinner if he had advance notice. We hadn't know this. York is not far from Charlottetown and he said we could take a taxi into the city, but we were reluctant to do so. Robert suggested the alternative of eating at an informal resort nearby that he could drive us to. We took him up on this and had a good but rather expensive dinner at the Stanhope Beach Resort. When we were finished eating, the waitress called Robert and he came back to fetch us.

We noted that Henry said we might be able to get lunch at Mt. Stewart and we asked Robert to confirm. He called the cafe and found they don't open before 2 PM. Robert offered to make us bag lunches and we took him up on his offer.

Friday, July 11

While enjoying great conversation and a wonderful breakfast with two other couples at Little York B & B, our luggage pick-up was announced. It was only 8:45 (we thought luggage had to be ready at 9 AM). We rushed from the table to finish packing and brush our teeth while the driver waited patiently at the front door of the inn. If breakfast is not served until 8 AM which was the case at most of the places we stayed, it's not possible to have the baggage ready before 9 AM at the earliest in our opinion.

Today's ride was 30.1 miles total including "the prettiest 11 kilometers on the trail" between Morell and St. Peters. But, before we got there, we went through the mosquito capital of PEI, Mt. Stewart. A mile or two west of Mt. Stewart we biked through a protected wetland area. As I rode I began to experience painful bites on my neck, back, arms and in my hair. It was about 11:30 AM when I arrived, a bit ahead of DH, at the Mt. Stewart Public Library. I parked my bike and immediately was attacked by about 100 mosquitos. I ran in the building to find the librarian and the adjoining shop owner who laughingly told me there had just been "a hatch." They invited me to stay inside, use the free internet service and eat my lunch. I kept an eye out for DH who arrived soon thereafter. He didn't come in the building at first and the two women told me it was because he was busy spraying himself with insect repellent. He soon joined me and we spent about two hours there checking e-mail and reading parts of the N Y Times.

By the time we were ready to continue on our way the mosquitos seemed to have left the scene. We were happy to have the bag lunches because the cafe, across the street from the library, did not open until 4 PM according to the posted signs. We made an additional stop at the Morell train station, now an information center and then rode the 11 kilometers to St. Peters. There were indeed lovely views.

We were relieved that our directions to tonight's inn were a bit off. It was five kilometers closer than Henry wrote and it was right off the trail, not three kilometers away. The Greenwich Gate Lodge in St. Peters was more like a motel, but the room was large, clean and comfortable. We had a fish and chips dinner next door at Rick's and slept soundly.

Saturday, July 12

Breakfast at Greenwich Gate was from 7 to 9 AM, much to DH's delight. It was billed as a continental breakfast, but it included oatmeal, toast, fruit, juice and muffins, more than enough to energize us for the relatively short 22.7 mile day to Souris. Today involved taking one of the spur trails and it was well worth it. The Matthews House Inn is a Victorian beauty. Kimberly and her husband were wonderful hosts and our room and the entire house for that matter were beautifully furnished with antiques. We arrived in time for lunch and headed over to the Blue Fin, within walking distance of the inn. We had a great seafood lunch and headed back to check in. I took my usual afternoon nap while DH read and relaxed. We went back to the Blue Fin for dinner and then had a good night's sleep.

Sunday, July 13

I awoke this morning feeling rather sad that our ride was nearly over. Today was a particularly short day, only 15.8 miles. Again, the weather was beautiful. After a breakfast of cereal, scones and omelets we set off for Elmira, the end of the trail. Kimberly had called ahead for us and told us there was a cafe at the train station/museum in Elmira. We arrived around noon and had lobster rolls and ice cream. There were plenty of benches for us to sit on while we waited for the shuttle to arrive. The driver was actually 15 minutes early. He loaded the bikes and we drove to Souris to get the luggage and then on to the Snapdragon B & B in Charlottetown for our last night on PEI.

The Snapdragon is pretty upscale and we have a beautiful room on the second floor with a large deck outside. We walked into town, had another seafood dinner at a small restaurant at Prince and Water Streets, called Prince and Water, and spent some time amid the tourists down on the Quay where there was live music. As we walked back, we realized we could liberate our car from the parking garage (closed on Sundays but with no gates) and we drove it back to the Snapdragon.

Breakfast is scheduled for 8 AM tomorrow and then we will load the car and head to New Hampshire. I can't say enough good things about the Confederation Trail. The surface is wonderful, the accomodations were very good and the people here on the island are very pleasant. All in all, we had a wonderful time.