Day 4 Gator Hell Week

We’re hung on to summer for one more day. And from the sound of things, we’ve got one more day to bask in sort-sleeve glory before a reality check sets in tomorrow night. By Wednesday morning, we may very well be scraping frost from our water bottles.

But only for a day. And remember, no matter what the weather is here, it’s better than it is back north.

Today was a ride of two bike paths…first the ten-mile section on the Van Fleet Trail before lunch, and then the concluding ten miles on the Withlacoochee Trail at the finish. In both cases the riding was superb, with a mix of other cyclists, rollerbladers, and walkers.

And for the first time during this ride, we encountered cloudy skies and even a few scattered gravity-prone drops of liquid sunshine. Fortunately it was never enough to really get wet, although the persistent humidity kept us all feeling a little damp all day long.

We left Plant City in spotty fog, and rolled through rural Hillsborough County as we skirted the thriving and growing metropolis of Lakeland. In a short time we were headed out into the Green Swamp, a slough that sits roughly 100 feet above sea level in the middle of the state, and also provides the headwaters of the Withlacoochee River.

It was there we used the Van Fleet Trail, a perfectly flat ribbon of pavement that extends for 29 miles in its totality. We’ll be back on it on Day 6 for another 10-mile segment. This facility is a real gem for Florida. The only drawback is that it so far from residential centers that most users have to drive there, and then unload their gear, thereby kind of defeating the purpose of human transport in the first place.

But I digress.

After an all-too-quick helf-hour on the trail, we exited on Rt 565 and found the crew waiting for us in front of a small Baptist Church, where we had lunch and savored the feel (for a few minutes at least) of the hard plastic buckets we use for seating. After a few days in the saddle, even a bucket can be comfy.

It was then back on the bikes and off to Mascotte, and then to Center Hill via Tuscanooga Road, a little road we used back in the first two Gator Weeks (‘97 and ‘98). It was only another 6 miles to Webster for the afternoon SAG, a town known mostly for its huge Monday flea market. The market was still going strong when we rolled past, buyers and sellers apparetly finding something to agree about.

About this time a moderate northeast wind picked up, the first real breeze of the day.  Given our route, this was only a minor nuisance, as we only had a few northbound miles to cover. After crossing I-75 we sped past the national cemetery, and then a prison. A few miles later, after crossing the Withlacoochee River, we joined up with the path of the same name. The sun began to break through, but ironically the raindrops began falling. We picked up the pace, hoping to reach the finish near the intersection of I-75 and Hwy 50 before it could break loose, which we did. Unfortunately for the crew, they had all the baggage outside the trailer, ready for everyone to claim, when a stray shower dumped on them before any of us arrived. They quickly repacked everything, only to watch the sun reappear in time for our dry arrival.

Dinner was at nearby Papa Joe’s. Family members joined us, while we also bid adieu to Jim, who was only along for the first half of the tour.

And thus ends our cycling for 2007. We’ve come slightly over 400 miles in 4 days (with 97.5 today), with roughly the same to come in the next 4 days. One thing is for sure: We all start tomorrow morning with one thing in common. We’ll have 0.0 miles for the year when we roll out.

But that will all change quickly. Furthermore, all of us agree that there’s no better way to ring in the New Year than to be riding bikes.