At the end of yesterday’s miles of emptiness, it was a surprise to see a couple of cyclists riding the other way. Then at the country bar, a couple of muscled and sweaty college guys showed up on their hybrid bikes. This sudden appearance of our two-wheeled brethren was likely facilitated by a trail that… Read more…

The last couple days have taken us through the very-unpopulated Big Bend corner of Florida, but today we achieved a new level of East Coast emptiness. Once we got through Perry in our first four miles, and passed Rocky’s Campground four miles after that, it was 20 miles until the next building (JR’s Aucilla River… Read more…

Mornings for the last week have been wet with condensation, but today was the first day when that condensation remained visible in the air. Actually through breakfast everything was clear and sunny (and the bikes stayed dry under the cover of the pavilion!) But then something crazy began happening, first strong gusty winds blowing our… Read more…

We’d come 5 miles off course partly because Manatee Springs State Park is where there was a campground, but also because the State Park surrounds Manatee Spring, a “first magnitude” Florida spring (meaning it gushes 100 million gallons of water per day!), where manatees take refuge from the cold just like they do at Crystal… Read more…

It was a little a bit cooler this morning at 6:30am that yesterday’s 57℉, but warm enough that changing into shorts for the day late in the pack-up process wasn’t excessively uncomfortable. Worse was that the clear still skies and 100% humidity left everything super-wet. Yesterday’s added rest day served us well though, and although… Read more…

Yesterday was filled with peaceful riding on farm roads, and today was filled with peaceful riding on bike trails. From the campground it was a short ride to a crossing of the Withlacoochee River (through some real deep-country homes down along its east bank), and then onto a trail of the same name. This is… Read more…