Bike Florida Spring to Spring Tour 2018

 

 

 

 

Overview:
- 3 days of 40 mile mixed surface rides.
- About 60 percent of the ride was on dirt roads.
- About a fifth of the dirt miles were on loose or very loose sand.    
- Ride leaders did a great job given the vast diversity in skills of the riders.

Day 0:
- Drive from Decatur to Ocala National Forest
- Set up Tents at the Clearwater Lake Recreation Center in the Ocala National Forest.
- Attend a "Riders Get Together" about 30 minutes away.
- Settle in for a cold night. 

Day 1 -
- Meet at the "Boy Scout Camp La_No_Che" and ride 40 miles of very loose dirt, packed dirt and paved roads to Juniper Springs Rec Center.
- About 3 miles into the ride we discovered that "some loose sand" meant several inches of loose sand.
- About 20 miles in we realized a few miles of some loose sand meant more than that. 
- Scenery was beautiful. 
- Stacey and Chris (two of the ride leaders) went way beyond any reasonable expectation to keep everyone safe. 
- Back at camp met several riders..

Day 2-
- Biked from Juniper Springs Rec Center to Salt Spring Recreation Area
- Still struggled on the loose sand, but the views were great.
- Made up some time on the paved portions of the ride just to fall back again on dirt sections.
- Lunch stop next to a very scenic lake.  (Buck Lake).
- Got hit with a really good rain storm.
- Mimi took off on the dirt sections!!!
- A smaller part of the ride was on super loose sand as compared to the day before. 
- Stacey (one of the ride leaders) road with the "Slow and Long" group!!!

Day 3-
- Road from the "Salt Spring Recreation Area" back to "Boy Scout Camp La_No_Che"
- More pavement than the other days, 6 miles of semi-loose sand. 
- Mad dash at the end..... 

 

 

Day 0:

 

Clearwater Lake Recreation Center in Ocala National Forest. (About 2 miles from the start of the Spring to Spring Ride)

Deer by our campsite- They were much closer than they apear in this photo.

 

DAY1:

Photo Credit above:  The Good Jeff  (The above shows the kind of roads we were expecting!!!)

 

 

Photo Credit above:  The Good Jeff 

Photo Credit above:  Sherry

 

Photo Credit above:  Sherry  -  The above shows the "packed" are of the surface.

Photo Credit above:  Sherry  (The above show a semi-loose section of the surface)

 

Below -- Store Stop...

 

 

 

DAY 3:

This pool is fed by a natural spring.