MEANDERING MOOSE

       Day 4:  47 miles.  80+ degrees and sunny, no wind.  Prior to starting the trip Day 4 was my greatest day of trepidation.  This was supposed to be a 57 mile day with a 28 mile gap in the trail and there were no places to eat along the way.  The 28 mile gap can be bridged by peddling on Route 50.  Route 50 is one of the primary routes for trucks and cars departing Orlando and heading west.  It is a 70 MPH 2 lane road with no shoulders.  The road is heavy with traffic and you would actually be sharing the travel lanes with all the other vehicles.  It is a biker's nightmare!        There are several alternative gap routes and many sound highly suspect.  One route takes you on a dirt/sand road through a swamp.  If it is wet you ride in a slurry of mud and if it is dry the road turns into sand--yuck!  I opted for a route which sounded safe and is one of the more popular routes....

This what happens when you zone-out and get lost on the C2C Trail! I was almost there!!!      Day 3:  57 miles.  80+ degrees and sunny, no wind.  This was a big day for me as it was going to be a back to back high milage day and I was worried how my body would react to 2 big days in a row.  The day was planned to be 50 miles; but lack of appropriate signage and my zoning-out resulted in a 7 mile detour.      Day 3 was of some concern as there is a 5 mile gap in the trail.  To navigate the gap you had to ride on sidewalks with heaps of driveways and street crossings while making multiple turns.  There was a lot of slow going and a constant vigilance for cars was mandatory.  It turned out that cars were not the issue, but rather the surface I was riding on was the problem.  While riding the sidewalk I picked up a staple in my tire and received a puncture.  Most riders I know would be breaking out their tire repair ...

One of the rare C2C Trail signs.  The  lack of trail signs made  navigation difficult as there are a lot of confusing intersections along the way. I think Mickey and Minnie were in charge of signage.        Day 2:  46 Miles.  80+ degrees and sunny, slight tail wind.  In my pre-trip training I only exceeded 50 miles once.  Now I was planning to string together 5 50 mile days.  I was very nervous that I was asking to much of myself.  Since I felt committed, I decided to start my days at a leisurely pace to manage my energy output and save something for after lunch.  Also, I was trying to accomplish 30-35 mile mornings to have easier and shorter afternoons.     To start the adventure,  Nan dropped me backed at Draa Park around 8:30 AM and off I went.  After 8 or 9 miles I happened upon the White Sands Buddhist Center.  The center was only 100 yards off the bike trail and boasted 3 massive Buddhas...

     My starting point at Playalinda Beach.     Welcome to the revival of the Meandering Moose Blog.  Nan and I have lived relatively normal lives since my last post but we just did something really cool so I thought I would bring my blog back to life.  So wake up blog; I'm baaaccck!!! My new gravel bike outfitted for my trip.    Approximately 7 years ago our good friends Jim & Nanc Tidball mentioned a long distance bike trail connecting Pittsburg to D.C.  At that time I was an occasional mountain biker; but long distance biking peaked my interest.  3 years ago, after suffering torn up legs and knees, shredded arms and elbows, and the ole "face-meets-dirt-meets-dentist" episodes; I decided to retire from mountain biking and get a road bike.  Since physic...