Huracan 400 Ride Report Day 2

 We set our alarms to wake up at 5:45 am, but our twitchy, achy bodies had us awake at 5:30 am.  We moaned, we groaned, but got our stuff together and headed down to breakfast, where we made quick work of coffee, eggs, bacon, and toast.

As we got on our bikes, I believe we all winced when our nethers contacted the saddle. I was glad I applied some Boudreaux's Butt Paste as well as a pack of Chamois Butt'r. While I had no chafing or sores from yesterday, I wanted to make sure and keep it that way today.  While the skin was in great shape, the sit bones were tender.

We pedaled a few miles to rejoin the route from where we left the night before.  Temps were in the mid-60's and their was a slight cool breeze.  Traffic was quiet, being a Saturday, and we safely rode 16 miles through the neighborhoods of Apopka before hitting the Loop Trail around the lake.

Lake Apopka ... one of my favorite sections.

The Loop Trail was hard packed and fast.  Those 21 miles went by quickly, as we had plenty of wildlife and landscape to lay eyes upon.  So ... many ... gators! We finished this section with a switchback climb up Green Mountain.  We stopped and walked up several flights of stairs to the overlook; I could feel the weight in my legs.  At the Green Mountain Trailhead, we stopped, got water, and butt'rd our bits Even though it was from a fountain, it still tasted like beach sand.

Green Mountain Overlook

At mile 40 we entered the Florida Pyrenees.  All on asphalt, the next 20 miles was a series of small but punchy hills.  These were not rollers but steep climbs that had me saying, "I am NOT using granny, I am NOT using granny!"  

Florida is not flat

With a tender tush, I opted to stand on these climbs and give my bits some reprieve.  Oh, and a nice southerly wind kicked up during this time, which made those climbs even more challenging.

A nice little 100 foot rise along the horizon

After the Pyrenees, we fought a terrible headwind into Minneola.  We found a Publix and stopped to eat lunch and resupply.  I grabbed a banana and a King Size Snickers and PayDay. 

Sushi!

With full bellies, we slowly pedaled through neighborhoods fighting the winds the whole way.  And it was getting hot!  I was not complaining because at least the 15 mph headwind had a cooling effect. Finally we hopped on the South Lake bike path and enjoyed the views along Lake Minneola, including the beautiful old stands of live oak trees.

Lake Minneola

After 6 miles of paved bike path, it was another 16 miles of asphalt to the Van Fleet Trailhead.  All this flat after the Pyrenees was beginning to take its toll on my lady bits; mashed and smashed is the best description for how things felt down there. Lisa and Lindsey were also having the same problem.  In addition, Lindsey tweaked her knee trying to clip in her pedals.  Cleats that were brand spanking new for the ride had now been ground down to a point that made insertion and removal of her shoe most difficult.

We stopped to fill up with water at the Van Fleet Trailhead as this would be our last opportunity without filtering.  But watching that gray water come out of the faucet, I began to think about filtering even that. I applied more Chamois Butt'r, but was really wanting an injection of Lidocaine into my sit bone area.

Highs for the day were in the low 80's

After just a short 2 miles on Van Fleet, we entered the Green Swamp.  I have heard nightmares about this section: mud, water, more mud, soft double track, everything to kill your average speed.  And there was 45 miles of this, according to Lisa math.

beginning of Green Swamp, not too bad

The roads through the WMA were in extremely good shape.  There were a few mud holes to skirt around, but not enough to even warrant the 🖕. 

Lisa was so strong through the swamp

Lindsey really began to suffer as the miles drug on.  I felt so bad for her, but there wasn't a damn thing I could do except offer encouragement.  Both Lisa and I did most of the pulling through here to allow her to keep as much pressure off the knee as possible.  

We stopped at a small camping area just before we hit the paved Rock Ridge Road which was the most southern point through the swamp.  The camp host was nice enough to give us each a bottle of cold water.  The biting flies were fierce here, but I managed to pull up the route on Google and swat flies simultaneously.  I think I cried a little when I realized that we were not even halfway through the swamp. I began to dislike Lisa math. 

As we pedaled along Rock Ridge Road, enjoying the smooth asphalt, I did a little bike math.  Yep, our day was going to be a little longer than the projected 135 miles.  Lisa and I chatted about our situation; we didn't have the heart to tell Lindsey who was having to a dark place to keep on chugging along. 

The easy spin along Rock Ridge Road ended quickly and the course turned back into the swamp along a freshly plowed section of double track.  It was very chunky riding, but at least rideable: it could have been a lot worse had it not been for the moisture in the soil.

Why?  For a fire break, perhaps.

At least for Lindsey, the pain in her knee subsided when she was walking.  Fortunately there was only a mile or so of this and then we were back on some better double track as the sun slowly began to set.

With 30 miles left of the swamp and another 8 miles of pavement to the hotel, we trudged on as darkness enveloped us.  We were all quiet at this point, seeing the opportunity for a hearty sit down meal slip away from us again. We had a moment of losing our way when we did a complete circle in sugar sand around the boy scout camp, wondering where the hell the correct road was.  Upon retracing our path and looking closely at the track, I figured out that there was a single track that we were supposed to jump on. We had to go through the camp and and the trail was semi-hidden with some deadfall.  Whew! I thought we had entered purgatory for a moment.  And those buildings at the camp were CREEPY, as in B-movie horror film creepy.  Wish I had snapped at picture of them.

After the short bit of single track, we found ourselves on a section of double track that had lots of limbs.  Despite seeing the large limb in front of her and even calling it out, it latched onto her derailleur. Her derailleur/pulley cages managed to chew it up, but not before it tweaked her Transmission derailleur, which is supposed to be indestructible.  While it did not snap off, it did something to her shifting causing her chain to skip in the lower gears. So now she was relegated to the highest 5-6 gears.

It was smooth sailing on Ranch Road.  With miles still left to go and our water running low, Lisa approached a campsite and was greeted with two of the tallest Great Danes I have ever seen.  The owner grabbed them before they attempted to jump the fence and eat us.  Although a bit reluctant at first, they did give us each a bottle of water.  Thanking them profusely, we went on our way.

After several miles of more double track, we turned on Meg's Hole Road.  And soon enough there she was ... the hole we had to cross.

Meg's Hole

About 30-40 yards across, we navigated along the far right and it never got more than mid-thigh deep.  The water was warm as well.  After that was Lacoochee Road, which was deep with soft sand.  There was a little pushing involved, but then we found where a Razor had recently gone through and followed its firm'ish tracks, eventually turning onto Graveyard Road, which was in much better shape.  And we could hear civilization, meaning our ride would soon be over.  The 45 miles of Green Swamp was actually closer to 60.

Hitting Hwy 50, we turned on the afterburners, or at least it felt like it.  There was a Winn Dixie close to the hotel, so we were trying to make it there before closing.  Arriving at 9:45 pm, we were 45 minutes too late.  What the heck?!?  They close at 9 pm, on a Saturday?  Frustrated, we headed to the hotel, checked in, showered  (my lady bits 😱), and then headed to McDonald's, the only fast food restaurant open at 10:30.  I got a double quarter pounder with cheese sans bun and a Coke (Eric, don't judge me, as I was hoping for better at Winn Dixie).

Bonus:  we got upgraded to 2 rooms!

 

I still managed to eat and wash our clothes and get to bed by 12:30 am, although it was a very fitful sleep, as the legs were heavy with fatigue and achy.

Our 135 mile day was really 153 miles with 2900 feet of climbing.  So that should mean tomorrow ought to be a short day, right? 😏  

Elapsed time: 14:58        Ride time: 12:56

Here is the Strava Link:  https://www.strava.com/activities/10643994963/

Huracan 400 Ride Report -- Day 1

 

Summer kits in January!

Our day began with a 5 am wake up call, followed by several cups of Sleep Inn coffee ... meh! After throwing the gear we would not be taking with us into my truck, I said a silent prayer that Biggie G would not be violated during our 3 day absence. We pedaled 6 miles to the start of the course, praying once again that we would not be plowed by rush our traffice ... at 6 am!  

Nayls North Trail

The weather was very pleasant starting out at a cool 65 degrees. Going clockwise we rode about 25 miles of Santos single track, stopping at the campground to refill our water.  From there it was more single track over to Marshall Swamp.  The Studebakin Trail should be renamed Rodeo, as it was very lumpy and my bike felt like a bucking bronco beneath me.

There was a beautiful paved path lead in to Marshall Swamp.  The single track through the swamp I thought was in excellent shape, with a few sections of pedaling through water.  We then rode a short section of the Florida Trail before dumping out onto some paved roads.

Marshall Swamp

Marshall Swamp

At 54 miles into the ride, we stopped at the Solid Rock Church (mile 48 on the course) to filter water from the spigot (said non-potable).  I dropped an electolyte tab into my bottles, but it still tasted like ocean sand.  Soon after that stop, we rode some beautiful limestone roads, only encountering a brief stretch of sugar sand.  It was easily rideable as it still contained some moisture from last night's rains.

Fast as asphalt

Not as bad as it looks

We entered the Ghost Trail at mile 69 (mile 63 on the course). 3.5 miles of trail that was either covered in blow downs or overgrown with grass.  This trail skirted around the northwestern section of Farles Lake. The views were eye candy!  The water was down, so we were able to skirt around the fallen trees and ride close to the waters' edge, where the dirt was firm and the grasses shorter

.

Ghost Trail

Ghost Trail

As our water was running low, we stopped at Farles Lake Recreation Area.  The water pump was broken, so we filtered water from the lake.  That was the best tasting water of the whole ride!  The heat of the day was now upon us (82 degrees).  I thought I had been drinking enough, but started getting a head ache, so I took a couple of extra strength Tylenol.

Farles Lake

More miles of limestone and pavement brought us to the Paisley Mountain Bike Trail: 11 miles of open, flowy, and hardpacked sand/dirt which was very similar to Croom.  I was ready to be done by the 7th mile as it was getting redundant and I was low on food.  Fortunately, the town of Paisley was just a few miles beyond the end of that single track.  

Slim pickens for me

Lisa and Lindsey headed inside while I watched our bikes.  There was a sketchy dude on a clapped out Specialized CrossTrail that pulled in just as they went inside.  Glad I opted to be watch dog because I could see this dude eyeing our bikes pretty hard.  He didn't seem like the serial killer type so I talked to him and tried to tighten his handle bar, but the bolts were completely stripped.

I made due:  1100 calories

Leaving Paisley, we encountered Maggie Jones Road, of which I have heard nightmares.  Today we won the lottery, as it was hard packed and fast!  

Gopher tortoise on Maggie Jones

More fast pavement took us to Seminole State Forest.  Here, we were supposed to pay a day use fee of $2.  I had brought plenty of dollar bills to deposit at the pay station, but you had to use your phone to pay online.  After 10 minutes of attempts, including the website locking up on me, I said, "Fuck it, this is ridiculous!"  Even though I was not in racing mode, I did not want to waste precious minutes of daylight.  I wanted to just drop $2 on the ground and go.  (I later paid online, when I got back home and could do it without any stress.)

The roads through Seminole State Forest were beautiful. The sun was beginning to set, temperature was cooling down, my headache was gone, and the King Size Snickers was in my belly.

Seminole State Forest

Rock Springs Run was 8 miles of hell!  It started out with firm double track which soon became swampy with many boggy areas that involved pushing through or around deep water.  And then night fell. 

There was a short section of GPS track that had us deviating off the double track.  We quickly decided to follow the shit road we were on instead of bushwhacking deeper into hell.  That cost us a few minutes and some tears.  And then there was the Challenge Trail, aptly named not due to technical features, but because that it was completely overgrown with underbrush.  Our poor bikes and legs were lashed almost to death. I kept getting small sticks and vines wrapped around my cassette.  Our bike derailleurs were lucky to have survived.

What trail!?!

At 8 pm and 128 miles (122 miles on the course), we made it to the short rogue trail down to the  Wekiwa River crossing.  I was glad I had watched a few YouTube videos on daylight crossings. While Lindsey and Lisa were hem hawing, I saw the little strip of water on the opposite side, hoisted my bike on my back, and began the 40+ yard journey.  The water, being spring fed was warm, and it got no deepper than just above my belly button.  I could hear Lisa behind me as she began the crossing, telling me not to get any pictures as she was naked from the waist down.  As I made it to the other side, I could hear Lisa saying, "Where's the line?  It's tits deep!"  I was laughing so hard, I had a hard time getting my phone out to take a photo or two.

I have finished my crossing and this shows the long approach up the little inlet to the boat launch.

The light in the distance is Lisa and Lindsey

Even though Lisa took off her shorts to keep them from getting wet, she still managed to get them soaked.  We took a few minutes to gather ourselves while Lisa got dressed, and then began riding up the road.  Just around the corner no more than 30 yards from where we had crossed, were some campers around a fire.  They were probably caught off guard a little, seeing and hearing us 😂😂😂 coming out of nowhere ... on bikes.  We got a good belly laugh out of that!

We were now in Wekiwa Springs State Park on 8 miles of wide single track.  Heading out of the state park, it was now almost 9 pm.  We made a mad dash to the Publix on Wekiva Springs Road, but they had just closed when we arrived.  So then we went to the Publix on Hunt Club Blvd, as we found out they stayed open until 10 pm.  Here we grabbed some subs and bike food for Day 2.  

Needless to say, we got some strange looks.

We ended up rolling in to the Holiday Inn around 10 pm.  I was able to shower, eat, do a load of laundry, stretch, clean/relube the chain, and get to bed by 12:15am.  Man, what a day!

141 miles total, 131 miles on course, 3500 feet of gain, elapsed time 15:41, moving time 13:50.

Here is my Strava:  https://www.strava.com/activities/10636817418

Thankful to continue the crazy in 2024

While most people were in bed with angry livers, Honcho and I elected to ring in the New Year with a sunrise ruck run on the Eureka Trail. The 2 1/2 hours it took me to run 12 miles with a 20 pound pack allowed me to reflect back upon 2023.

Last year was filled with challenges, mostly self-induced, but a few unexpected ones.  I am happy to report that I survived and thrived through them all, save for one.  This last one, which I am still trying to figure out, has been a "thorn in my side" for the past 6 weeks, more of a fitness issue, but one that I will eventually conquer.

I have so much to be thankful for.  Most of my training is solo, and while I do enjoy the "me" time, I do long for others to share in the experience of pushing the body and mind.  I am fortunate to have Lisa Randall, John Switow, David Jolin, Zeke Lilly, Melissa Cooper, and Scott Morman share in my passion for all day adventures.

I am grateful for the amazing work family at The Animal Clinic.  This year was our first under the corporate umbrella of VetCor.  While we were all a bit skeptical of how working for a corporation would go, I would call it 100% success!  I have never seen our morale higher, despite a chaotic workload and a fair share of crochety clients.  I want to personally thank Mark Workman, the previous owner, and my mentor for the past 38 years, who, during the sale of the clinic, got me full time benefits (I work part-time).  

I have to pinch myself when I think of my bike sponsors, most of who have supported me for over 10 years.  

David Coulter, owner of Scott's Bikes, took me under his wing, when my LBS went out of business in 2017.  This bike shop has been a family owned business for 30 years, has weathered a lot of tough times, but with exceptional service and smiling faces, has pulled through, while many LBS's have gone under.

Industry 9 has kept "the kids" in shoes since 2013.

Christopher Bean Coffee has energized my mornings since 2015.

Chamois Butt'r has provided love for my bits since 2009.

Endless Bikes has SSupported me since 2012, with their beautifully durable cogs and chain rings.

Trucker Co has been keeping the tires full and the brakes worky worky with their sealant and pads since 2017.

I am happy to report that I will be in the Rescue Racing kit once again in 2024.  

And to Charlie and Carly, thank you for attempting to understand and allowing me to do these things that most people would call crazy.  But I LIVE for CRAZY!