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