We got up early this morning again and headed out to bike more of the Withlacoochee State Trail. This time we started at the Ridge Manor Trailhead. After we parked and took our bikes off the rack, we biked towards the south terminus of the trail at Owensboro Junction Trailhead, about six miles south. We immediately came to this bridge which crosses over US 98/Cortez Boulevard. The approach to the bridge is uphill, actually the steepest grade on the whole trail. Good way to start the day.
We pedaled through shady forest on our way to the southern terminus.
Although we have read that there are 255 of these bluebird houses, this is the highest numbered one we saw. They were all constructed, placed, and maintained by one man, a dedicated retiree.
On our way back north, we veered off the trail a bit to see this tiny post office in Trilby, FL. Trilby got its name from the fact that three active railroads crossed here. It was a boom town during the phosphate mining era of the 19th century.
Now it isn't phosphate but retail that provides jobs in this area. Along the trail for nearly half a mile stretches this Wal-Mart distribution center.
We passed through the Ridge Manor trailhead area on our way north and kept going, biking past the Withlacoochee State Forest and passing through cypress swamp. We came to a sign marking the "River Trail," so of course we took it, through the forest to the banks of the Withlacoochee River (or at least a tributary). We looked for alligators, but no luck.
Since the trail is named for the Withlacoochee River, we actually expected to have more views of the river, but the forest and swamp are thick enough that even when we were close to the river, we couldn't see it.
By the time our legs were complaining, but we pressed on to Lake Townsen Regional Park, where we stopped for lunch. It was here that we finally saw some horses. An equestrian trail parallels the rail-trail, but we hadn't seen any riders.
On the way back Ken suddenly started seeing lots of gopher tortoises on the trail or next to it. One just casually kept chomping on the vegetation as we passed. It was getting later in the day, the sun was higher, we were hot and tired, so it was with real relief that we finally spotted our truck. We rode 31.9 miles at a moving average of 8.5 mph. We started riding around 8:30 a.m. and reached the truck around 1:40 p.m. Ahhh, air conditioning!
This is our last day at Sumter Oaks. Today we were finally joined by another transient trailer, so we're not the only travelers passing through.
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