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Friday, December 14, 2001 - Entering the Florida Alps
75 miles. Ocala National Forest, FL to Woodlands Campground, Montverde,
FL
We got up a good hour before sunrise, 5:30 and it
was clear for change, i.e. no fog. Being away from the coast may be the reason.
A family of three pulled into the campground after we went to bed and after much
cursing and without any light managed to set up their tent. Fortunately they
went to bed and made no more noise, except for one of their two dogs in the
morning and all this plus gear crammed into a beat up econobox.
All night we heard the hum of mosquitoes and, waking
up, we discovered a dozen that had all scored on their slumbering, defenseless
prey. Loath to see these pests increase with our blood I slaughtered them
without mercy. We will inspect the tent more closely in the evening to prevent
future bloodshed.
We rode the three miles over a washboard dirt road back
to FL-19 and turned south. Over the coast to the east we could see gray banks of
fog hovering over the coastal littoral. Regular clouds are fleecy white in
appearance we have learned. We then began a 40 mile run down Fl-19 on excellent
paved shoulder with sun and clouds, much like an August day someone commented
later. Most of the forest consisted of sand pine, the poor relation of the
southern pine family. They look like and seem to fill the same niche as Jack
Pine does in Michigan.
As we moved south we ascended a series of shallow
east-west ridges. This was easy climbing but more impressive mountains were to
come our way today. Continuing on we overtook a bicycle going south. As we
passed I asked her where she was headed. Her response, " I'm trying to
answer by telepathy. Do you understand?" "Unless it's the Keys,
No!" I replied. "Are you Jesus?" "No!" I shot back,
declining the honor. I looked more closely at her rig and concluded that she was
not a cyclotourist, at least not in the sense that I think of one, but more
likely a "street person" of some sort traveling via bicycle.
I sped up to catch up with Joan and we dropped my
interlocutor big time. Leaving the National Forest we passed thru Altoona and
Umatilla (pop. 2350) and entered Eustis (pop. 12,957). On the way we passed our
first orange groves and a large orange juice factory. We had a great submarine
sandwich because we still had 25 miles to ride and then rode along Lake Eustis
into neighboring Tavares (pop. 7383), a very scenic run past fine lakefront
homes.
In fact, for 200 miles there are a series of lakes some
of them quite large, running down central Florida. This helps make this a very
popular area of the state. In Eustis we entered Cycling' sixth Dimension
(c.f.) and we became even more deeply immersed in it as we rode on. Leaving
Tavares we turned onto C.R. 561 with heavy traffic but a nice shoulder to tire
upon. Then after Astatula (pop. 388) the paved shoulder disappeared and the
riding became brutal with trucks and a truly remarkable number of Lake County
school busses in the traffic stream. There were so many school buses that I
considered the possibility that they were like monarch butterflies moving south
to winter in central Florida.
We concentrated on riding and were very happy to turn
off onto C.R. 455 where traffic was much diminished. Here the Florida Alps came
to life and we had several climbs which forced us to shift all the way down. One
must have gone for a full mile. The highest point offered distant views over
Lake Apopka toward the Atlantic coast. Hills continues as we passed thru
Monteverde (pop. 308) to our campsite run by the Lutheran Church.
They were not aware that they are on an established
bike route so not that many cyclists must stop there or do this particular route
section. The Florida peninsula is a cul de sac that many cyclists seem to prefer
to avoid. The campground has an interesting mix of broadleaf trees, deciduous
and evergreen, and palms. Today's was a long run of at least 75 miles. We will
take it easier the next couple of days. It was also warmer than we have had for
many weeks; someone told Joan that today's high was 89*F with the same predicted
for tomorrow, and this in Mid-December!
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