[MB1]

Now let's face it; the water is nice (and lends itself to some amazing photo opps) and we do get pretty excited about paddling but it ain't riding.

And we are cyclists first and foremost.

 

[MB1]

Anyway this was the day of the big local century ride, the "Horrible Hundred" where the organizers manage this; Enjoy quiet country roads and true Southern hospitality while tackling Central Florida's "mountains". Dance on the tips of your pedals up "Sugarloaf". Swoop through the descents on "Buckhill". Suffer the dead-start ascent of "Grassy Lake". But first you've gotta hit "The Wall". Century riders will confront all seven of Central Florida's mountains.

That is right, all seven of Central Florida's "Mountains" (funny, I thought to qualify as a mountain it had to be over 1,000' ).

Since we ride on those roads most days of the week and we really find no joy in riding with large groups we headed south to the Van Fleet Trail and the Green Swamp to do some exploring.

It started out as a beautiful day for riding and as it turned out, a fine day for hunting. :yikes:

 

[MB1]

As we headed back the beautiful morning turned into a windy and overcast afternoon.

No big deal to us but as we caught up to the tail end of the century riders (about their mile 60 and our mile 80) they seemed to be suffering a bit riding into the headwind and climbing/walking some of the short rollers.

We decided to check out the start/finish area, it looked to us that they easily got their 3,000 riders.

It was sobering to say the least to hear that one of the riders was killed by a driver on a road we use fairly often........run over from behind when the driver veered out of his lane onto the shoulder.

Ride your bike but be careful out there.

MB1

 

[deadleg]

Nice shots, thanks! Florida looks nice.

 

[rcnute]

Hope the turtle was luckier than the pig.

 

[MTT]

So no gators in that water?

 

[wooglin]

Gopher tortoise! Sweet! How did you manage that one?

I've done the HH I think. Did it exist 25 years ago? I remember it as a lovely route. And smaller.

 

[MarkS]

Anyway this was the day of the big local century ride, the "Horrible Hundred" where the organizers manage this; Enjoy quiet country roads and true Southern hospitality while tackling Central Florida's "mountains". Dance on the tips of your pedals up "Sugarloaf". Swoop through the descents on "Buckhill". Suffer the dead-start ascent of "Grassy Lake". But first you've gotta hit "The Wall". Century riders will confront all seven of Central Florida's mountains.

That is right, all seven of Central Florida's "Mountains" (funny, I thought to qualify as a mountain it had to be over 1,000' ).
Since we ride on those roads most days of the week and we really find no joy in riding with large groups we headed south to the Van Fleet Trail and the Green Swamp to do some exploring.

It started out as a beautiful day for riding and as it turned out, a fine day for hunting. :yikes:

I managed to climb Sugarloaf "Mountain." Yes, that mountain that is 312 feet above sea level. I did it during an organized century back in 2004 or 2005. They even had photographers at the top so that riders could buy photos of their having survived the Florida Alps.

I'm happy to see that you and Miss M are having fun.

 

[MB1]

Gopher tortoise! Sweet! How did you manage that one?

I've done the HH I think. Did it exist 25 years ago? I remember it as a lovely route. And smaller.

Those tortoise are all around so getting an image is no big deal.

This was the 31st Annual HH so likely you did it (when it was indeed a lot smaller).

 

[MB1]

I managed to climb Sugarloaf "Mountain." Yes, that mountain that is 312 feet above sea level. I did it during an organized century back in 2004 or 2005. They even had photographers at the top so that riders could buy photos of their having survived the Florida Alps. ....

Ya but don't forget the "climb" starts at about 150' above sea level so you got that going for you......

 

[MB1]

So no gators in that water?

You just go right on believing that......

 

[wooglin]

Those tortoise are all around so getting an image is no big deal.

This was the 31st Annual HH so likely you did it (when it was indeed a lot smaller).

The buggers always run and hide from me. Got a bunch of pics of their holes though.

 

[MB1]

The buggers always run and hide from me. Got a bunch of pics of their holes though.

The ones that make their homes along the Van Fleet trail generally just ignore cyclists...... I'm getting a, "Get off my trail" vibe from this one. :yikes:

 

[axlenut]

Hi MB1 and the group, nice pictures! I also enjoy going out on a kayak. I have a question for you, did you ride from the Clermont area all the way to the Van Fleet Trail? If so can I ask how far was it between Clermont and the north end of the trail at Mabel? I often drive out to Winter Garden and use the West Orange Trail to get to Clermont. Just trying to get an idea how far it would be to go all the way to the Van Fleet.

BTW - the last time I rode the Van Fleet I started in Poke City and rode to Mabel. Saw two Doe Deer, two wild hen turkeys, and something far up the trial about the size of a medium dog but when it took off it ran like a cat. Not sure what is was, maybe a large Bob cat?

Thanks, Axlenut

 

[MB1]

Hi MB1 and the group, nice pictures! I also enjoy going out on a kayak. I have a question for you, did you ride from the Clermont area all the way to the Van Fleet Trail? If so can I ask how far was it between Clermont and the north end of the trail at Mabel? I often drive out to Winter Garden and use the West Orange Trail to get to Clermont. Just trying to get an idea how far it would be to go all the way to the Van Fleet.

BTW - the last time I rode the Van Fleet I started in Poke City and rode to Mabel. Saw two Doe Deer, two wild hen turkeys, and something far up the trial about the size of a medium dog but when it took off it ran like a cat. Not sure what is was, maybe a large Bob cat?

Thanks, Axlenut

We ride from Clermont to the Van Fleet trail fairly often. Figure from the end of the South Lake trail to Mabel is 21ish miles if you zig zag a bit to mostly avoid riding on 50. We usually get on the Van Fleet trail at Bay Lake, we think it is a simpler route and avoids a lot of traffic.

We are pretty sure we saw a panther on the Van Fleet trail, the tail was too long for a Bobcat and the animal was too large to be any kind of feral house cat.

We have also seen gators on the Van Fleet trail! :yikes:

 

[axlenut]

We ride from Clermont to the Van Fleet trail fairly often. Figure from the end of the South Lake trail to Mabel is 21ish miles if you zig zag a bit to mostly avoid riding on 50. We usually get on the Van Fleet trail at Bay Lake, we think it is a simpler route and avoids a lot of traffic.

We are pretty sure we saw a panther on the Van Fleet trail, the tail was too long for a Bobcat and the animal was too large to be any kind of feral house cat.

We have also seen gators on the Van Fleet trail! :yikes:

Hi MB1, thanks for the info. The last time I rode the Van Fleet I remember crossing some nice quite country roads. Just got done looking at maps.google and I think I see some good routes from Clearmont. There might also be some loops that could be put together but I think some of the roads might be dirt. Hard to tell from the satellite view.

Looks like a nice place to ride, might have to try it sometime.

Got to run, Axlenut

 

[MB1]

...Got to ride, Axlenut

Fixed it for you! :thumbsup: