Everybody who does long distance adventure cycling has their reasons for doing it, and their idea of the best way to go about doing it. That’s what makes it so interesting, nobody does it in exactly the same way.
There are lots of things we love about adventure cycling, but if we had to narrow it down, one reason would be just the sheer challenge of cycling mile after mile, day after day, no matter the conditions. We have learned that there are no easy days.
The second reason we are drawn to this is beauty. Nothing can compare to seeing the countryside on backroads. There are no billboards and no Walmarts. You can stop when you want to see something interesting.
The third main reason we love adventure cycling is all the people we
meet. The world is filled with kind, helpful folks who are interesting
and interested in us...well curious about two crazy people with over-laden
bikes who are rolling though town.We have already met and chatted with
so many great folks who have buoyed our spirits along the way.
So, we left Gainesville on another busy road headed towards Ichetucknee
Springs. The first kind person we encountered was a young woman who
stopped because she saw our banner with our “Across for Alzheimer’s “
information. She thanked us for riding to raise funds for Alzheimer’s, as
her grandmother is suffering from the disease. She also gave us good
information about Devil’s Millhopper, a huge sinkhole with a great
legend. However, because
of Hurricaine Irma last year, most of it is closed due to flooding. That saved us 12 miles round trip to go see it.
Soon after that, we found ourselves on a terribly busy road with striated shoulders, that meant we had to cycle on the road, much to the dismay of some motorists. This went on for many miles, until we came to O’Leno state park. We stopped for lunch and a quick hike.
Here is a trivia question for you: How can we start a hike on one side of a wide, deep river, cross no bridges, and end up on the other side of the river?
The Sante Fe River runs through O’Leno state park. It empties at a rate of 900 million gallons of water a day into a huge sinkhole. It emerges 5 miles downstream. So we hiked to and around the sinkhole and ended up across the river. Lucky for us, there was a suspension bridge to get us back to our bikes.
Finally we made it to Ichetucknee Springs Campground, where Kym , one of the camp hosts cheerfully greeted us. She gave us the bicycle discount, as well as a beautiful campsite. She also let us know about the two beautiful spring swimming holes right inside the park. After a quick dip, we set up camp and ate dinner (in the dark).
It was a hot night of camping, but we slept okay. Once again, when we were preparing to leave, Kym was right there to wish us safe travels. Turns out she is a newly ordained minister who is ex-Navy. We loved spending a few minutes with her. She and Cristina run a great Campground.
Cycling miles ~ 43
Hiking miles ~ 6