PowerCycle

Spent the post-turkey part of Thanksgiving on a mini-bike tour in the Everglades.  Did the Long Pine Key trail first.  It was pretty short– about 6 miles in and 6 back.  Didn’t see much.  Actually, saw trees and that was it.  Had my first run in with mud on the Koga.  Handled it like a champ especially with no panniers attached.   Finished that trail and then drove over to Old Ingraham road.  I arrived at Gate 15 and saw some other people unloading their bikes but they took off down another trail.  The road to Old Ingraham camp was paved 90% of the time, albeit a little rough in spots.  I brought most of my normal touring gear minus the hammock (good call I found out later) and a couple other minor things. I was still carrying about 100 lbs though.

Well the first couple miles were a breeze.  The canal on the right was teeming with alligators, almost all of whom were laying right beside the trail catching some sun.  On more than one occasion I rode right up on a basking alligator, which was hidden until I was 3 feet from it.  I’m not sure who jumped more.  Then the fun began.  For the next couple miles the trail was the muddiest I’d been on yet.  Even worse than Okeechobee.  Most of the time I was able to barrel through but there were some tough spots.  Found out the next day that the rear LED reflector popped off probably while I was bouncing around going through mud-filled pot holes.  I’ll have to pick up another one of those (and zip tie it on).  Lost count of how many spider webs I ran through too.  Finally made it to the camp site.  Its really just a dry clearing at the end of the of the road but no one else around so its very quiet.

Saw a huge snake but couldn’t get a picture in time.  Not sure if it was a python but I think it was.  Might stay tomorrow.  Have to see how the water holds up.  Glad I filled up the 7 liter MSR bag before I left.  Mercury is high in the water so I’d rather not have to drink it even with a filter.  No hiking around here since I’m basically on an island.  Distance to camp 10.16 miles.  Broke 200 miles total on the bike today.   Weather was perfect.  No wind and sunny all day.  The next day was a slow start but I decided to head back from sheer boredom.  There’s not a lot to do surrounded by water and I’m way too restless.  I would have had plenty of water though.  Noticed that the tent built up a bit of condensation on the inside of the fly during the night which then dripped down onto whatever would annoy me the most (my head, laptop keyboard).  I’ll write it off though since I was camping in very high humidity.  A frozen Key Lime drink at Robert is Here topped off a nice trip.

Final day of the trip.  Slept OK but the trucks were non-stop all night so they woke me up every now and then.  I do love my tent though.  It was my first time using it and the setup was fast and it’s very roomy.  Back on the road  by 8am.  Found a gas station and grabbed some water and breakfast (junk food).  You really do feel like a celebrity on a touring bike.  Everyone stares at you–people driving, people standing in their yards and people in the stores.  The funny part is when people ask where I’m riding from and I tell them Clewiston instead of California or somewhere far.  It’s amazing how friendly everyone is though.  The ride from Port Mayaca was along US-441 since I’d read they have construction on the dike from Port Mayaca all the way to Pahokee.  Well, that was partially true.  When I reached Pahokee a nice little hill led me back up onto the dike.  While I was cranking away up the hill a rather large man was running up and down it for exercise and at the top this woman was freaking out on someone but I couldn’t see who.

Anyway, kept going for a mile until I reached some construction workers.  They let me through so I kept going.  5 miles later I hit another construction site.  The safety foreman also let me through but said to be careful.  The only work they were doing was down near the lake so I wasn’t too worried.  After another 5 miles I could see the access point down to Belle Glade and, presumably food because I was starving.  Now I’m at construction site #3.  This time it was almost a disaster.  A “biologist” said I couldn’t go through.  To turn back would have been a killer so I asked her if I could speak to the site foreman.  I pleaded my case with him and he caved and let me walk behind him across the 100 yard area they were working.  Just when I was across about 6 riders came up from the other direction.  He wouldn’t let them through and according to one of the riders said they could be fined $1000 for just being up there.  He only let me through because I’d already ridden through 10 miles of construction.  Sorry guys.

Down in Belle Glade I grabbed some pizza and drank a lot of coke.  Then 3 police cars showed up.  Nothing happened though.   From there it was a smooth ride with the wind at my back all the to Clewiston.  BTW, the people that work at the Clewiston Inn are the nicest I’ve ever run into.  They let me check in at 1pm, offered to help bring my panniers in and held the door for me when I was carrying everything to my room  Average speed for the day was 9.7 mph.  The headwind and my sore butt didn‘t help.  2 pairs of shorts made a big difference though.  Total distance around the lake:  126.5 miles.

Took off from the motel early and hit the road.  Spent a lot of time on Hwy 78 so I could avoid the un-mowed section from Lakeport to Buckhead Ridge.  Spotted a Bald Eagle back on the dike north or BHR so I stopped to take pictures for a bit.  Jumping off the paved path again for water a guy in a trailer spotted me and offered me a bottle of his.   We chatted for a bit and then I was off to find some more.

Ended up at the J & S Fish Camp and they had plenty.  The weather was perfect again, sunny and a light breeze from the Southeast.  The section from Port Mayaca to Pahokee (12.5 miles) was closed for construction so I ended up riding down 441.  Well, it was getting dark and there are not a lot of motels (none) so I started looking for a place to camp.  Just past a place called Sand Cut (pop. 8 or 9) was my home for the night.  It was set back on the lake side of the road 50 feet into the trees and across some old railroad tracks.  There was a clearing with stacks of old logs.  The whole area had this thick, oily smell to it.

I found a nice spot and pitched the tent (no good trees for the hammock).  There were a lot of mosquitoes out so I ate a bag of corn nuts for dinner.  Yum.  Down to one bottle of water but then I remember I’m next to the 2^nd largest fresh water lake in the US and have a water filter.  Total distance today was 53.3 miles (new record for me).

Who would have thought my first day touring around Lake Okeechobee would involve a police stop.  Started off in Clewiston and headed North.  I’d called ahead and asked the people at the Clewiston Inn if I could leave my truck there for a couple days.  No problem.  I’d booked Friday night there so I could clean up before heading home.  The first 13 miles was on a paved bike path.  The wind was at my back which I wasn’t expecting until tomorrow.   Cruised along at 15 mph or so.  The trail ended at a lock so I had to ride down into Moore Haven and onto US-27 in order to cross the canal.  Riding up and back down the bridge was rather exciting.  Going up was a little tougher than I thought.  That’s what I get for having almost 140 pounds of bike/gear and being fat.  The bridge was pretty high so going down was fast.  Clocked the high speed of the day at 23.9 mph.  Could have gone faster but the walkway was very narrow and one wrong move would have been end of story.

So I get into town and spot a Burger King.  Polished off a burger and took off again.   To get back on the dike I was supposed to go back to the bridge and follow the road along the canal back to the lake.   Well I get to an RV park and sure enough I’d missed the trail (twice because I missed it leaving the RV park too).   So I went back to the highway thinking I would hook back up with the trail further along US-27.  This is where the police come in.  Apparently riding through a “bad” neighborhood is probable cause for the police to harass you.  I guess he’d spotted me leaving the area since I hadn’t seen one single person or car the entire time I was riding through it.  A little before that a younger guy in dreads on a BMX saw me and yelled, “You tired yet?”.   I laughed but probably shouldn’t have seeing as how I was in such extreme danger the entire time (/sarcasm).

I ended up at a gas station on US-27 again and had just pulled into some shade under 2 lone palm trees about 20 feet from the gas station.   The GPS was out and I was looking to see how far I had to go when an unmarked sedan pulled up.  The guy introduced himself as someone from the sheriff’s office and asked for my ID (Baker–I found out his name later).  I could have said no since I wasn’t driving and you don’t have to show ID unless there’s probable cause but I gave him my DL anyway since I was already annoyed for missing the trail and just wanted to leave. He then asked me where I was coming from (Clewiston), where I was going (Clewiston), where I was born and a bunch of other stupid questions.   He even said I was acting suspicious because I was, and I’m not making this up, “hiding out under the trees”.  Haha.  2 palm trees 5 feet from the parking lot was my sweet hideout.   Turns out he’d pulled over another guy on a bike a while ago and found 10 crack rocks on him.  At this point another officer showed up.   Then he asked if I’d consent to a search. Now I was getting pissed.  I said no to the search so Baker tells me he’s going to call in a K-9 unit.    I think he got mad when I laughed at him.   I guess they get a lot of guys from out of town riding up to Moore Haven from Clewiston on fully loaded European touring bikes to buy crack.  I thought it was pretty funny.  At least the other cop wasn’t an idiot.   He was asking about my bike and seemed pretty interested in my trip around the lake.

Well Super Cop hears back that I’m not wanted in 15 states and says I can leave.   No K-9 pictures for me today.  I was going to take a picture of him but he’d probably throw me in jail or taze me.  He also warned me that area I’d ridden through was extremely dangerous.  People walking around covered in blood and ready to rob you at a moments notice.  No wonder he’s scared back there.  The one person I saw was laughing and cracking a joke.  Officer #2 told me how to get back to the lake so I left.

Now the fun part begins.  No more paved bike path.  Now I’m on a very overgrown, very rough stretch to Buckhead Ridge.  I did manage to see 3 young bobcats which was cool.   The trail was completely overgrown and with loaded panniers on both sides it was not fun (tall grass on both sides and deep grass underneath).  Finally I made it to another lock.  The guy working in it even hooked me up with some water which I really needed at that point.  A couple miles later I had to head down to the highway again to cross a canal.  One thing I was worried about was having to ride on the highway.  Truckers are pretty cool though and they all gave me plenty of room.   It’s a bit unnerving having a dump truck blow past you for the first time though.

I cheated since it was getting late so I found a motel and forked over $69.  Had a nice shower, made some stew for dinner and here I am typing away.  No phone in the room and no internet (paid or otherwise) so I’ll post this when I can.  I really wanted to camp tonight but I’ll splurge since it’s my first 100+ mile trip.  The primitive campsites along the trail were nowhere to be found but I could have missed them while I was weaving through the grass.  Oh and my Suunto Core watch decided to break when I was setting the timer.  Hopefully its just a battery but I doubt it [Update: it was].  The Eee PC held up which made me very happy.  My average speed for the day ended up being 9.4 mph.  35.5 miles total.  Not as far as I’d like but the grass killed me.  At one point I was teetering along under 5 mph.