West Orange Trail

We got ourselves organized and at the trailhead by 10:30 am. We had initially planned to pick up the trail at Killarney Station which is about 5 miles east of here towards Oakland, FL on old Hwy 50. As we turned off Hwy 27 on old Hwy 50 we saw a sign for Minneola Trailhead and decided to give it a go. Much less driving and more cycling time that way. The trail essentially goes from Clermont through Minneola over past Winter Garden. Paved asphalt all the way with maybe a half dozen road crossing along the way and trailheads at stations in Minneola, Killarney, Oakland and Winter Garden. The ride was fabulous. Not very busy at all, so plenty of room for us with the trailer on behind. Buddy did very well indeed. He was a bit restless at times but we had him tied into the trailer so he couldn't have gone anywhere anyway. This area of central Florida is quite hilly by Florida standards but certainly not by Gatineau Park standards. Sugarloaf Mountain is near by and it is 308 ft above sea level. The trail is rolling with some good little up hills especially pulling a trailer, but generally a very easy bike ride. We stopped at Killarney station to give Buddy some water and a stretch. There is a bike shop at Killarney Station where you can rent bikes and also get repairs done if needed.


We continued on to Oakland and into Winter Garden where we enjoyed our packed lunch. Given this was Buddy's first real day in the trailer, we decided to make this our turn around point. We encountered a paving crew on the Trail about 2 km west of Winter Garden. They had the trail blocked off but we asked if we could walk by using the grass shoulder and the work crew was fine with that.






On the way back, we decided to go around the paving crew by taking some of the local roads. Some of the homes were very old southern homes with huge verandas and big pillars, what I would refer to as plantation homes. Oakland calls itself Tree City USA and it is easy to see why. I have never seen such monster oak trees before. Trees easily over 100 ft high with branches that spread everywhere. Some trees we saw had branches more than 30 ft long. Many stretch out from a yard to completely cover the street the house sits on. Amazing to see!

















And what would a great day of cycling be without a stop at Dairy Queen afterwards. We'll definitely be back to cycle here again.

Buddy the High Roller

Sunday was supposed to be our bike ride on the West Orange trail but we decided to put it off until Monday instead. Figured all the worker bees cycling on Sunday would be back to work on Monday, so less congestion on the trail. Besides, I had to put the Burley trailer together and then try it out with Buddy inside the campground, just to see if he was comfortable in it. The trailer went together easily. I hooked it up to the back of my mountain bike and did one loop of the campground with Buddy inside. He loved it!!! His bed is inside, so he has lots of padding and can lay down anytime he wants. Should be interesting to see how he likes it on the trail later today.





















We took another walk around the campground yesterday and checked out the nature trail again. This picture is of an interesting palm tree along the trail. I've never seen one quite like this before.

Then in the afternoon, we took a drive up Hwy 19 into Tavares and Leesburg which are about 10-12 miles away. Lots of orange groves along the way and lots of lakes too. Forgot the camera again!

Fitness at Bee's

We started the day off with a stroll for Buddy and then left him in the RV while we went for a run inside the park. The outer perimeter road measures just over 1 km and includes a paved road where the RVs are parked and also a nature trail through the woods. We agreed to run 4 loops and then walk one with Buddy as part of our cool down. We ran the first bit together and then I went off on my own for a bit. Neither of us were carrying any water for the first time since being here, so we were both a little parched at the end. I finished my 4th loop and grabbed Buddy and a bottle of water from the RV and then went to meet Chris at the end of her 4th loop. She came by in a few minutes while I was chatting with a fellow walking his dog and she decided to squeak in another loop running so she would get her 5 km in. Of course, I couldn't run anymore because I had Buddy in tow and he was more interested in peeing two drops on every bush he could find. Bottom line was Chris ran 5 km and I only ran 4 km. She was quite proud of herself for that. We had a great pancake breakfast afterwards and are still chuckling about our respective runs.

After we showered up, we decided to take a drive over to Winter Garden which is about 15 miles east on Hwy 50. On the way, I also checked out a bike shop in Clermont while Chris mailed some Christmas cards at the post office. They supplied me with some route maps for local bike rides in and around Clermont as well as directions to several trailheads for the West Orange Trail. 22 miles of 14 ft wide asphalt bike trail. Hoping to try that out tomorrow. I had forgotten that Clermont is the staging area for the Great Floridian Ironman race. We also asked about local lakes for swimming but were told that Lake Minneola was closed for swimming except during the race. Just as well because we didn't bring our wetsuits anyway.

We continued on over to Winter Garden and checked out this huge mall on Daniels Rd. It is so new that the Barnes and Noble store was not even open yet. We wandered through a few stores including Sports Authority, Best Buy and Verizon. Surprisingly, none of the stores were very busy even though Christmas is fast approaching. Perhaps because it was a week day. We had lunch at Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries which was excellent!! Best burger we've ever had. So much food we could hardly finish it. Then we headed back to Clermont on old state road 50 which was the scenic tour and proved to be very picturesque. Unfortunately, I left the camera in the RV, so you will have to trust me on this one. Duh!

Once back at Bee's, we had a few hours to rest up before their Beehive restaurant opened for the regular and extremely well attended, Friday night all you can eat fish fry dinner. Also excellent!! Fried or baked fish (we tried both), baked potato or fries (baked), cole slaw, corn fritters and home made apple sauce for dessert. There was no way we could handle seconds. Although many people certainly did.

So we both agreed that yesterday was a bit too much food. Time to get the bikes ready and go work it all off. Hoping to let Buddy try out the bike trailer as well and there will definitely be pictures of that.