October 5, 2015
Miles today: 58.0
Total Miles So Far: 58.0

This is it! The time has finally come. All the built up anticipation and anxiety have come to a head, but it’s finally time to leave. I woke really early and had a light breakfast before sunrise. I did a last bit of packing on the trike, filled my water bottle, and then it was time.   I bid a fond farewell to Nancy, and headed out on tour once again.

Leaving Nancy is always the most difficult part of getting started. My greatest joy is being with her and sharing our lives together. Knowing that I won’t see her again for a week is tough, but I’m already looking forward to being reunited in St. Augustine. This is a short tour, so knowing that she will never be more than a few hour away brings comfort. And of course, we will talk several times a day by cell phone.

Nathan Benderson Park

I ride the familiar routes near my home, south past the Nathan Benderson Rowing Park.

This park is a fun ride, and I come here relatively often. The park has  a  very nice bike trail around a large lake, which is used to host world-class rowing and kayaking competitions.

Honky Tonk Freeway

I continue south, crossing the I75 Freeway on Palmer Road.   It’s a good place to cross the freeway, since there is no exchange on Palmer road and the traffic is calmer than on most interchanges.  An interesting side-note:   Much of the filming of the film Honky Tonk Freeway took place at this overpass.   Honky Tonk Freeway is a 1981 comedy film directed by John Schlesinger. The film, conceived and co-produced by Don Boyd, was one of the most expensive box office flops in history

The Celery Fields

Palmer Road leads me past The Celery Fields.  From the late 1920’s until the mid 1990’s, this area was used to farm celery, hence the names.  Now it is owned and operated by Sarasota County.   The 360+ acre site is the County’s primary storm water collection zone.  This is a popular bird-watching spot in Sarasota, and is also one of my favorite cycling destinations.

Sarasota National Cemetery

South some more to Clark Road – close to the temporary cottage  we rented before moving into our new house.   Clark roads turns into State Road 72 as I travel east. The Florida National Cemetery is  along SR72 a just a few miles down the road. This 295 acre site has an interesting looking structure visible from the street. I’ve always been curious about it,  but have never taken the time to check it out. Today I decide to ride in and have a look around. The 2,800-seat ceremonial amphitheater “Patriot Plaza”, donated by The Patterson Foundation of Sarasota, was completed June 28, 2014.

Myakka River State Park.

I continue to ride  east,  out to the  Myakka River State Park.  One of the oldest and largest state parks in Florida,  Myakka protects one of the state’s most diverse natural areas. The Myakka River, designated as a Florida Wild and Scenic River, flows through 58 square miles of wetlands, prairies, hammocks, and pinelands.

It’s a pretty park, well worth a visit if you are in the area.  But I’m not here to visit the park today, so I ride past the entrance and continue east.

Passing the Boundaries

Then suddenly I’m no longer in known territory. I’ve ridden past the eastern boundary of my cycling experience, and I’m on road that I have never ridden before. It’s difficult to describe the feeling I get from this. The world is opening up to me and my trike, providing me a glimpse of the new and the unexplored. I’m on an adventure, discovering something new and different. I’m officially on the way!

The Road To Arcadia

My destination today is the town of Arcadia. It lies about 50 miles south and east of my home. The navigation today is simple – stay on SR72 until I get to Arcadia.   Truth be told, the riding is not very inspiring – the road is flat, with an acceptable shoulder and almost no turns. I stay on the same road for 37 tedious  miles. The scenery doesn’t change very much – lots of scrub palms on both sides of the road. Farms and houses are visible at regular intervals.

I’m loving the feeling of being out in an unexplored place, but I’m sure hoping that new place offers something more interesting than this. Unfortunately, it really doesn’t.

The only interesting events are occasional wild life spotting.  I saw an alligator – a pretty big one, maybe 6 feet long – sunning himself in the grass along the side of the road.  I circled back to try to get a photograph, but he spotted me and ran off into the river.

A few miles later I spotted a young deer in a field off to the side of the road.

 

The Town Of Arcadia

I arrive in Arcadia just after lunch time, and decide to ride into town for some food. Arcadia is a pretty quiet place, a little run down.

I find Wheeler’s Cafe – billing itself as the ‘Oldest restaurant in Arcadia ‘. It’s not crowded.   I can sit outside on a shaded porch and keep an eye on my bike. I happily much a big bowl of chili and a grilled cheese sandwich.  The food was pretty good, the service was OK.  Still,  it was nice to take a break from the heat and the tedious ride.

 

After lunch I cruised down the road a half mile to the local supermarket, where I pick up some apples, bananas  and peanut butter  – cycle touring essentials. Then decide to head out to the campground.

Arcadia Peace River Campground

The Peace River Campground is just a couple of miles west of town, along the banks of the Peace River.  The campground caters primarily to RV vacationers and long-term residents, but also has a ‘wilderness area’ set aside for use by tent campers at reasonable rates.  For $17 I reserved a tent site.  The friendly staff directs me into the wilderness.

Within the campground proper, the roads are hard packed and easily navigated, but the road out to the wilderness sites is loose sand.  The trike quickly became bogged down and I found it impossible to ride any further.  Perhaps there were nicer camp sites further in, but the few that I could see were pretty miserable.  Essentially, the campsites were just sandy clearings bull-dozed from the natural scrub.  No tables or fire pits, and not particularly flat.  I chose what I felt was the nicest of the spots I could see, then dragged and carried my stuff and the trike through the loose sand into camp.

I set up my camp, then walked back into the main campground for a hot shower.  After the shower I wandered over the on-site convenience store, where they sold me a cold beer.  I sat in the shade, enjoyed the beer and called Nancy to chat for a few minutes.

Back at the campsite I found my site did have a very nice view of the Peace River flowing by.  I sat and enjoyed the view for an hour or so until dark, then crawled into my tent for a well deserved sleep.

I have completed the first day – the adventure continues tomorrow!