OK, this ride may not appeal to many of you because you've got to travel across the country to ride it, but IMO the trip was worth it. Fancy spending 12 days in Florida and not seeing *one* tourist attraction. Shame. :)
The Florida Safari is put on by the Orlando Freewheelers. It's a 6 day camping trip through Northern Florida and Southern Georgia. For a Californian, it was also a real eye-opener. (I didn't know towns could possibly be so small!) The main considerations were: head winds, dogs, narrow roads, 'gators, hills and bumpy roads. Actually the wind was the biggest concern. I swear that the headwind in the morning would turn and be a headwind in the afternoon! We did a lot of riding against the wind. But there was very little traffic on the roads, which made for enjoyable riding. (Lots of sand though. One gal broke her arm after crashing on sand at an intersection.)
Now I know the difference between a "hound" and a "dawg". Most people in Florida and Georgia own hounds. Hounds just raise their head up and look at you when you ride by. It's too much effort to bark and run. Dawgs chase you. I'm not fond of dawgs. I did get "attacked" by a group of puppies. Except for a few licking injuries, I survived. :)
The weather was good. It rained one day and set a new low for that area, but mostly it was warm and slightly cloudy. That helped keep the heat down, which was welcome during the day. The evenings were cool. Lightning bugs came out at night. They were fantastic - just like Disneyland! I had one as a nightlight in my tent. It was mesmerizing to watch it flash at regular intervals. Strange.
The Safari itself was very well organized. There was plenty of support and plenty of food. Fried catfish, hush puppies, grits (morning and night), ribs and beer were some of the offerings available. I learned the proper way to eat fried catfish, a skill that probably won't come in too useful in the future. There were 300+ people on the ride, from all over the country. I was quite pleased to see many friends from the Santa Fe Trail bike trip I rode last fall. (I realize now that the bicycle touring group is a rather close-knit bunch.) So from a logistics point of view I would highly recommend the trip. Oh yes, the Safari cost $225.
We camped at Dowling Park, outside of Live Oak, Florida for the first 3 days. There were several options for each day's ride. Usually a 40-50 mile ride, a 60 miler and a 70+ ride. I'd opt for the 60 milers, though I did do one century. (Century riders got a neat little pin with the Freewheelers logo on it - a flamingo riding a penny farthing.) It's amazing what will motivate people. :) The routes were well marked (painted arrows to match the color of the day's map) and well supported - SAG stops every 20 miles with lots of food and Gatorade. (You've got to drink Gatorade in Florida...) Trek had their Wrench Force along for mechanical assistance.
The routes took us through rural Florida. I have never seen so many Baptist Churches in my life! The scenery reminded me of England - very green with lots of trees. The phlox were blooming, so there were vast areas of purple, red and pink. Absolutely beautiful! Other wildflowers were starting to bloom and many of the fields had been planted. There were lovely little ponds and lakes with cypress growing in them. Spanish moss coated many things, providing that Southern look. The homes were mostly single story brick or wood frames. there were a lot of mobile homes (though not as many as in Kansas.) And there were the satellite dishes that are becoming the defining feature of America, rural and otherwise.
We crossed the Suwannee River several times. I couldn't get over how dark the water was, a great place for gators to hide. It was so different than what I had expected. We could ride all day and only see a few people. And finding a store was almost impossible. No worries about spending too much money out here.
We moved to Cherry Lake (north of Madison) on the fourth day. I was told that we could see some alligators here, so I was excited about going gator spotting at night. The lake itself is only 9-15 feet deep, but the water is dark and calm. I'm sure that gators must live there, but even during our evening excursions we never saw one. :( I did see a lot of turtles.
The towns that we saw were interesting. Quitman, Georgia is a small place with some nice old homes. The cemetery was worth a visit. Many graves dating from the Civil War. People were a bit standoffish, but it's hard to ignore hundreds of cyclist in tight lycra. No one ever waved first, although nearly everyone would return a wave. I learned to be very accurate in what I wanted. At one small store I asked the owner if there were any restrooms. His reply, "Well Ma'am, I've got a restroom." (Thank goodness I didn't ask for a women's restroom...)
I liked Luraville, Florida. It's in the middle of a large cave diving area, just off the Suwannee. The little store we invaded for lunch was cozy. The owner was happy to tell us about the area. How Luraville got its name, what to see (the caves) and proudly showed us a post card someone had sent him from Paris. Small towns amaze me.
I think the best part of the Safari (or any tour) is meeting people. I rode with a variety of people and made a point to sit with different folks for meals. Most of the participants were from Florida and many were retired. However, there were two other Californians, several guys from Maine (Maniacs), two men from Quebec, lots of folks from the midwest and some guys from New Mexico. I talked with doctors, a pilot, a veterinarian who used to work at Sea World, a couple of self-made millionaires, and a lot of people who had retired between the ages of 50 - 60. (Hmm, what am I doing wrong??) Quite a few of the cyclists were also triathletes - though they were all in older age groups than me.
Many of the cyclists had ridden across the U.S. Many more were planning to do rides that I have on my schedule. On the whole the riders were a terrific bunch! I'm looking forward to riding with many of them in the future. Definitely a great group of people.
So if you are looking for a new way to see Florida, and you'd like to taste the "South", I'd suggest signing up for next year's Florida Safari.
