Gator Blog: Day 2 The 2006-2007 Tour

Very few people have actually seen Lake Okeechobee. At 12 feet above sea level, it is one of the largest inland seas in North America. But there is a 30-foot-tall dike surrounding the lake, rendering it invisible from all nearby roadways.

Except that the State of Florida has slowly been building a paved bikeway atop that dike that will one day stretch for over 100 miles.

Today we started our ride from Clewiston by climbing on top of the dike and riding the path for 15 miles to Moore Haven, and in the process got to catch a glimpse of the lake. In spite of several hurricanes in recent years, the lake is still beneath historic levels, and thus does not extend all the way to the dike.

That paved path set the tone for the rest of the day, for we had nice shoulders on all highways thereafter. Riding was simple (there were only a handful of turns today), and the sunshine and warmth were abundant. Were it not for the calendar to remind us, it felt like summer.

Some 98 miles later, our route finished in Avon Park. Along the way we "climbed" to the central Florida highlands, all the way to 148 feet above sea level. The tailwind that pushed us most of the last 40 miles made that little climb a piece of cake.

Earlier in the day our route took us through the Brighton Seminole Indian Reservation, complete with casinos. The only thing that separates the Brighton Seminoles from Las Vegas would be about 125,000 tourists, for it seemed that no one was interested in gambling...or even being in the neighborhood for that matter.

Which was all fine and dandy with us, because we took over the roads and held sway over the turkey vultures interested in whatever happened to lay along the roadside.

Today we got to see some of the old Gator route, except today we were headed in the opposite direction. Some of the "repeat offenders" on the ride quickly had a deja vu experience as we stopped once again in quaint little Lorida, Florida, for our afternoon sag. We then followed Arbuckle Road into Sebring, and followed the new parkway over to US 27 for the final three
miles to our night's lodging outside of Avon Park.

Even though this is the second day into the trip, everyone rode much faster today than on yesterday's opener. I think it was the absence of headwind. Overall, everyone's time was about an hour faster today. And that winter tan is coming along quite nicely, thank you. Sunscreen notwithstanding, we are beginning to look like Floridians. Our goofy trademark cyclist tanlines are returning to their normal summer boldness.

And given what's happening with that big winter storm out west, I think that's something we're all thrilled to be seeing.

Nick "Weather Is Here, Wish You Were Beautiful" Gerlich