Hey everyone! I had some cool experiences cycling and wanted to share them with you all. I met some people who were doing Florida's Coast to Coast route over the course of five days, and I decided to join them for their final two days, from Clermont to New Smyrna Beach. I hit 55 miles on both of those days. This was my first time doing a multi-day trip and I'm a little glad that I had the luxury to stay in a home.
I have a rack set up on my gravel bike, but I don't have any panniers, so I used bungee cords to strap this grocery bag with my clothes to my bike. The frame bag I have is also pretty useful. The first day took us from Clermont to Sanford, and I was surprised by how many towns, stores, and restaurants we passed. Although most of the days were "bike routes" some of the trails were pretty much wide sidewalks, but honestly, it wasn't an issue. Also, downtown Sanford was an excellent experience with plenty of wonderful restaurants and historic buildings. My second day took me from Sanford to New Smyrna Beach and a large portion of my day was on trails far from any cities. (If you look at a map of my route above, the difference between the two days is apparent.)
Although I didn't see many stops for restrooms, restaurants, or filling my water (definitely plan your stops), it was nice to see the variety of foliage and the tranquility of the trail. One issue I faced on both days was headwinds throughout the day. Combined with the weight of my gear, this was a little rough. If anyone would like to try this route for themselves, please reach out! I didn't plan this exact route, but I would be glad to share the GPX file to help you out.
Florida had a gran fondo event this past Sunday (I finished my C2C ride on Friday), and I was debating whether I should sign up or not. I felt pretty good on Saturday, so I signed up for the 100-mile event. The website said about 3000 feet of elevation gain (my previous max in one ride is about 1800 feet), but I have climbed plenty of hills on my bike, so I felt like I could make it. My Garmin ended up recording about 4500 feet of elevation that day. It was a challenging day for sure, but honestly, after riding with bags and headwinds earlier in the week, it felt so much better to be going up and down hills for the event. I'm feeling ready for longer and tougher rides now! I also definitely want some tires with less rolling resistance.
by Lamoman66