Crystal River to New Port Richey

January 30, 2016

Another chilly morning that promised to get warmer. Still no leg warmers, but a long-sleeved jersey and jacket were in order. First on our chore list, however, was to address our equipment issues! Happy and I both needed particular Allen wrenches. Happy's Garmin mount had loosened "unexpectedly," and he was worried it might fly off. But to get to the screw required the short end of an "L-shaped" Allen wrench, as our folding "knife" sets could not access the space.

And I had lost it — how the hell did that happen? I never lose anything! — the small Allen wrench required to mount my Garmin to my handlebar. Not that I needed it anytime soon, but definitely when I pack the bike for shipping. So off to Harbor Freight Hardware, which opens at 8:00 AM on Saturdays!

So we needed one, maybe two, Allen wrenches. Nope. They only have sets. Massive sets. Sets of every imaginable size in English and metric, in ONE package. We're talking 25 pieces!

Purchasing Allen wrenches at Harbor Freight Tools! $4.99 for all the English and metric Allen wrenches one would ever need. We only needed two!

We were prepared to pay that much for each INDIVIDUAL wrench! And we did need two, the 2.5 and the 4. So next stop, Grannies for breakfast. A 15-minute wait gave us time to play with the Allen wrenches . . .

Then down US 19 to US 98 and down the latter to FL 589 and the Sun Coast Trail! Good riddance to both those highways!

US 98 was marginally better than US 19, mostly because of less traffic and absolutely no businesses! We would pretty much remain in a food (and water) desert for the next 40 miles or so.

So it was with great pleasure when we eyed the start of the Sun Coast Trail. And even more so when we made immediate friends at the trailhead.

Entry point for the Sun Coast Trail! Just three miles down FL 98.

Four road cyclists who had just arrived from Tampa on the Sun Coast Trail. 40 miles, and they were there by 11:30 AM. Not bad time. Above, Angel, me, Happy, Allen, Eric, and José.

And two more we met about the same time . . . not sure how far they had come, but they knew the trail well. If you see this, drop me your names!

Now, some pics from along the trail. We followed it for about 35 miles, as far as the Starkey Wilderness Park Trail.

One of the first hills we tackled. I'm out of shape on hills — too much flat riding since December 21st!

One of the more picturesque vistas along the trail.

There are nicely wooded sections as well.

And bridge structures where needed over busy highways. I think we crossed only two, as this is a pretty rural part of Florida.

But as we went further south, we saw more variety, such as this water element/pond/lake, which may have started as a stormwater management pond.

After the 35 miles of Sun Coast (and the trail continues southward), we intersected the Starkey Wilderness Park. That was a dramatic change in scenery and a delightful six-mile ride westward.

The entry into the Starkey Wilderness Park from the Sun Coast Trail.

The park trail is all at grade with no elevated walkways, meaning it can flood when there is high water.

We saw lots of opportunity for that, particularly through this section.

The park also has an interesting feature that lays out the solar system's planets on a scale based on their distance from the sun. I had seen Pluto, but since we were coming from the outside in, it took me until Neptune to figure out what was going on. Very clever. But just as I was approaching Neptune, this fellow, walking in the opposite direction, asked me about Happy.

Well, jeez, I thought, is this someone I know? Or that Happy knows? Happy then pulls up behind me, and we start chatting with Mark Davis, who has been following the blog and knew we were in the neighborhood (or might be!). And when he spotted two touring cyclists, his sharp memory put it all together! I have to say, that was a pleasant surprise for me. I've never been recognized like that before! Sort of an Andy Warhol moment of fame.

We had a delightful chat and got some good pointers on the trail system into New Port Richey. Mark was kind enough to allow me to include his picture on my blog. I always like to include pics of people we meet!

Mark Davis, a fellow cyclist and CGOAB fan.

By the time we exited the park, we were only six miles from our hotel. The route consisted mostly of residential neighborhoods with offset sidewalks and/or trails, which we mostly stuck to.

And having just come out of a food desert, as soon as we saw a convenience store, off we veered, hungry and thirsty!

And about four miles out from our hotel, we finally left the food desert, and I treated myself to some munchies! Note: I did eat a banana, a breakfast bar, and a navel orange while on the trail! But I really wanted that Gatorade. The Fritos were collateral damage.

Today's ride

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Today's ride: 65 miles (105 km)
Total: 1,167 miles (1,878 km)

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