Orlando to Sanford

January 15, 2016

Back on the road again! With promises of rain but also warmer temperatures. Up into the mid-upper 70s. That sounded good to me. The 80% chance of rain, through late morning, did not.

But sometimes you have to do what you have to do. Actually, I enjoy riding in the rain if it isn't too intense. And the morning's rain seemed mild enough, not a drizzle but not a downpour either, just steady.

All decked out for rain with a slight interlude during this pic! But if you look closely, you can see I am wet already!

That pic was taken after breakfast, which we had at the "town center" for the resort we were staying at, Caribbean Beach. I pushed off relatively early, shortly after 9:30, saying goodbye to Mark, who was now back on the time clock. I would see him later in Sanford, my destination for the day.

Getting out of Disney World, even in a rainstorm, was easier than getting in. After getting out of the resort complex, I was back on Buena Vista, a very unfriendly road, but soon turned onto Backstage Lane, which led me to a series of lower-volume roads that were almost park-like to ride. All were either two-lane or four-lane divided, with good landscaping and almost no traffic. This got me out of Disney World with the least amount of hassle and made for pleasant riding.

It wasn't till I got to Winter Garden Vineland Road that things got unpleasant again. Winter Garden is a heavily traveled road with little or no shoulder. But it has a nicely offset sidewalk/bike trail that I rode for its entire length.

The sidewalk/bike trail along Winter Garden Vineland Road.

It wasn't all as pretty as the picture above might have you think, but it wasn't all plebeian either. The picture below, besides showing the pending storm, also shows the healthy offset.

Shortly after that picture, it opened up. I had seen a few lightning strikes, but fortunately, all I got was a heavy downpour and wind, mostly from the left front. I didn't stop, however. There really was nowhere to stop anyway. No shelter to be found. And I was already wet, so it would have made no difference. Plus, it is good practice!

Eventually, I turned off the major highway and made my way through a residential neighborhood of middle-class and substantially upper-middle-class homes and eventually, a rural section with actual crops and cattle to be seen. And while riding through Ocoee, I spied this little gem.

You don't see these very often. If I had been drier and it had been hotter, I definitely would have had one.

Continuing north, I eventually intersected the West Orange Trail, which I followed for about nine miles. I really enjoyed this trail and the one that followed.

The point where I picked up the West Orange Trail.

A very nice trail that I followed for about nine miles.

Protection from the nearby golfers on the adjacent course!

Another wooded section. The recent storm brought a lot of tree branches down on the trail. Maintenance was out cleaning it up, though!

That landed me in Apopka on East Main Street, which is a horrible road to bike on. I stuck to the sidewalk until I crossed onto Semoran Boulevard, where I at least had access to a bike lane, albeit on an eight-lane roadway. Well, sometimes you need to ride bad roads to get to good roads and/or trails, and that proved true when I arrived on the Wekiva Trail, another rail trail that I followed for ten miles into Sanford.

Unique about this trail are the two tunnels used to cross busy intersections. They are usually more expensive to build than overhead bridges.

The first tunnel crossing, which is a bit unusual.

And the second, which is closed at some point for security reasons (a common complaint/issue with tunnels). The "after hours" crossing is at grade.

But most of it was through wooded residential communities.

In between, a mostly wooded path through a mostly residential neighborhood.

And eventually the sun came out in force, but only several miles from my hotel. It did stop raining shortly after noon, so no complaints here about the sunshine.

And shortly thereafter, arrival in Sanford.

Today's ride

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Today's ride: 51 miles (82 km)
Total: 779 miles (1,254 km)

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