Cane Creek State Park...Finally

The original plan was to stop here and enjoy the 15 miles of single track biking trails back in 2010 when I was returning from my Habitat for Humanity trip to Lafayette, Louisiana, but since that episode ended in my fracturing a vertebra I had to opt for plan B and return home to recuperate. Well, now I am back and ready to take on the trails both single track and the kayak trail in the lake.

I picked a really good time to visit mid-spring when it wasn't buggy nor too hot. This is my first attempt at single track riding since both the accident resulting in back injury and my bout with lung cancer...but never one to give up, here I am giving it all I got.
Maybe I tried too soon. Maybe I should have waited until the day after I arrived. It did take 7 hours to get here, then there was the tent setting up etc.
Anyway, I thought I would try with the short trail first and then on another day to the 15 miler and enjoy the three suspended bridges. But that was not to be. I mixed up the trails and tried the 15 miler first...only doing about 4 when I absolutely had to turn back. It was too much for me, could've been the heat, or the humidity (or the humility!) but whatever, after several rests I made it back to the car and decided it is too soon for this sort of thing.
And...I never got to see the suspended bridges, so I guess I will have to make another trip once I am a little stronger.

The second day I tried the kayak trail through the swamps and all around the lake and that was a much better experience for me. What a lovely experience, I practically had the lake to myself...except of course for the beavers, turtles, osprey and multitudes of fish that I scared away! This was one kayak experience that I didn't want to end.

...And I can't let my followers down without a food picture! I brought along some pre-cooked and frozen meals to enjoy in the wilderness.  Here is a little chicken curry which was delightful on my second day here.

What would a camping trip be without a couple of hot dogs and beans? This was dinner the first night and it was incredibly enjoyable!

The third day surprised me with significant rain, so I had to leave sooner than I had planned.
I can't wait to get back here when I am a little stronger and try that 15 mile single track around the lake.  Those suspended bridges are calling me!

The Katy Trail -- Sedalia to St Charles

I signed up with Road Scholar to do a biking program on the Katy Trail in Missouri. Mind you most of the folks that were in my group were older than me and I just turned 60something. Anyway, we met in St Charles, got some idea about the week's itinerary and then shuttled to Sedalia, Missouri, mile marker 229. That is a city that is about 30 miles east of Kansas City, Missouri. We stayed in a motel that night and the next day (my birthday) we began our trek across Missouri on the converted railroad line...now a biking trail, the longest in the rails to trails program in the United States. Our destination was St Charles, Missouri (just outside of St Louis).

We stopped in a McDonalds along the way and I got this shot from one of the pictures they had on the wall. I thought it was appropriate as a starting shot for this entry.

Here we are getting ready to start the trip from the parking lot of our hotel in Sedalia. We had the sag wagon stopping at various points along the way; anyone who felt they could not go further on the bike could load it and ride the van. Only one person did that because she had a biking accident. All the others managed to ride the entire trip as planned.

I had been practicing every day making sure I got at least 10 miles in, often I would do 15 or 20 miles. I tried to make sure I was in shape for this trip, but I think I was a little light on the miles. The first day we went 37 miles; that was more than my very best day of 36. The trail had at least three long sections of uphill (not severe, but still) which were enough to make me realize that this was going to be a challenging week.

We stayed in Boonville the second night, mile marker 191.8 and had dinner at the Isle of Capri Casino. I got this shot from the trail the following morning.

I behaved myself at the buffet and then got a little naughty with the slots.




They treated me well and I ended up $45 to the good. I appreciated the generosity and accepted it as a birthday present for my good behaviour.

We headed out first thing in the morning on Tuesday because we knew we had a 52 miles day ahead of us. Lordy, the last three miles were the longest miles I have ever done. The muscles between my shoulders felt like someone stuck a knife in them. I could not turn my head even an inch. I was seriously considering walking the last mile or two, but we were already running late and I was the last one in the group still on the trail; somehow I managed to finish the 52 miles but I was really glad I brought Advil with me. That helped a lot; the following day I found doing a series of stretching exercises for my neck and shoulders I could prevent the severe pain from recurring.

We stayed the third night in North Jefferson; mile marker 143.2. On Wednesday we headed out and continued to Hermann at mile marker 100.8. We stayed at the Harbor House and we did a tour of the Stone Hill Winery before having dinner there as well. It was a perfect setting, the foliage was turning gold and brown and the rows of grapes were mesmerising.



All in all it could almost make one forget the pains of the day. The German wursts dinner was delicious and everyone seemed to enjoy the mood.

The most spectacular bluffs were found in the Rocheport section of the trail; they seemed to go on and on..bluffs on one side, the Missouri River on the other. We were never at a loss for something gorgeous to look at
Like this beautiful weathered barn
They took what appeared to be the ends of a caboose and created this make-believe piano at the depot in Sedalia, I pretended to be a great pianist...see how I have those keys jumping?

Have you ever seen the scene in the desert where cars are half-buried vertically? Well, this appears to be Missouri's version of the same thing, but with boats.
A little wild life on the trail. The snake I saw was too quick for a picture.
The last day, I rode straight through and checked in to the hotel, then went searching for lunch and found it at an outside cafe. They had a special soup 'n half sandwich. Since I was starving, I had the baked potato soup and a turkey BLT...I think it was the best meal I had all week. So delicious!


One of the "fru-fru" shops in Old Town St. Charles...it really is quite picturesque

Here is a shot of the sag wagon and my speedometer showing the trip mileage at 200.69 miles.

My dusty old bike happy to be at the end of the line in St Charles, mile marker 39.5.

Note:
Augusta was such a special stop that I will be making a separate posting about it, since it has nothing to do with biking!

Slaughter Pen Mountain Biking Trail, Bentonville, Arkansas

It is hard for me to believe that I had to find out about this place by watching a show on the local PBS station entitled "Exploring Arkansas" but it is true. The reason it is so hard for me to believe is that I have been searching online for mountain biking trails around here since I moved here and I always come up with very little. Anyway, I found out about it and decided to go and take a look. Some of the stuff they had on the program was too much for me to even consider; like these elevated narrow wood bridges. I guess one ties to sharpen their technical skills by riding about a foot and a half above ground on a six inch narrow wooden surface. I was hoping that there would be ways to side-step these and just stay on the ground...well apparently, people got hurt on them because all that remained of those structures were the pilings...no raised surfaces remained for riding. Just as well as far as I'm concerned.

So the place is located just off the exit 93 of 540, head towards Bentonville and in about a half mile you will come to the trail head. Lots of parking is provided in a paved lot, restroom facilities are provided and there is a doggie park. Not just any doggie park. They have it split into three distinct areas, for small, medium and large dogs. Very nice!

I thought the Razorback fire hydrant was and especially nice touch!


Anyway, they have a concrete multi-use trail that runs some 2.5 miles from the trail head into the park. This leads you to the mountain biking trails; which are located about a half mile in, off the concrete path. Here is one of the easy trails. It runs along the concrete trail for some distance, but just a few feet away are other trails that promise a bit more challenge..

The Armadillo's Last Stand trail seems to go straight up, but not for too long, I think I could do it if I warmed up on one of the other trails first.
There is a nice stream that flows on the other side of the concrete trail and this blue butterfly caught my eye. Double click and you'll see there is a nice balance of stream, leaves and butterfly!
They provided some curves and moguls for practicing on, as well as some more intricate bike skills that I would never try...but it is here for the taking.
I have to admit that I have not yet ridden these trails; I only walked them on my first visit. I have learned that I should check things out before I decide to actually use a trail that I have not been to yet. So next week, when I find myself in Bentonville doing some volunteer work, I will bring my bike and see just how enjoyable this place is. Stay tuned!

Lincoln Lake Hiking/Bicycle Trail

There is a pretty good show being broadcast by our local PBS station called Exploring Arkansas; it features three segments describing locations of interest here n the state. Recently, they were discussing a place for mountain biking called Lincoln Lake. I checked it out on a map and found it was relatively close to where I live and decided to go "explore" it.
Surprisingly, I found it with almost no effort at all. I had already decided to hike it before trying to bike it. The hills here can be quite daunting. Sure enough, the hills were a bit more than I would like to handle on a bike. I was willing to hike it




But then, I thought better of it.


Don't know what the crime was, nor when, but I decided that this wasn't the place I wanted to be wandering by myself.

Is there a law about removing the crime scene tapes when the investigation is completed?

Biking the Neighborhood

Since it has been so warm here the last week or so, I've taken to going for a ride on my bike after dinner. The temperatures are usually lower and there is a kind of cool serenity in the air, little traffic and the winds are usually diminished as well...all in all a great time to be riding.
Here's some of the stuff I have been seeing lately:

This was a very skinny green snake that I saw last night. He was catching the last few rays of sunshine on the roadbed of a new development near me. There are no houses yet; just grasses trees and streets. It is actually a great place to ride since there is no traffic at all.


I have seen this fellow many times cruising a few hundred feet above the neighborhood houses. and while it may look like a lot of fun, the thing is noisy and disruptive. No one has any backyard privacy with this guy around!
Another shot of him riding off into the sunset

Biking in St Charles, Illinois

Our biking group got together for a 20 miler on the Fox River trail from South Elgin to Geneva. The weather was perfect and the trail was mostly blacktop...which translates into an easy ride; except for three gigantic hills here and there! The work out was good because we stopped in St Charles for lunch at a place named Pub 222 right on Main Street. Take a look at the size of the sandwiches they serve up here! I opted for the Chile and didn't need dinner at all later in the day.

Farmer's Market , Clermont, Florida

We biked the Lake Minneola Scenic Trail which runs through several towns; Minneola and Clermont to name two. It was hilly for a Florida bike trail but very enjoyable nevertheless. We stumbled upon the every Sunday Farmer's Market and when we finished the ride, drove over to Clermont to check it out.

This is quite a nice market because it has great veggies and fruits but also lots of other good stuff as well.




Here is a German fellow cooking up some candied almonds. The aromas that came from the pot were fantastic, but alas, he said it would take half an hour before they were ready to eat. We didn't want to wait that long and so pressed on.


At another table there were model log cabin type houses, complete with roofs that open and also furnished with log furniture. The man who made them had quite a sense of humor; he said if his picture was in the shot I took...I owed him $5.00. I told him I would blog about his wares and that would pay for it. Sadly, I did not get his name; the stuff was really nice!


So if you are not looking for fruits and veggies, maybe some nice flowers would fit the bill...




maybe some fresh seafood is what you had in mind. They had it here and it was very fresh and good looking.

All in all a really great market.

Aunt Fannie's, Ocala, Florida

Well you all know how addicted I am to food and when I find something out of the ordinary, I just have to write about it. Such is the case for Aunt Fannie's. It is located on Route 441 right in the middle of Ocala, Florida. We stopped by for breakfast this morning on our way from Gainesville to Ocala...home of the Santos Mountain Biking Trail (that we drive miles out of our way to ride when we are anywhere in northern Florida). This is an older mom and pop NJ type diner. They give you plenty of good food, endless coffee and many smiles...for very little cost (when compared to any standard fast food joint). Just in case you are blowing through town in the middle of the night, they are open twenty-four hours.

So for breakfast I ordered corned beef hash and eggs, it came with hash-browns and toast for a mere $5.99. Chuck got the bargain of the day. They call it 2-2-2 (two eggs, 2 bacon and 2 pancakes, all this for $ 3.99. It had me dreaming of New Jersey.






Since we are staying the night here in Ocala...well, we went there for dinner too! Oh my gosh!!! There was just too much stuff to pick from. They have a printed menu but the handwritten specials are where you should be really be looking...
They have (on Fridays) all you can eat fish. They call it AUCE. Chuck wanted to know what kind of fish AUCE was and I had to admit that I did not know. the waitress explained it later, AUCE today is Pollock, as much as you want.

Well, as luck would have it, neither of us was up for fish tonight. Chuck had pork chops and I had pot roast. Man oh man!

Potash Road Drive

For our final bike outing for this month we rode 21 miles on Potash Road also known as State Route 279. It is known for its Dinosaur tracks, American Indian rock-art sites and an arch (Jug Handle. Watch for the signs. The scenery from the terraces and benches high above the Colorado River is outstanding. The road is relatively flat and if you leave early enough in the morning, you can have shade for a good portion of the ride...by 11:00 AM the road is pretty much all sun and warm...95 or so in August.
Here are some of the shots I got of the Jug Handle Arch and petroglyphs: (you may want to double click the photos to get a better view)


At the end of the maintained road was a potash mine facility, along side was a railroad track. Below is a picture of a regular pick-up truck, fitted so it can ride the rails. It is inspecting the track for anomalies.

Biking Mishaps and more

Today we biked from the hotel to Arches National Park, which is about 7 miles distance, we continued on a little beyond the park entrance and then turned around to complete our outing for the day. I thought it a bit odd that for the return portion, which suddenly had the breeze in my face, I was having difficulty getting over 9 mph on a downhill stretch...then there was that incessant squeaking. All the signs added up to what I suspected; I had a flat. So Chuck went back to the hotel to get the van so he could pick me up.

I found a postage stamp sized piece of shade at the end of the Arches NP sign, so sat there and waited. Here's the pictorial story

Do you believe that the cause was just a little sticker barb?!

And look...I had company
We saw some really nice deadwood in Canyonlands too!
Here is one of the more dramatic overlooks at Canyonlands; those curvy lines are switchback red gravel roadbeds winding their way to the bottom