Category: Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail

Six of us showed up for a Full Moon ride on the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (LOST) Saturday night. There was (left to right) Son Adam and his wife, Carly; Reader in the Wild Mathilde; former co-worker George and newbie Jay. Jay, who is a golfer and a gym rat, was not only a LOST newbie, he was on his second bike ride.

We started out with a great tailwind

The wind was out of the south at 12 to 14 mph and we were headed mostly north, so life was good. It wasn’t hard to crank at 18 mph.

The group sorted out pretty quickly. Carly was on fire. She set the pace for Adam and Mathilde. George, Jay and I brought up the rear.

After a couple of miles, Jay either got bored with my descriptions of the lake or he was afraid he was going to go to sleep riding at our slow pace. He took off to try to catch up with the other three. Either he was a ringer who fibbed about his experience or he’s gonna make a great bike rider.

I have to confess: I’m slow

Like the mediocre student said, “I’m the one who makes the top 10% possible,” I’m the guy on a group ride who makes the other riders feel superior.

I stopped along the way to shoot a picture of a tree at dusk and George passed me.

Another one bites the dust

Just as I was catching up with George and getting ready to pass him, the Queen song, Another One Bites the Dust, started playing.

You can’t beat that timing.

I was getting hungry

I sent word ahead to the faster riders to go on ahead to The Office Bar & Grill at Nubbins Slough and order a sausage, pepperoni and mushroom pizza, figuring it would be ready by the time I got there.

That gave me time to enjoy another Lake O sunset.

And, no, I didn’t get to see the legendary Green Flash this time either.

We were disappointed

I pulled up in front of the Office to find some disheartened riders. The place was closed. We arrived at 8:05 and closing time was 8:00.

George said he wasn’t hungry and was going to head back because it was going to take him quite a while to make it back to the cars. He figured we’d probably pass him on the way back down the trail. The rest of us elected to head north to Taylor Creek for Gizmo’s Pizza.

[Note for anyone worried about what happened to George: he made it back to the trailhead 40 minutes before the rest of us. Fortunately for him, the bugs were no problem this trip. Otherwise we’d have found a George skeleton next to his bike.]

Calling Gizmo’s Pizza

I didn’t want to take us four miles out of our way if THEY were going to be closed, so I gave them a call on my cell phone (they are one of only two pizza joints on my speeddial list). They said they were getting close to turning out the lights, but they’d stick around for hungry cyclists.

(Just for the record, here’s their number: (863) 357-2188)

They made us a great pizza, kept us supplied with beverages and stuck around past normal closing time to make us feel welcome.

[NOTE: Bad news. I stopped by there recently and found they are no longer in business. There’s a new sandwich shop in their place. I haven’t tried it yet.]

Adam took my bug warnings seriously

I tell folks that bugs can be brutal around dusk and that eye protection is a good idea. Adam was certainly ready.

As it turned out, the dry weather has kept the bug population down for the last two Full Moon Rides we’ve done.

The headwinds were brutal

That great tailwind northbound was a terrible headwind on the way south. I was hoping the wind would die down at dusk, but I think it might have even increased.

I was in my middle ring in the front and the second and third-lowest gears in the back spinning away at 80 or 90 rpm. It was like 21 miles of hill climbing without a break. Everybody just got into their own groove.

I was bringing up the end, as usual.

What is that crazy woman doing?

When I pulled into the lock at Henry Creek, the first thing I noticed was Mathilde jumping up and down and gyrating wildly like the metal grate was electrified.

When I got closer, I discovered why: the lake has been so low that the locks have been closed to boat traffic for about 18 months and the concrete lock chambers are almost empty except for a couple zillion very vocal frogs.

The sound of all those frogs echoing off the concrete walls was quite musical and impressive. It was almost synchronized and with a strong beat, so she was moved by some primitive urge to dance. (I THINK that’s what she was doing. It might have been a strange medical condition that’ll show up on House next season.)

More generational than gastronomical

As impressed as I was, the topping on my pizza must not have been the same as Mathilde’s because I was not quite moved to gyration. Maybe it was more generational than gastronomical.

Even thought the light was miserable, Son Adam managed to capture a bit of the moment in the video above.

All in all, it was a great night with some nice folks. You can’t beat that with a stick.

The full moon rises at 8:46 PM and sunset is at 7:01 PM, so we should be treated to a big ball of fire coming over the horizon Saturday night, May 9, on our ride on the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (LOST).

Temps are going to be high during the day, falling off in the evening. Winds will be SE at 10-15 mph during the afternoon. That’ll give us a headwind on the way back, but it usually dies down after dark.

It’ll look pretty similar to this spectacular picture by David Haworth. Well, it won’t be THAT big and it won’t have trees in front of it, but you get the idea.

I was on the lake one night when the orange glow was so bright that I thought a sugar mill had caught fire.

Here’s the tentative plan

Port Mayaca starting point

We’ll take off from Port Mayaca 6:30 ish.

We’ll ride north for as far as the group wants to go. Typical round-trip rides are 14, 28, 32 and 40-miles.

Do we want to eat?

The Office Bar & Grill closes at 8 PM, so we should be able see both the moonrise and their wonderful obscene roast beef sandwiches this trip. The next place to eat is Gizmo’s Pizza at Taylor Creek. That would be the 40-mile trip.

We’ll play it by ear. If we hear lots of tummy growling, then we’ll find a place to eat. If not, we’ll make do with munchies out of the bike bag.

Normal Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail Hints

It’s bright enough to ride without headlights unless it’s overcast. Flashers and headlights are still a good idea so that we can find each other and if we go off the trail to get something to eat. Helmets are encouraged.

Bring bug spray

Mosquitoes can be miserable for about 45 minutes around dusk. When gnats are heavy, I ride with a bandanna over my mouth and nose to keep from sucking them in. Glasses are advisable to keep them out of your eyes.

The last time we rode we were pleasantly surprised to find that the bugs weren’t bad except for a few minutes around dusk. Since we haven’t had much rain recently, we may get lucky again.

Bring along leg warmers, arm warmers or something to cover yourself if you’re on the chilly side. Extra clothing can also help keep the bugs off if you have to stop to change a flat. I’ll have a pump, but a spare tube is a good idea.

There is no drinking water nor restrooms on the LOST.

The LOST is perfect for all riding styles

If you’re with me, plan on a slow ride with stops to take pictures of wildlife along the way. On the other hand, if you are a speed demon, you’ll love the LOST because there’s no stop signs, no motorized traffic and very few other riders to slow you down.

Nobody is lost on the LOST

We may ride at different speeds and the group frequently splits up into folks who want to ride fast and folks who want to socialize, but we make sure than everyone is accounted for before the last car leaves. If someone is really struggling, a faster rider will go back for a car to pick them up at an access point.

If you want to join the group, leave a comment or email.

You can reach me on my cell phone at 561-727-9645 the night of the ride if you need last-minute directions or help.

This year’s Okeechobee Rotary Club’s annual Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail (L.O.S.T.) charity bike ride was the biggest ever, organizer, Jim McInnes, said Saturday morning. More than 150 riders signed up for the event. It was the best year ever for pre-registrations, he added.

(We’d like to think we helped with this. Several riders said they downloaded the registration form we had posted with this story. The story received more than 300 hits.)

The weather this morning was just about perfect, except for a wind that was gusting as high as 30 mph from the south. Fortunately, the ride started at the northwest corner of the lake, so riders hit the headwind early enough that they weren’t tempted to ride too far for their abilities.
Continue reading “2009 Rotary Lake Okeechobee Ride Has Record Riders”

I consider any ride where you end up with the same number of riders you started out with to be a good ride. We met that minimum standard.

Sunday night’s ride, though, was an illustration of why Palm Beach Bike Tours doesn’t pretend to actually lead bike tours.

It’s hard to herd cats

The ease of scheduling a ride is inversely proportional to the number of people involved. In other words, if it’s just you, you hop on your bike ride as far as you want to when you want to and stop when you want to.

As soon as you start adding riders, the job gets tougher.

Typically, I say, “I’m riding the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail Sunday night. I want to show a newbie some gators, so we’re going out in the afternoon and we’re going to stick around to see the full moon. If you are interested, call me and I’ll tell you about where I am on the trail and we can hook up.”

THIS weekend when I tried that, I got several maybes and then my phone started waking up around 11 AM with folks who said that they might make it from times ranging from 2:30 to 4:30.

A person I’ve never ridden with sent me an email saying that my number wasn’t in service when he called it, but I didn’t get his email until I had gotten back from the ride at about 11 P.M. My phone didn’t show any missed calls, so I don’t know what happened there. My apologies to Rich.

So, how was the ride?

Well, after telling you how hard it is to herd cats and how everyone was projecting different starting times, Matt, Jan, Jimmy, Chuck and Mathilde (who rode with me) all showed up at the starting point within 30 minutes of each other. That’s got to be some kind of record.

Gators and Frogs spotted

While we were waiting for the last couple to show up, we wandered up on the Port Mayaca locks where you can usually spot some good-sized gators. Indeed, we saw several, including one who might have gone 8 feet.

The most curious thing was a dried frog or toad someone had put on a post. (We tried to tell Mathilde that that particular species always climbs up on poles when they sense it it time to die, but she didn’t believe it. We also tried to talk her into taking it home – “Wouldn’t your roommate be surprised to see it perched on the cookie jar? – but she wasn’t buying that, either.)

Who were the players?

• Son Matt is a go-fast rider who knocks off 40-plus miles at an average of 18-plus MPH.
• Mathilde, also known as MP, was my first reader in the wild. She’s a triathlete who has been fun to introduce to road riding. I’m afraid she’s going to slip over to the dark side of g0-fast riders soon, though.
• Jan & Jimmy: Jan is former Palm Beach Post food editor and my first riding partner. Jimmy is her significant other. We had a pool going to see if Jan would make it as far as the starting point before she passed out. Her claim to fame is that she hurled in front of Donald Trump’s mansion in Palm Beach on her first ride, an act that has been named “Doing the Donald.”
• Chuck is another former coworker who has three cycling web sites going. One that badly needs updating, is for LOST Cyclists. A newer one brags that he’s going to log 3,000 miles this year and offers a prize to the person who most closely guesses when he’s going to blow up and quit. In fairness, he’s doing pretty well this year. The final one is for his Slow Bicycles Society. Chuck decided to see if his clown car of a folding bicycle was suitable for riding more than short distances. He’s normally a bent man (in more ways than cycles) who is most comfortable on a moving sofa couch.
• Me on my Surly Long Haul Trucker carrying everything including the kitchen sink.

The weatherman lied

He promised us a 7 MPH tailwind to start out. It was a headwind.

The group quickly fragmented. Matt and MP were way in the lead. Chuck, Jan and Jimmy were way at the back. I was too slow to catch the leaders and too fast to ride at the tail, so I learned how the poor guy feels who is caught between the breakaway and the peleton. Lonely.

We stopped at the Chancey Lock, where we saw more gators, and at Henry Creek, where some fishermen were being busily chased to another location by a large water moccasin.

We got off the dike at Nubbin’s Slough and rode 100 yards or so north on 441 to The Office, a bar on the east side of the road. Most of us ordered the Slightly Naughty Roast Beef sandwich (because the Obscene RB sandwich is too much for anybody, including bikers). Chuck had a super good pizza he was nice enough to share.

The beer was cheap, the food was tasty and reasonably priced. The staff and other diners were friendly and concerned about us riding in the dark.

Jan and Jimmy bail

The sun was just about to set when Jan and Jimmy decided they’d had all the fun they could stand (or they liked the prospect of cheap beer, I’m not sure which). Matt volunteered to sprint back to the cars and come back to pick them up. Chuck, MP and I decided to soldier on.

Chuck would have been smart to have bailed with the other two. He started off slow and got slower. I told MP to ride on ahead at her own pace and I’d keep Chuck company. By now, the sun had gone all the way down and we were riding in moonlight strong enough to cast strong shadows. Nature sounds were all around us.

I thought I’d have to perform a buttectomy

Chuck kept griping that his hindquarters weren’t suited for riding an upright bike after being massaged on his bents for so long.

He was in so much difficulty, that I pulled off the trail and started setting up my emergency operating theater to perform a buttectomy, but he refused treatment at the last second. He said he was OK with the idea until he saw me honing my scalpel with a huge grin on my face. OK, scalpel, machete, what’s the difference? They’re both blades for cutting. Besides, big jobs require big tools.

The bugs weren’t bad

I’ve been on the dike when the mosquitoes were so bad that you had to ride at least 12 MPH to keep from being eaten alive. Even then, the blood suckers are better than a wind tunnel at finding all the dead air parts on your body. You can count on them landing on any sheltered body part and refueling until they’re so heavy they drop off.

Fortunately, Sunday night was the exception. Except for a few minutes right at dusk, the air was almost bug-free. That’s a good thing, because Chuck would have been a couple of quarts low at his speed.

I’m not as steady as I once was

I tried to take a quick shot while Chuck was chugging down the trail in the moonlight, but I guess I can’t handhold a camera at 2 or 3 seconds like in the old days.

All in all, it was a pefect night: temps were on the cool side of comfortable; bugs were minimal; the sky was clear and the moon was bright; we were well-fed and surrounded by good friends (even if some of my descriptions didn’t sound like it).