March 2022
It's been a tough year. I fell off my bike in December 2019 and broke my collarbone which put me out of commission.....and life....for three months now. I feel that I am finally coming out of it although I have some residual shoulder pain, due to a partially frozen shoulder, which should be gone soon I hope. Both Jim and I needed a change of scenery and Nevada ( aka Laura C) invited us to join her at her home in Clermont, FL for the weekend.
Nevada with her new best friend Mimi. She is a rescue from a local Cocker Spaniel rescue organization.
It was season and the traffic to get to Clermont on Friday afternoon was heavy. What normally took 3.5 hours driving time took us well over 5.5 hours. Note to self.....do not travel during season in Florida!
We woke up Saturday ready to go cycling. Nevada had cycled the hills the day before so it was a rest day for her. We had done some research and with the help of Liz F, from our local cycling group, we learned of the West Orange Trail. Liz suggested that we start at the Killarney Station . It is the perfect start location if you are staying in Clermont and want to do some flat riding. The West Orange Trail is a 21 mile (one way) trail that goes from Clermont to Winter Garden and beyond.
There were several stops along the way that had facilities and picnic areas. The route (for the most part) was flat although there were some slight elevations along the way. The trail goes through downtown Winter Garden. It is a little tricky to navigate through the downtown area but easy to find the trail if you accidentally miss the trail markings. We decided to ride to the turn around point first and then stop in downtown Winter Garden on the way back.
Upon our return we stopped at one of the local coffee shops that was located near the weekly farmer's market.
This "party poodle" was a visitor at the coffee shop.
It was a five mile ride back from the coffee shop to the Killarney Station trailhead where we had parked the truck. It was a fun day. It was my first long ride ( 30 miles) on the bike since I fell in December.
Nevada, Jim and I decided to order pizza and have dinner in that evening. We were very happy to eat in and not fight the crowds for a dinner reservation.
On Sunday we headed to Green Mountain Scenic Overlook to do a hike on the trail there. Here are some photos from the hike.
This was the scenic overlook.....very disappointing.
This trail was about four miles long and was an out and back trail. It did connect to another trail that was over 17 miles long but we didn't have enough time to do more. We headed back to the truck after hiking 3 miles.
We left Clermont shortly after the hike. It was a great weekend. We look forward to returning to Clermont to do some hill riding next time. As with many areas of Florida.....the area is growing due to more people moving to Florida. Hopefully the next time we come back there will still be safe places to ride. Fingers crossed.
Thank you Nevada for your hospitality. We thoroughly enjoyed spending time with you and Mimi.
