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  1. #1
    Senior Member FLRider's Avatar
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    PICS: 60 Miles, A Cold Night, Hangovers, and a Ten-Mile Run: Ginnie Springs Trip 11/9-11/'14

    My story for this one starts way back when I moved in with my new roommate (now girlfriend) after my divorce. Xotchil (yes, that's the correct spelling) is fairly adventurous. So, among other things, she wanted to try out this whole bike camping thing that I do. I have most of the gear to set up another person for approximately forty-degree temperatures, even if it is a little heavy and bulky, so we decided on a trip to Ginnie Springs--where we would have a few amenities not easily gotten elsewhere.

    Saturday night was my coworker and friend's thirtieth birthday. Despite my decision to leave the party "early" (midnight-ish; we all work in the restaurant industry, so 4 AM is approaching "late"), I drank a little too much and slept in later than I'd've liked. So, we got on the road a little later than initially intended.

    We headed out the door at ~1 PM, riding northbound through Gainesville. We stopped at the WallyWorld just outside of town on US 441 for a few supplies and then continued onward northbound. Right around the time we left that area, the bike lane on the side of the road mostly disappeared due to construction. Instead of being a smooth expanse of pavement, it was just a thin, grooved layer over the road metal. Which sucked for Xotchil: I've got a beach cruiser that I ride, but she was on a 90s-vintage Cannondale racing bike. Her thin, high-pressure road tires and aluminum frame made the vibrations less than pleasant for her.

    Fortunately, there was only about a mile of that. Unfortunately, the construction along 441 wasn't quite done and most of the merges between turning lanes and the shoulder had the shoulder cut out completely for a few feet. This meant that we had to be very cognizant of traffic coming up behind when we came onto these sections, as we had to veer out into the travel lane to continue on. As this is FL, the worst state in the union for bicycle-car fatalities, and the speed zone through there is all above 50 MPH (reaching 65 for a stretch), and folks do 70 MPH+, well, neither of us wanted to end up as roadkill.

    This slowed us some, but was more a psychological hindrance than a physical one. We reached the small city of Alachua, the county seat (and the end of the road construction!) at approximately 2:30. We ate lunch at the Taco Bell there and were back on the road by 3:00. Heading north into the waning light of day, we didn't encounter any further trouble aside from the numerous hills through that section of road.

    We turned off of 441 some time around 3:15 and headed southbound through High Springs along US 41 for about a mile and an half. This was a nice section to the ride: despite the traffic, the speed zone through there is 20 MPH in downtown, and folks actually pay attention to it. We soon reached the turnoff for CR 340 and headed westbound towards Ginnie Springs.

    Heading into the setting sun, I was a little worried about traffic behind us being unable to see us, so I had Xotchil turn her tail light on and activated mine. It turned out to be unnecessary; there was very little traffic and it all gave us a reasonable amount of space.

    Despite the longish day, Xotchil kept up gamely the whole way to Ginnie Springs. By the time we reached the front gate, it was ~4:45 PM and sundown was coming up on us fairly rapidly. Despite some consternation on the employees' part about how to classify two folks coming in on bicycles (they want to give a mirror hanger to each vehicle that comes in the gate), we checked in without incident.

    After purchasing a few supplies for dinner from the PX, we continued on into the park and found our campsite for the weekend by the river. We had nearly the whole park to ourselves: there were maybe twenty folks camping there that weekend, since it was a Sunday night.

    Soon enough, I had both hammocks and my bear bag hung (really, a "squirrel" bag this weekend; I lost my last one when a squirrel ate through it at this campground) and had layered up to combat the rapidly cooling temperatures.

    We turned in around 7 PM, tired out from a full day of riding. Xotchil was cold that night; the temperatures plummeted to 45* F with 100% humidity by the river, and she's a remarkably cold sleeper. The morning came around soon enough, though, and I got my "coffee" going while she was still sleeping. A stretching session and some "coffee" later and I was ready for my morning run right around the time that she was getting up. I set her up with tea and oatmeal and started my run.

    I must say that Ginnie Springs is one of the nicer spots to run that I've been: I did ten miles, or a little over four laps around the perimeter of the place, and the only drawback I had was that the SCUBA guys by the main spring kept laughing at me when I went past. Meh. Otherwise, there was very little vehicular traffic, lots of shade, and beautiful views over the river on one side and fields on the other. It was fun.

    Following my run and stretching session, I jumped into the springs there to cool off. Considering that the water temperature was the same as the air temp, it was bracing.

    That afternoon, we hung out by the river and chatted, she napped to catch up on some sleep that she'd lost the night before, and the buzzards (who were in definite force) both washed up in the river and stared at her hammock like a burrito. Had to chase those suckers off with a couple of rocks more than once.

    That night, I built a roaring campfire. But before that, I snapped my Mora LightMyFire at the hilt trying to baton wood that was just too tough. Now I know its limits, and my next one will last longer. We cooked hot dogs over the fire and enjoyed them by the river underneath the stars. During the day, the campground population dropped from perhaps twenty to perhaps ten (just the SCUBA guys by the spring), and it felt very much quieter.

    Due to Xotchil being cold the night before, I clambered into the Hennessy with her to share body warmth. It was slightly uncomfortable, but the weight differential between us and her flexibility served us well on mitigating that. It was still significantly more comfortable than sleeping on the ground.

    It did not get as cold that night, only reaching 50* F, and she slept better. I woke with the dawn and started in on "coffee". As I was doing so, I destroyed my pot stand (I'd taken several strands of wire out of it to try and lighten it; I think it became "stupid light" with that). So, I got the remains of the fire started back up and placed a couple of rocks (being careful to keep most of the firewood between us and the rocks; they looked like river rocks and could possibly have exploded from steam pockets inside of 'em) by the fire to act as a pot stand. Once my "coffee" was going, I started tea and oatmeal for Xotchil, who had risen in the interim.

    We were packed up and on the road by 11 AM, heading eastbound along CR 340. I stopped in at an ACE Hardware there for some hardware cloth to replace my pot stand and wound up getting enough to last me for the next several years. Once stopped, I made a couple of adjustments to Xotchil's bike for comfort while riding; she'd been a little too front-heavy from the aggressive geometry of her bike. Some seat adjustments later, and she was able to ride much more comfortably.

    There was a moderate wind out of the north-northeast, making our ride fairly easy once we reached US 441. We were averaging ~18 MPH (which is fast for me on my bike with a load; I was carrying all of our shelter gear, my own clothing, all of our bike tools, all of our incidentals, 2 L of water, and all of the cook gear and remaining food) as we roared down toward Alachua. We arrived there at approximately 12:15 and stopped in at Moe's for some Mexican.

    Xotchil ate a little too much at lunch that day; after loading back up on the bikes, she had to stop several times to fight nausea from the exertion and heavy lunch. However, once she started feeling better, we made good time down back into Gainesville. We stopped at an upscale thrift store north on 441 that I'd been meaning to go into for the last year or so. They had good cold weather gear for her, and I ponied up to cover it for our upcoming trip on the AT. A JC Penny puffer jacket and a lightweight windbreaker with a good DWR came to ~$20, which I count as a deal. She found some fashion stuff, too, but I'm pretty color blind in that area.

    We mounted back up and headed southbound once again, covering the ~4 miles back to our place at a good pace. Coming back into the house, we showered, unpacked some, and relaxed for a bit before crashing for the evening. A wonderful end to a wonderful weekend.

    Pics:

    Morning fog on the river:

    20141110_081347[1].jpg
    20141110_081458[1].jpg


    Our transportation for the weekend:

    20141110_153004.jpg


    Xotchil in her native habitat:

    20141110_172213[1].jpg


    Caveman TV:

    20141110_172249.jpg


    My view from the hammock:

    20141110_153024[1].jpg


    The biggest jack'o'lantern in the Southeast:

    20141111_102227.jpg
    Attached Images Attached Images
    "Just prepare what you can and enjoy the rest."
    --Floridahanger

  2. #2
    Senior Member 2ply's Avatar
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    Looks like y'all had a great time on your adventure. Glad it all worked out well for her first hammock trip.
    Everyone ought to believe in something....I believe I'll go set up the hammock!

  3. #3
    Senior Member FLRider's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by 2ply View Post
    Looks like y'all had a great time on your adventure. Glad it all worked out well for her first hammock trip.
    Thanks! Me, too.
    "Just prepare what you can and enjoy the rest."
    --Floridahanger

  4. #4
    Senior Member Chris183's Avatar
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    Always an adventure with a partner, eh?

    glad you had a good time and got some experience
    Honor guide me

  5. #5
    Senior Member FLRider's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chris183 View Post
    Always an adventure with a partner, eh?

    glad you had a good time and got some experience
    Thanks!
    "Just prepare what you can and enjoy the rest."
    --Floridahanger

  6. #6
    Sounds like an awesome trip!

  7. #7
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    Sounds like a great adventure. I hope to do some bike camping soon.

  8. #8
    Senior Member FLRider's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by nosckaj123 View Post
    Sounds like an awesome trip!
    It most definitely was!


    Quote Originally Posted by 17hmr View Post
    Sounds like a great adventure. I hope to do some bike camping soon.
    It was!

    I hope that your bike touring goes well! There's no better way to see the road.
    "Just prepare what you can and enjoy the rest."
    --Floridahanger

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