Bike Florida: Red Hills to the Sea

March 19 - 25, 2005

Tour Highlights
This year's Bike Florida was a seven day bicycle camping tour of the Florida Panhandle. The ride did an oval shaped loop, beginning and ending in Monticello, Florida. The route incorporated the rolling, red hills and canopied roads of North Florida and wide open vistas of the Gulf of Mexico. Over-night camping stays included Monticello, Quincy, Blountstown, Apalachicola and Sopchoppy with a layover day mid-week in Apalachicola, on the Gulf of Mexico. Daily mileage was between 50 and 99 miles, with a layover day midweek (0 miles) and a century (100 mile) option on Tuesday. Total mileage for the week was 385 miles. Complimentary rest stops were every 15-20 miles.

Bike Florida: Red Hills to the Sea was one of the best cycling vacations to date. I cycled almost 400 miles in 5 days over the Red Hills and along the Forgotten Coast. The first two days were hilly; the fun rolling kind (where the motion downward propels you up the next). We had two days of rain, lots of wind, a memorable tail wind and not so memorable head wind. We even rode over a bridge into Central Time Zone! It was an experience to see 'Old Florida'. Hard to believe that in the 21st century life in the Panhandle still exists. The towns were so small that some didn't have hotels or restaurants. I learned a bunch of Florida trivia: FL has three climate zones, I can now pronounce all of the crazy Indian named towns including: Apalachicola and Sopchoppy. Palm trees only exist along the coast. Millions of tall skinny pine trees with giant pine cones grow in Northern Florida. Wisteria grows wild. Azaleas are abundance. Dog Wood trees come in white. I saw my first Pot Bellied Pig. I can tell you what Worm Grunting is and how to shuck an Oyster. I'm tanned, relaxed and have legs of steel. It was a great trip and I would do it again in a second. Great cycling, good food and nice people.