Biking through the natural Florida

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The blue line on this progress map shows the Adventure Cycling Southern Tier route I initially planned to take. The green line shows my actual route including a few little diversions.

Day 33 – Day 37
April 24 – 28

Florida is truly a place of stunning extremes. In the past when I heard the word Florida, I thought of oceans and sandy beaches, mass tourism, retirees, hotels and condos on the beach. Biking through Florida I found that this is only a very small part of the state. There is a large part of Florida which is a natural paradise with an abundance of lakes, rivers and bayous, lush vegetation, and lots of wild life.

Florida is a very bike friendly state with good roads that have either a wide shoulder or a dedicated bike lane. I left Opp, Alabama on April 24 and biked to De Funiak Springs, Florida, and then on to Tallahassee. Leaving Tallahassee, I biked along rivers and lakes, and through small towns.

Below are my impressions of a different Florida.

The Suwanne River (a lot of times spelled wrong: Swannee)

"Suwannee " is an Indian word meaning Black Water. The Suwannee originates within the Okefenokee Swamp in SE Georgia, travelling through Florida and travels nearly 230 miles to the Gulf of Mexico.

This guy came out of the Suwannee to check me out.

But then he got shy and went into his house and he winked at me.

I am now at the Wakulla River. It originates from an underground spring, and runs for ten miles before it disappears again. It is home to manatees, alligators and a variety of birds. Many movies have been filmed on this river including Tarzan with Johnny Weissmueller, and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. The photo above shows a Snowy Egret on the river.

An Anhinga on the Wakulla River.

I was told by locals that the Wood Duck is rarely spotted because it is very elusive, but I was lucky today.

Some facts about Florida:

• Colonized by the Spaniards in 1559


• Site of first permanent U.S. settlement in 1565


• Now the nation's fastest growing state


• State song "Swannee River" a.k.a. "Old Folks at Home"


• 30,000 lakes


• 1,000 miles of sandy beaches


• 1,000 miles of hiking trails


• 600 varieties of fish

Piggly Wiggly, supermarket of choice throughout the South and Florida. I couldn't resist the name.

Biking through the Southern states and seeing the many churches, sometimes five or six within a few blocks in the small towns, I got the feeling that religion plays a big part in the lives of Southerners. Sometimes, they are very creative in the way they encourage members to attend church. I spotted this sign biking through a small rural town.

Here are some of the things I had to consider along my ride: