Across The State

Without catching a glimpse of the Swamp Cabbage Man, we left Ochopee and took off eastbound across the Everglades.  We made a quick pit stop to play with some more alligators though.

 Tired of this yet?  Well, we weren't.

The day was winding down so we decided to take our own airboat ride back into the River of Grass.  It was relaxing.

We spotted a gator nest off in the grass, which meant that momma was nearby.  After almost giving up our search, another airboat dude gave us the lowdown on where we could find her.

"Over yonder!"

After turning around we spotted her.

After looking at more critters along the way, we got back to the boat dock just as the sun was going down.  It was a long, but fun day.  We were hungry though.  Between the Everglades and Fort Lauderdale, we found some good food and beer.

This would be our last night down there, but we still had a full day to go.  We got some rest and made plans for our final day in the swamps of South Florida.

Is it over yet?

Almost.

“Mountain” Biking

In lieu of a bachelor party for Mr. Shepherd, we decided to head into the woods to ride our bikes.  Sure, we were all out drinking the night before (which in some cultures constitutes a bachelor party), but we really wanted to have fun together and not get into any trouble.  After growing up skateboarding with Mr. Shepherd, he’s the one that originally got me into the whole fat tire thing.  A ride with all of us together in Florida seemed like the best way to send him off into wedded bliss.

The venue:  Alafia River State Park.

The sign says “Off-Road Mountain Bike Trails” which is pretty accurate.  No mountains in sight, but we ride “mountain” bikes on those trails.  Genius. 

Just like pretty much everything you ride in The Sunshine State, this trail is pretty much in the swamp.  With lots of phosphate mining done in years past, there’s actually quite a bit of elevation (for Florida, anyway.)  You wouldn’t know that when you started though.

Once we hit the woods, we entered the RollerCoaster loop.  It was a little hilly, as Lunchbox already knew.

Mr. Shepherd was digging it too.

When it wasn’t full of steep descents and short, punchy climbs, it was a vegetable tunnel.  Lunchbox was happy to be in the shade though.

Oh look, it’s the Dirty Party Cycle:

What they lack in elevation, they try to make up for it with features.  An elevated bridge between to palmetto trees high above the swamp?  Sounds like Florida Enduro™ to me.

We’ve all been there before, but a some things have changed in the last few years.  A new section that I’d never seen before seemed promising:

A little more elevation this time, and plenty more features.

We rode that whole section and I didn’t take anymore photos, but luckily I got to the end before Lunchbox did so I could get a few shots of him exiting the trail.

That section was so fun.  And I’m sure I’m not the only one that thought that either, since this was at the exit:

I kinda missed riding in the swamp.

Especially since you can always find these guys:

Spotting credit:  Lunchbox

We spent quite a while out there, but our time was up.  Since Mr. Shepherd was getting married the next day, we still had shit to do.  And since I was the best man, I had to keep us on schedule.  We had just enough time to enjoy a beer in the parking lot, drive back to Bradenton (about 45 minutes away), go to the church for the rehearsal, and then get to a restaurant for a dinner.

I even managed to say no to a free “Sex Cookie”, whatever the hell that is.

At least we got to relax by the water.

Since there is plenty more to talk about, I’ll probably skip the normal “Fun Friday” festivities to keep this shit going. 

Same time tomorrow, okay?

I'm Outta Here

Today is my Friday.  It's not your Friday, so that means it's not “Fun Friday.” I'll split the difference and make this post a little shorter like a Friday one.

I'm leaving for Florida bright and early in the Morning.  Lunchbox and I are heading down to the left coast of the Sunshine State to help/watch/heckle at Mr. Shepherd’s wedding.  The Dirty Party Cycle will be joining us too, just not in the same vehicle on the way down.  In lieu of a bachelor party, we're taking a mountain biking trip to Alafia State  Park.  I haven't been there in a few years and I'm looking forward to it.  I'm also hoping to get over to my home town for a bit to see some family and maybe even some old friends. 

I'm not the only one traveling though.  Little Miss Sunshine returns tonight from the United Kingdom, and we'll get to spend a few hours together before I leave for Florida.  She would tag along but she'll probably be too exhausted.  I'm looking forward to spending a little time with her, and also looking forward to seeing my little alligator again.

She took that little fella with her over there and he's had great time. 

He helps me out a lot so it will be nice to have him back in my possession.  I'm sure the little lady enjoyed the company, but he actually serves a purpose here at the B-43 Worldwide Headquarters.

He helps facilitate the quick drying of my DeFeet cycling cap after I wash it.  You wash your cycling caps, don't you?

Anyway, Since I'm leaving that means I'll be away from here for a while.  I may be back here Tuesday morning, but I could also wait until Wednesday.

Next Tuesday or Wednesday, got it?  Good.  See y'all then.

We Left The Swamp, But Not The Critters

After leaving the gravel road through the swamp in the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, we headed back onto the main road.  The visitor’s center was just up the road, so we didn’t have far to go.  Even though I didn’t want to leave the sunny banks and my alligator friend, we had to because there was still over twenty miles of riding left to do.

When we pulled into the parking lot, there was some kind of shindig going on.  There were tents set up outside, and kids milling about.  We walked inside to look at the standard nature building stuff (fake animal exhibits, gift shop, restrooms, etc.) and we were pleasantly surprised.  Whatever was going on outside was going on inside too. 

We walked into a room full of live swamp critters, with people there to tell you about them.  I noticed that they had a couple of baby alligators, so I thought that Little Miss Sunshine might want to see one. 

When I turned around to tell her, I saw this:

That face cracked me up.  As in, “Holy shit, I can’t believe I’m holding an alligator!”

It was her very first time, and I didn’t realize how excited one could get holding a reptile that could snap off a finger in one (really quick) bite.  That little guy’s name was Jake, and he really seemed to like being held.  His mouth wasn’t taped shut, and he never once tried to bite.  That’s surprising given how excited the little lady was.

I’ve told you before that I’m no stranger to these lovely reptiles, so at first I didn’t really feel the need to hold him.  Been there, done that.  It was Little Miss Sunshine’s time to enjoy, and I didn’t think it was polite for some former Florida boy to steal her thunder. 

Well, eventually I couldn’t resist.

He was just too cute.

After hanging out there for way too long (again because we were playing with alligators), we hit the road.  We went back to Savannah a different way, and it was kinda boring (aside from the big wind gusts and heavy traffic) on that desolate stretch of really flat road.  Eventually we saw a challenge up ahead in the form of a climb.

I have this irrational fear of big ass bridges collapsing into the water, but for some reason it didn’t bother me while I was on the bike.  Just to be sure though, I let the little lady lead the way.

We even stopped for a spell up top to take it all in.

After a fast descent down the other side of the bridge, it was a nice ride back to the hotel.  We were out half the day, and had much better views of everything on the bike than we would have in a car.  After resting up and drinking a few beers, we were ready to hit the town again…

This time on foot.

We did a “ghost tour” of Savannah, but it was basically a pub crawl.  We started at an Irish Pub, took our “to go” beers and walked the streets with a drunken crew of ghost hunters.  They encouraged us to take lots of photos so we could catch some ghostly images, but I didn’t see shit.

Wait, what are those spots?  Could it be?  Nah, it was probably just the camera flash.

Maybe I didn’t drink enough beer.  At least there was plenty of that though.

It was nice to get away for sure.  Riding bikes, playing with alligators, drinking beer, and chasing fake ass ghosts was a nice way to spend a couple of days. 

I highly recommend it.

Tour de Swamp

While everyone else in town was enjoying the Tour de Charlotte, I got the hell out of town.  After listening to TomTom and reading the recaps from Dicky and Eastwood, I really wish I could’ve been there.  I’m sure it was a lot of fun and all, but plans for my trip down to Savannah had already been made. 

I mean, it’s not like I didn’t have any fun of my own or anything.

Living in Charlotte for the last six years, I don’t get to see these guys anymore (at least not in the wild.)  Our first stop before we got to town was at the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, where we drove around the beautiful swamps trying to spot gators on a chilly, yet sunny day.  The big fella above was sunning himself to get some energy to go out for dinner later, so we hung out for a while.  Growing up in Florida, I always enjoyed spending time near (and in) the water hanging with my reptile friends.  Since I missed it so much, I did what any other native Floridian would do…

I went down by the water to introduce myself.

Photo cred:  Little Miss Sunshine

I have a strange feeling that the Crazy European is gonna give me shit about this one.

Anyway, after having shitty days at work lately and rain pissing on my trail riding opportunities, it was nice to get out of the house...and back to the swamp.

And photograph other critters.

Little Miss Sunshine even got in on the action.

Okay yeah, I like nature.  And swamps.  And “scary” creatures.  It’s how I grew up and it will always be who I am.  I know it’s not what I normally talk about on here, but you gotta admit that it’s still probably more interesting than what “normal” folks do.

You wanna hear about beer though, right?

Did you know that the restaurants in Savannah give you beer in “to go” cups?

I didn’t know that, either.  Holy shit that was cool.

You wanna hear about bike stuff too, right?

More on that tomorrow, because you know I like to drag shit out.

Get Yer Popcorn Ready

For what? Well, I made another movie. It’s nothing special, but what the hell is special about the stuff I put on here anyway? I was encouraged by Lunchbox to put together something with the little bit of footage I got from our trip to Bent Creek da udda day. Rather than sit here and complain about the injuries I suffered that day, I thought that making a small movie of our adventure would help me remember how fun the ride was (well, except for the crash at the end.) Unfortunately, I wasn’t running my camera during the crash (the batteries had died), but I still got a little of the downhill action.


I have an old, shitty helmet camera I brought along for the ride, and it doesn’t really do so well on the dimly lit singletrack. Hopefully I’ll get a new one for my upcoming birthday or Christmas. I’ve already asked Santa, so maybe he’ll come through for me. I actually like making movies, so a better camera would certainly help. Anyway, here is a little snippet of video from our trip to Bent Creek”:





I know, it’s kind of crappy (or a lot crappy, whatever.) The quality is horrible, the action isn’t so great, and my camera sucks ass. What do you expect? I mean, I could have had you watch this shit:




Come back tomorrow, and I promise I won’t post anymore crap like this (at least until I get a new camera.) If you don’t come back tomorrow, I’ll send my friend after you: