Today was probably the most fun day of the trip so far. We seemed to hit our stride. Although it was a 65 mile day, both of us feel better than previous days. As a bonus, the entire ride was on trails today, which was a great way to reduce the stress and increase the enjoyment of the ride.
Our day started very early. We left Randy’s house at 6:45, catching the first nice rays of sun. The temperature was cool and crisp, which always helps my cycling. The first 6(ish) miles on the Good Neighbor trail took us out of town and onto the Sun Coast Trail. From there, we paralleled Florida Rt 589 for another ~15-20 miles. It’s a well maintained trail but not quite as picturesque as other parts of our trip.
Then came the highlight trail of the trip: The Starkey Wilderness Trail which goes through the Starkey Wilderness Park. It’s a really pretty trail that winds through a forested area with saw palmettos, pine trees, and palm trees. We were talking this evening and decided that’s the nicest trail we’ve been on this trip.
After exiting the park, we came across Starkey Market. This is a nice little coffee shop and restaurant. We had a small second breakfast. My slice of banana bread was good, but well, the service was some of the slowest I’ve seen in the modern era.
We made really good time today and arrived in Tarpon Springs about 2 hours ahead of schedule. Randy suggested that we ride out to the gulf since we had some time. We found some bike paths that took us directly out to the gulf. Since we had time to kill, we took a leisurely pace out and back. Upon arriving at the gulf, we wandered down to the water, then grabbed a snack, and then turned back to go to Tarpon Springs.
Just about the time we arrived, the AirBnB messaged me that our place was ready. We got quickly cleaned up and wandered over to the sponge docks. Tarpon Springs is known for sponge harvesting and many Greek families who settled in this area as part of the sponge harvesting economy over the years. We wandered around the area and then found a good early dinner. It happens to be Randy’s birthday, so we celebrated with a nice meal.
Randy wanted ice cream for dessert, so we found a place in downtown Tarpon Springs and wandered that way. I had some of the very best dairy-free ice cream ever: one scoop of rocky road and one scoop of strawberry. Mmmmm.
We also wandered past a pinball and arcade game museum. I poked my head in and found one of my games that I worked on back in the 90s. It’s always fun to see one of my old games in circulation.
We’re back at the BnB now and preparing for tomorrow. We don’t have as many miles, so we’re going to add some side trips out to Clearwater Beach before finishing in St. Petersburg. Our ride pickup is in the afternoon, so we’ll have a bit of time to kill.
With that, I want to wish Randy (another) happy birthday! It was fun to spend a birthday together again after so many years.
Animal Count: 4 tortoises, 3 deer, a few squirrels, no confirmed gators (boo!), lots of tiny crabs on the beach, and 4 geckos at the beach.
Peace, Dcn. Matt
