January 2, 2022
Largo to Starkey Wilderness
Into the wilderness
Morning arrived early as we slept through our alarms. We forced ourselves to get up early so we could make use of the rental car prior to its return deadline of 10am.
First stop...the post office. Mind you we don't know what day it is and forgot to take into consideration that it was Sunday. So needless to say we made a Plan B, then settled on Plan C. Got our grocery shopping out of the way and headed back to the hotel with our box of gear after a failed attempt at Plan B. Time was getting short, 20 minutes or so to spare as we left for the airport car rental location. We made it in the knick of time and took a Lyft back to the hotel.
Matt packed up the groceries and refilled water, while I worked on shipping out the package out via Fed Ex from the hotel aka Plan C.
We said our goodbyes to Eileen, the super nice front desk lady, then started our ride to the Starkey Wilderness.
We were blessed to be mostly on trails and bike paths today. Pinellas Trail connected to a greenway trail via Keystone Road, then onto Starkey Blvd into the Starkey Wilderness.
We made two stops along the way. We found ourselves relaxing in Adirondack chairs drinking expensive green tea at a hipster bike shop. I thought we might escape the hoards of rental bikes ridden by many who have not been on a bike since they were 6 years old, but I was wrong.
We sat down long enough to finish our beverage in the hot sun as we witnessed the mayhem along the Pinellas Trail.
One elderly lady who just rented an electric bike and proceeded to run it into the pole directly in front of us. Matt jumped up and helped her up. This eliminated an impending pile up on the trail. Apparently, the bicycle and her were not on the same page. She was ok, hopped back on and sped away. We gathered our bikes to leave as an explosion occurred. One gentleman was filling his rental bike tire as if it were a car tire and BOOM! 40 people shuttered at the loud explosion. Me being me, aka Captain Obvious, looked the man in the eye and said you put too much air in that tire sir. Unannounced to me Matt is trying his best to keep his composure and not burst out in laughter. This is just one of my many talents lol.
We jumped on our bikes and pedaled fast out of the city, feeling as though it was closing in on us. Starving and hot we stopped at the Starkey Market to wet our whistles with a few sodas.
Sitting on the front porch, I grabbed the Ice Mule off Matt's tired steed. His steed decided to lay down twice while we were on the porch. It must have been rode hard and put away wet.
Our late lunch consisted cold sodas, hummus, newly purchased day old bread, salami and sharp cheddar. By the time we had our fill, we had caught the attention of two lady cyclists who were out for a Sunday jaunt. Upon leaving, they stopped us and inquired about our bicycles and gear. Matt shared about his ride and how we met, gave them a card for the blog and we were on our way.
We entered the Starkey Wilderness area unaware that one needs to sign up/rent the backcountry campsites. Thinking that the Florida Trail runs through this wilderness area, why would any hiker trek extra miles to sign up for a backcountry campsite..hmm. We proceeded forward on the paved trail without stopping to inquire. When we arrived at our destination, a couple who were quite possibly on their first bicycle camping trip together were occupying campsite #2. They looked as though they were packing up. I approached them and kindly asked if they were leaving. I received a snarky comment back from the fashionable first timer in which I smiled and turned back to Matt to reveal the news. We decided to make the trek to backcountry campsite #1. Google took us to the "campsite". No it did not. Lol
We returned to the paved trail after 2 miles offroad and camped at the picnic table.
| Heart | 3 | Comment | 0 | Link |
The urbanites left the backcountry campsite with their air of importance at dark. We were too tired and hot to move camp, so we stayed near the picnic table.
Forecast called for rain about 2 am. If one needed showers, and one were feeling froggy, one could jump out of the tent in a flash and get drenched. The downpour lasted 5 minutes as the wind blew the line of rain East. The rush of the wind sounded like the waves of the ocean. The cool rushing rain and wind dropped the temperature down enough that one felt less sticky. Sleep finally settled in.
Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 132 miles (212 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 5 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 1 |
2 years ago