One sweet ride!

February 17, 2022

Moore Haven bike ride #3

For today's ride we opted to drive again to a start point in Moore Haven. Even though we got out by 9:30, it was already sunny, hot and quite humid. Oh, and it was also windy again. Apparently the wind blows here all the time.

Don parked at the lock next to the river and before long we were riding south along country roads that jogged through the cane fields. There was hardly any traffic except for pick ups and dump trucks that were moving back and forth to access points to the dike construction.

The Army Corp of Engineers has been doing a long term project to strengthen the dike around Lake Okeechobee from flooding. Started in 2007, it's expected to be completed this year.

It's a billion dollar project that involves injecting a cement slurry 55-75 deep into the dam so that when hardened, slows the seepage of material that could weaken the dike. Hopefully the paved portions of the trail will be repaired and made accessible once again.

So it was a fairly quiet ride traffic wise. We enjoyed watching all of the water birds in the small canals next to the road but they rarely stayed still long enough to get a picture. Mostly cormorants, herons, egrets and storks, but we did spot some ibis.

We might have ridden further today if there had been more to look at and not as windy. The most exciting thing that happened was when we hit a particularly rough section of road and all of a sudden Don's phone calls 911 again. Good grief! I told him he needs to turn it off when we're on a ride.

Don called for a turn around when we had done about 11 miles. The smoke from a nearby cane field burn was really thick here, making it hard to breathe, so I had no problem with that decision!

We just followed the same route back and with the wind now at our backs, we really zoomed along for a change. It was about noon when we reached the truck where we loaded up the bike and headed next to the Clewiston Walmart to see if they had restocked some of the items we missed getting the other day.

Unfortunately they still hadn't stocked any of the diet soda that Don drinks (he thought that maybe the strong sugar industry affects the sale of artificially sweetened drinks in this area - maybe so?). But it was frustrating for sure!

After this stop we went to gas up the truck and by 2 were back at camp. We've got quite a bit to do the rest of the day as we're leaving here tomorrow.

Later this evening as we were finishing dinner, a KOA employee stopped by to tell us that they had failed their water test and were put on a boil order. He didn't know how long we've been using contaminated water but we were happy that we have a very good filter system on our water supply so it shouldn't be an issue. Plus we use distilled water to drink and put in my tea kettle.

Thick smoke from a cane fire and strong wind caused us to turn around earlier than planned.

I look like a midget next to these towering sugar cane plants.

These flowering bushes were growing all along the road today. I have no idea what they were, but they did bring some color to a bland day.

I noticed this sign by the lock where we parked. We haven't seen any manatee yet but hope to before we leave Florida.

Ok guys, I get this ball and you can have that one.

Today's ride: 22 miles (35 km)
Total: 1,349 miles (2,171 km)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	0