Today was the third day of riding, and it was a short one for mileage. We rode 22.5 miles and averaged about 11.4mph. All but three miles of that was into a north headwind of 14mph. Today was supposed to be warmer than yesterday, however with a higher wind speed and cloud cover, it was downright chilly. It has been a good ride to go slow against the wind and just enjoy life.
What we lacked in mileage, we made up for in organized activities that are part of this tour. We went on a tour of the Desert Ranches which are owned by Farmland Reserve, Inc which is an affiliate of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It covers 290,000 acres of land with 64,000 cows and 1,300 bulls. The cattle are eventually sold to Cargill. Several volunteer missionaries gave the tours. describing to us the massive amount of work it takes to run such a large operation. It is the second largest cattle operation in the country. There is also a citrus grove of 1,000 acres.
After the tour we rode our bikes to our lunch stop and an air-boat ride on the St. John’s river. Our boat captain took us to an area where we saw several smaller alligators. As we rode, we saw dozens of blue herons along the shoreline.
We rode to the Deseret Cattle Ranch for a tour - to get there we had to go past several barricades because of bridges that need work for car traffic.
The road on the way to the ranch.
We saw this tree that was blown over in a hurricane, but continues to live. Our guide said that it was a lesson in life that “if you have deep roots, you can overcome ‘hurricanes’ that occur during your own life.” Great food for thought.
A mounted snake skin; the snake was killed locally on December 23, 1988.
We rode about seven miles on one road today that didn’t have a shoulder. Not too much traffic, but it was a little unnerving with no shoulder.
Julia crossing over the St. John’s River.
2018 Coasters: Papow (Chris), Margaret and Al.
The air-boat that I rode on.
Wildlife along the St. John’s River.
More gators.
2nd of three air-boats for our group.
The third air-boat for our group.