The Hawthorne Trail - History and Cinnamon Buns

The Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail is one of those bucket-list rides that had been lingering in the back of my mind for ages. Using an old railroad easement, the paved path stretches roughly 18 miles westward from Hawthorne to Gainesville. Looking at the map recently, two things convinced me it was time to ride. First, the route passes right by the Alachua Sink and Paynes Prairie - a landscape I have found historically fascinating. Second, while hunting for a mid-ride coffee spot in Gainesville, I discovered the Opus Coffee Airstream trailer.

After a 50 mile drive north I arrived at the Hawthorne trailhead which offers ample parking and a staging area. I rolled out onto the trail which begins straight and flat, its smooth asphalt punctuated only by occasional ridges where tree roots have pushed through from below. Here, the path cuts through dense tree canopies, skirts quiet wetlands, and crosses scenic spans like the wooden bridge over Lochloosa Creek. A little more than halfway to Gainesville, the terrain changes. The trail begins to curve and roll as it climbs onto the hammock overlooking Paynes Prairie.

The Alachua Sink

My first stop destination was the spur trail to the Alachua Sink overlook. Standing on the platform, I looked out over the open prairie toward the brown, circular patch of the sinkhole. This 120-foot-deep chasm acts as a massive natural drain, swallowing millions of gallons of water daily from the 23,000-acre prairie and channeling it into the Floridan aquifer.

Sketch of a sternwheeler on Lake Alachua by James Calvert - courtesy Florida Memory

The sinkhole hasn't always drained so freely. At the end of the 19th century, a massive storm plugged the sink, completely flooding the basin. From 1871 to 1891, the savanna vanished, replaced by what locals called "Lake Alachua." The water reached depths of up to 58 feet—deep enough to support a bustling network of shallow draft steam paddle wheelers. For twenty years, these boats ferried citrus, cotton, lumber, and passengers between Gainesville and Micanopy. Today, the only physical reminder of that era is the anchor from the stern-wheeler Chacala, which sits on display in nearby Micanopy.

The Opus Coffee Airstream 

Having finally seen the Alachua Sink I pedaled onward to Gainesville. I followed the trail as it transitioned into the city's bike path network and pulled right up to the Opus Coffee Airstream. Their coffee is excellent as are the cinnamon buns which are huge. A great reward at a nice destination before turning around to tackle the rolling hammocks on the return leg to Hawthorne.

Allan Broadribb

www.2tiredtales.com

Strava info: https://www.strava.com/activities/20584290225

Back to Work

I've been lazy. It's two years since I've contributed to my blog. There’s been no more John Komorosky to get on my case with deadlines already in their death throes. And, now is a good time to restart.

We are on vacation in France for a month and have a beautiful apartment in Tain l’Hermitage overlooking the Rhone river. It is one of our favorite places. We have stayed here five times previously. There are not a lot of tourists apart from ourselves and on the other side of the Rhone are the hills of the Ardeche which are wonderful for cycling. A couple of hours to the east are the high alps and an hour and a half to the south is the Giant of Provence, Mont Ventoux which plays a big part in refuelling the blog.

Why you ask yourself - and if you don’t then quit here. For the rest, we went south to Sault last Tuesday and I met the challenge that I had set myself to climb Ventoux when I was 80. Of course I picked the easiest route and rode well up to Chalet Reynard but of course the final 6k were tough and on the last kilometer I was suffering and walked up the last ramp to the tower, about 50 metres ! Nevertheless, I’m happy, I met the challenge.

The descent back to Sault was enjoyable and we stayed overnight in a hotel planning to take a scenic route back to Tain via Goult the next day. However there was a break-in at the hotel that night and my bike went missing. So Wednesday morning was spent at the local gendarmerie making a written statement of the events. Anyway, as planned we finally made it to Goult, a beautiful village, where we had lunch before heading home to Tain.

So here I sit bikeless overlooking the cruise boats and barges ploughing their way up and down the Rhone writing and thinking about a new bike - a great way to pass a peaceful day - please, no sympathy cards. Happily, by law I should receive compensation from the hotel for the fair value of my bike which will help in the purchase of a new one. And although I had written previously that after climbing Ventoux when I’m 80 I would consider buying an ebike - I won’t. 

Allan Broadribb

Strava

  

A Horror Story

It's March 19, 1982 and Ozzie Osbourne and his band are in their tour bus driving from Knoxville to Orlando where they are scheduled to play the next day.

After driving most of the night, they stop at Flying Baron Estates airport in Leesburg to fix a broken air conditioning unit. Entertainment Coaches of America, from whom they have leased the bus, owns this property surrounded by large homes with private aircraft.

Without permission, tour bus driver and private pilot Andrew Aycock "borrows" a single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza and takes a couple of rides around the airport.

On his second tour he convinces Randy Rhoads, Ozzie's lead guitarist, and makeup artist Rachel Youngblood to go along. For fun, Aycock decides to "buzz" the tour bus to wake up the rest of the group who are sleeping. He makes two close passes but on the third pass the plane clips the top of the tour bus, breaking the wing and sending it spiraling into a nearby mansion where it explodes and kills all three on board.

Flying Baron Estates

Flying Baron Estates is sandwiched between Lake Denham and Hwy 44. If you go south on Whitney Road at Hwy 44 following the signs to the Paquette Tractor Museum you will get about as close as you can to the airstrip but you won't see much apart from an entrance to Entertainment Coaches of America on Casteen Road. The airport has a one mile long hard runway suitable for executive jets.

Entertainment Coaches of America

Entertainment Coaches of America specialize in making tour buses for entertainers. They may have as many as 200 buses available for lease. They are discrete about their prominent clientele who jet in and out although Willie Nelson and Yanni are known to be among them.

An Extremely Brief History of Milk in Florida

Writing last month's article about the Pine Ridge Dairy made me realize that Florida is not known for milk production. Citrus, sugar and cattle yes, but not milk.

Back around 1900 Floridians didn't put milk in coffee or consume much milk at all. In Leesburg if you wanted milk you'd stop the "dairy on foot" which was a farmer walking his cow down the street and buy a quart of raw milk. It would be warm and creamy, neither pasteurized nor homogenized.

The Dairy on Foot

Milk consumption did go up in the early 1900s because northern snowbirds from big cities liked milk with their tea, coffee, cereal, rice pudding and creamy desserts. But that was a pain in the ass because a dairy cow kept producing 7 gallons of milk a day in the summer whether the farmer wanted it or not.

Cooling milk after Pasteurization

Real demand for milk started around 1920 when it was shown that children who drank milk regularly were better developed, healthier and stronger so the state got involved in the marketing and development of a Florida dairy industry and introduced milk into schools.

Next time you are cycling in Leesburg make sure you don't run into that farmer with his cow!

Pine Ridge Dairy Farm

If you've been on the club ride around Spring Lake to Fruitland Park then at the end of Cut Off Road you will have turned left on Pine Ridge Dairy Road. Twenty years ago if you had turned right instead of left it would have led you to the Pine Ridge Dairy Farm.

Pine Ridge Dairy Farm 2010

For over 50 years, Bernice Ellen Jeffcoat tended herds of Holsteins on her nearly 1,000 acre farm passing long days from early morning milking to evening roundups. It was a tough but noble life which got tougher with the consolidation of the dairy industry. But Bernice loved the land and her cattle and although losing money she hung on until the end. When she passed away in 2006 at the age of 81 the farm was still her home.

Pine Ridge Village 2024

Later on The Villages was able to purchase a tract of the farm which it has named Pine Ridge Village and I remember the construction of Moyer Loop in 2015. Of course the loop was strictly prohibited to non construction traffic at the time but one day Dave Rooney posted a ride around it on Strava, he may have been the first. Since then we've all cycled around the loop many times. The next time around the loop, just west of Webster Way, you will pass right through the site of the Pine Ridge Dairy barn and may sense the aura of the cattle that were milked there for 50 years.

Click here for Strava route information.