Fruitland Park

Monday April 4 and I'm on the Easy B club ride around Spring Lake which takes a break in Fruitland Park. Couldn't be better as I'm writing this article for the club newsletter and need a couple of pictures.

The original railroad depot sign in Fruitland Park Library

We stop at the covered picnic tables at the recreation complex on Gardenia Avenue which is interesting as it is where the railroad passed through. A little further south on Gardenia is the new swimming pool which sits at the end of Railroad Street and is the site of the old depot.

The tracks that became Gardenia Avenue circa 1890

The railroads had a huge influence on the location and development of towns in the area. The gentleman who named the town, Major O.P. Rooks, moved to the area in 1876 and took out Homestead Rights giving him 160 acres of land which would be his after 5 years. To convince the Florida Southern Railroad to run through Fruitland Park, Rooks and others granted the railroad 160 acres to change their planned route which was east of Dead River. Fruitland Park was surveyed and platted out by the railroad surveyor shortly before the first train arrived in 1883.

Confusion reigned for a while. Rooks had named the town Fruitland Park in 1876 but the postal authorities already had a Fruitland so renamed it Gardenia. The railroad in turn already had a town named Gardenia on their tracks. For a while mail was delivered to the Gardenia post office and freight to the Fruitland Park depot which were side by side! Eventually the railroad won out with Fruitland Park - seems they had more clout than the post office.

Dick Stack leads the B group on Gardenia Avenue

Something to consider the next time you're taking a break in Fruitland Park. If Rooks hadn't succeeded in convincing the railroad to move there'd be no Gardenia Avenue and we'd be taking a break in a town somewhere east of Dead River and who knows what it would be called?

For route information click here.

Isabelle

Knock knock.

Who's there?

Isabelle.

Isabelle who?

Isabelle necessary on a bicycle?

An old joke but I think the answer is yes. 

I have a bell on both my bikes. I like having a bell especially when I am riding where I am likely to meet other cyclists, runners or walkers. A bell distinguishes me as a cyclist. I am not aware of any other vehicle that uses a bell to warn others of my presence. Sure you can say "Cyclist passing on your left" or something like that and hope that a couple walking along and chatting understand you but a "ting ting" on your bell says it all and in a universal language. 

Beryl Burton

I started racing in time trials in the UK when I was 15 because I couldn't ride in road races until I was 16. But that's not the point, the point is that the RTTC (Road Time Trials Council) required me to have a bell on my bike. Looking back I'd have to say this was kind of quaint. But it is a "rule no more" as what we used to call "time testers" now wear wind suits and weird helmets and ride carbon bikes with odd looking bars and solid wheels - but no bell. What a shame, a tradition gone, a lost link to the great riders of the past. In 1963, when I was seventeen Beryl Burton, yes a woman, broke the 4 hour barrier for the 100 mile time trial on a 10 speed steel road bike with a bell. And time trials had to start and finish in the same place so this was not a one way wind assisted ride. 

So those are the reasons I like having bells on my bikes. But before you rush out and buy one, let me say there are several kinds you should consider. There's the old fashioned steel domed bell with a trigger and gears inside that makes a real ringing sound and there are the light weight aluminum domed ones with a pinger that go "ting ting". I personally favor the Knog Oi "ting ting" bell because it inconspicuously wraps around my bars near the stem. Fortunately I have yet to see a USB rechargeable electric bicycle bell.

Knog Oi bell

It should be noted I have not received a position on the board of Knog nor any compensation for my mention of their product here.

La Madonna del Ghisallo

 August 2019

I knew plan A wasn't working when a flash of lightning and a peal of thunder were added to the rain I was already riding in. I'm in Italy halfway up a hill between Bellagio and somewhere else. Plan A was a 35 mile loop southeast from Bellagio then west across the peninsula to the other arm of Lake Como via the Muro di Serrano then back to Bellagio. 

We're in staying in Lecco in the Lombardy region of Italy for a week. It is a beautiful town on the South East arm of Lake Como with rail service to Milan. Yes we do have a rental car but for $6 you can be in Milan in 40 minutes by train and you don't have to park it or drive in an Italian city. Jocelyne is especially happy to be in Lecco as there is a rumor in town that George Clooney has recently moved there - he must have heard we were visiting!

The journey has an interesting start with a 5 minute ride to the station in Lecco then a 30 minute train ride to Varenna followed by the ferry to Bellagio where I fortified myself with a coffee from one of those really cool Italian mobile espresso carts. Back on my bike it's not twenty minutes before the rain starts so I took shelter until it had stopped. By this time I was damp and cold and decided to make the shrine of the Madonna del Ghisallo my goal for the day.

The shrine sits atop the steep hill I have been climbing. It has often featured in the Giro d'Italia and Giro di Lombardia bike races and is a natural break point for cyclists. Seeing this, it was a local priest, Father Ermelindo Vigano, who proposed the Madonna del Ghisallo be declared the patroness of cyclists which was duly confirmed by Pope Pius XII. The shrine is covered from floor to ceiling with bicycles, jerseys and photographs of the great tour riders. Quite extraordinary.

There is even a prayer for cyclists.

O Mother of the Lord Jesus, We pray that you kindly assist and protect us in our cycling activities. We ask that you keep us strong and healthy in body, pure and fervent in spirit and keep us away from dangers both in training and in races.

I have not achieved my goal of climbing the Muro di Sormano but as I descend I know it has been a good day and the Muro will await my return. To have seen the bicycle and yellow jersey (with a buttoned collar and front pockets) worn by my hero Fausto Coppi in the 1949 Tour de France has made it very special.

Downhill to Bellagio, ferry and train to Lecco. Later, I walk with Jocelyne to a small lakeside restaurant for a glass of wine and a small pizza we didn't order "but sir, it is free with the wine". Does it get any better - well I guess if George Clooney had stopped by  .  .  .  .

For route information click here.

Le Col de la Madone de Gorbio

It is August 2019 and I am climbing le Col de la Madone de Gorbio in Southern France. I started in Menton where we stayed overnight on our way to the Stelvio Pass in Italy. 

They named a Col after a a bicycle?

The Madone is a mountain that has never hosted the Tour de France and in all likelihood never will as it has some narrow sections and some rough road surface. But it is a climb that all cyclists should know of as it is the Col de la Madone de Gorbio that gave its name to the Trek Madone series of bicycles.

In the 90s it was one of Lance Armstrong's playgrounds. He trained frequently on the Madone when he lived in Nice and it became his benchmark for fitness. Before the 1999 Tour de France, Cycling Weekly has quoted him as saying "If I went to the Madone two weeks before the Tour and went as hard as I could, I knew if I was going to win the Tour or not." That year he beat his personal goal of 31 minutes and went on to claim the yellow jersey. The rest is history - all of it!

Under and over the viaduct then onto the narrow roads  .  .  .

Starting from Menton the Madone ascent is about 3000 feet of climbing and about 8.5 miles long. The average gradient is 6.7% maxing at 10%. "About" you say? Well the problem is there is no official start for the climb. Some say it starts at the roundabout, others the town sign or the supermarket and the pros seem to use one of the bus stops in the village of le Castagnins. Of course there's a Strava segment but in 1999 Strava was still 10 years in the future and no one is quite sure where Armstrong's start was!

  .  .  .  and through the tunnel  .  .  .

Well, it doesn't bother me one bit as I'm starting in Menton and going past all of them. Through le Castagnins then under the viaduct then over the viaduct on through Ste Agnés to the narrow roads, through the tunnel and before I know it I'm at the summit in no time flat. Well, truth be told, from the time I left the hotel and found my way to the top it was about two hours but I did carry a camera and stop to take pictures along the way which Lance didn't bother with. 

.  .  .  to the summit. The original Madone marker was stolen. This one vandalised.

Then the descent, a rough road with a wall of rock on the left and a precipice to the right and a fabulous view over Monaco. A rider going the other way  impresses me. He is climbing at about 15mph, no hands, putting on his jacket - someone famous? Down, down, down I go to the hotel where I have time to shower and change as they have understandingly extended the check out time for the cinglé who wants to ride up the Madone. 

Monaco

Then it's time to relax. A glass of wine and a nice lunch with Jocelyne on the Menton water-front where we are living large with the azure Mediterranean in the background. 

Menton

For route information click here.

The Ocala Caverns

The entrance gate with the remains of the original sign to the left

I guess my fascination for old tourist attractions is what drew me to ride up 301 to see the site of the Ocala Caverns. Riding on 301 is a near death experience so I managed to avoid most of it by dodging around Lake Lillian and the older part of Belleview. Nevertheless, the last half mile has to be on 301. So, while this column may be called the Past We Ride Past, in all probability you'll never ride past it!

The Cave Man entrance built by "Man Mountain" Dean

The site is on the corner of 301 and SE 98th Lane and all you can see is a fenced off corner lot overgrown with trees and signs that read "No Trespassing Police K9 Training Site". All that remains of the old tourist attraction is a sign by the chain link gate on which you can just make out the word "cave".

The Tourist Boat

Legend has it that Osceola hid in the caves in the early 1800s as did runaway slaves during the Civil War. Skip forward 100 years to the 1950s and the caves are open as a tourist attraction at one time owned by a pro wrestler known as “Man Mountain" Dean. The site included two large caves, one of which was spring fed and included a boat ride where Dean would push out a boatload of tourists and pull them back in with a rope. With the building of interstate roads in the 1960's traffic bypassed the area, tourism slowed and with Dean's death in 1972 the business closed.

Do not underestimate the natural beauty of these caves.
Photo by the Florida Speleological Society

In 2009 due to concern over dangers to the curious the City of Ocala secured and cleaned up the site with the help of the Florida Speleological Society.

Trivia:
In the 1930's the site was used in making a Tarzan movie.
In the 1960's it was set up for use as a nuclear fallout shelter.

"Man Mountain" Dean is said to have weighed over 600lbs.
A gate is installed at the cave entrance which enables the return of bats to the caves.

Just 2 miles north on 301 is Paradise Springs a small hole where you can dive 140 feet down into the aquifer.

For route information click here