The Last Packing House in Weirsdale

I'm riding east on Sunset Harbor Road to see the last packing house in Weirsdale. I turn right onto SE137th then cross straight over SR42 and I am on the old RR easement (SE134 ) and there it is on my left, G&S Packers, sandwiched between the railroad and SR25. Originally G&S Packers used the railroad to ship their fruit but in the 1960’s when the railroads upped tracks the fruit went out the other side of the plant in trucks on SR25.  

The packing house was a key part of the citrus industry. It was the packing house that established the market price for the fruit and paid the farmer for it. They would then grade and prepare the fruit for resale directly to the customer or retailers. Packing the fruit was a big part of the marketing and boxes and crates were decorated with colorful labels to attract attention.

Unfortunately G&S Packers has been closed for a couple of years but it is the last citrus packing house in Weirsdale. All that remains to remind us that Lake Weir had a thriving citrus industry. In the 1990's when Florida produced over 250 million cases of citrus G&S would employ over 300 workers to meet the rush of Christmas orders. Nearly every Weirsdale High School student worked there in the holidays and no one was turned away.

 

The wooden citrus field boxes with dividers on this trailer are standard cases. They hold about 40 lbs of fruit. You can see this trailer and buy fresh picked fruit at Beillings Citrus on SR25 at SE 155th Street. Take the time to chat with Fred Hensley an expert on citrus and get a free history lesson of the Weirsdale area.

For route information click here.

Butchered Brooks B17

I've now contributed about 36 articles to Braking News and Roundabout The Villages and while I have a list of local historical articles still to go I haven't done enough research recently to write another now. And, now is Tuesday night when I am under the gun from editor Komoroske who wants something NOW. As Monty Python would say, "And now for something completely different" - how to modify a Brooks B17 saddle. Maybe not the smoothest transition, but it got the job done.

When I was 14 in 1960 I desperately wanted a 10 speed bike. My Dad said he'd put up 50% if I joined a cycling club and took it seriously. So I got a Velo Sport handbuilt 10 speed racing bike, my Dad ante'd up, I joined the Streatham Cycle Racing Club, and I worked Saturdays at Velo Sport to support my new habit. Pete Russell owned the store and one of the things he did, and taught me how to do, was "butcher" a Brooks B17 saddle - probably the most popular bike seat in the days before plastic saddles.

 

And guess what? A couple of years ago I was at a bike event where they had a swap table and I was irresistibly drawn to an old Brooks B17. I knew exactly what I was going to do with it, so picked it up for a few bucks, took it home, then went online and bought some large Brooks copper rivets and a can of Proofide.

Before

 

"Butchering," sometimes known as "blocking" the saddle, is pretty simple if you have an eye for the finished shape. You cut off the bag loops at the back, remove the metal Brooks name tag, then use a sharp knife to cut off the leather flush with the rear frame and also the nose, which will expose the front of the frame. Keeping the saddle on a seat post, you then turn it upside down and with a rubber mallet beat a curve into the flat part at the back of the frame. Once you have established the shape you want you drill out the old rivets and replace them with the new large copper ones. Some people take them out and replace them one at a time - personally I remove the leather cover completely. If you hand hammer the rivets they look really nice.

 

We're nearly done. With the cover back on, roll the sides of the underneath, use about 120 grit sandpaper to get rid of the shine, hit it with Proofide and you have a butchered Brooks B17. Something that Brooks copied and called the B17 Professional. 

After - a work of  art.

Lake Weir Citrus

About a week ago I was out riding east along Sunset Harbor Road to Weirsdale to Beilings Citrus which is the old, now closed, gas station on Hwy 25 at 155th St. Unfortunately they're not open yet so my plan to drive out there later in the day to buy a bucket of juicers did not come to fruition - pun intended.

I continued east from there on 155th Street about a quarter mile where there is a healthy grove on the right side sheltered by a high pine windbreak and found the oranges were still somewhat green. I happened to have stopped there back in January when I saw they were harvesting the fruit into the trailer of a semi truck. I learned the trailer would hold 20 tons of oranges and they would take out nine loads from the 30 acre grove. 

 

 

 

Up until the 1980's Marion County had over 11,000 acres of citrus but a series of cold winters culminating in the 1989 Christmas freeze when temperatures dropped to below 20F for four days put an end to that. Nearly 90 percent of the entire Florida crop was affected by the freeze with the Lake Weir area alone losing over a million trees. John Jackson, the Central Florida citrus agent said it best "If you were still in the business, 1989 pretty well sent you packing."

 

But as we know from riding around Lake Weir many of the local farmers persevered, investing their time and money into clearing and replanting the groves in spite of the 5 to 6 year wait for any significant revenue. It's a tough business which has been made even tougher with the arrival in 2005 of the tree killing citrus greening disease.

 

 

 

So if are passing Bielings Citrus on a ride sometime in December and see Fred Hensley outside with his buckets of oranges and grapefruit don't hesitate to stop in to taste some fresh fruit right off the tree. You may also learn a lot about citrus and the local history.

For route information click here.

Col de l'Iseran - France

Last Wednesday I erased the Col de l'Iseran from my bucket list. It is the highest paved road in the Alps used only occasionally by the Tour de France as the weather can be treacherous as we saw in the 2019 race when stage 19 was abandoned following heavy rain and mudslides.

"Cols" are passes which for centuries have provided a way through the mountains. In this case the col takes its name from the Isere River which it follows from Bourg Saint Maurice in the north to the summit and then descends with the Arc River to Bonneville sur Arc in the south.

For me, it is a three hour drive to Bourg Saint Maurice and I have been waiting for a break in the recent freezing rainy alpine weather. Finally with a forecast for a couple of sunny calm days and a high near 50 I am on my way.

With a reservation for a small Airbnb apartment for a couple of nights I really luck out. I tell the owner my plans for the next day and she says if I have problems that I am to phone her and she will come and get me. A layer of security I sincerely appreciate. I also get a free St Bernard dog called Rocky who is very insistent that I play fetch.

Wednesday is perfect, sunny clear and calm. I leave at 9am and take it easy for the first 15 miles on the D902 up to the dam at Tignes where the road levels off and I go through avalanche sheds and several lighted tunnels as I ride around the lake to Val d'Isere.



Val d'Isere is a huge ski resort which in summer is a ghost town but there is one store open where I get a pastry and a coffee. Since emerging from the tunnels the scenery is gorgeous - the high Alpine mountains in every direction.



I leave for the final 10 miles and 3000 feet knowing the thinning air and the steeper grade will make life harder. But it is the most beautiful part of the ride - through alpine meadows ringing with the sounds of cowbells and a backdrop of rocky snow capped peaks and distant glaciers. I stop each thousand feet of climb to drink, munch on cookies and take photos and finally I am there - the summit - the sign - the restaurant - a beer.

For route information click here.

Col du Petit Saint Bernard

My original plan after climbing the Iseran was to pack my bags the next morning and and drive to the other side of Bourg St Maurice to attack the Cormet de Roselend before heading back to Tain l'Hermitage. This changed when I realized where I was staying was at the bottom of the Col du Petit St Bernard and actually on the route. All I had to do was leave the house and turn left and I was on my way up it.

Saint Bernard

This a climb of about 4200 feet in 17 miles. The gradient is 5% all the way with very little variation, no really hard parts and no easy parts just a solid grind. The first half is climbing the side of the mountain with about 20 hairpin bends then the road straightens out following the side of a valley to the top of the pass which is the border between France and Italy.

Alpine Village

There are two passes named for St Bernard, the Petit between France and Italy and the Grand between Switzerland and Italy. The passes have been used for over 3000 years and the remains of Roman roads over them can still be seen. They are named for Bernard of Menthon, a priest, who built hostels on the mountains around 1050, AD not this morning, to protect pilgrims crossing the passes from being robbed by bandits. Bernard was later canonized and the passes named for him. 

Old French customs post

The passes became better known in 1800s when dogs, later to be named for St Bernard, were kept at the mountain top hostels to rescue travelers stranded in the winter snow. The hostels still exist and continue to host travelers but the dogs are no longer kept on the mountain.

It is a myth that St Bernard dogs carried brandy barrels

Beaten up from the previous day I climb conservatively taking a few minutes out every thousand feet to drink, eat and take pictures. At the top I ride past the old customs posts into Italy then take some pictures and return to a small souvenir shop where I can get a coffee.

The Summit

Then it's a 17 mile zero cadence ride down, shower change and drive back to Tain.

For route information