The other day when we were up in Lakeland buying baseball tickets, we came across the Fort Fraser Trail System... today, we decided to come back to it with the bicycles and "get to it!"
They had a nice parking lot at the trail head, perfect for off loading our 1 horse power machines!
Time to rock and roll...
Judy took a few of the pics tonight in the blog, and when I saw the one above, I thought I must have been drinking before we left on the trip! No! I was sober!
No, Fort Fraser is not standing anymore... but this trail is full of history of course, and a lot of it is explained to you as you make your way along the trail. Fort Fraser was built to protect the original settlers from the Seminol Indians, who of course, wanted to make the settlers "go away"...
There are a few bridges as you make your way... lots of vegitation as well. This trail starts in the City of Bartow, and goes north, along an old Railroad Line, 7.5 miles up to Lakeland. We went the 7.5 miles, and as our Jeep was not at the end of the trail, decided we had to ride the 7.5 miles back to where we parked! Yes, that makes 15 miles! My poor body!
There was plenty of rest areas along the trail, like the one above...
Half way up, we came across this great washroom facility, just in case!
We made it to the far end, where Polk State College is located, and as you can see, we were only 67 deg. F. today, however it was simply perfect for a long bike ride! There are many signs along the way, that keep you encouraged as you travel. One I liked, was a quote from F.D.R. It went like this, "when you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on!" Great stuff!
It took us 2 hours and 40 minutes but it was worth it! Great ride!
Till tomorrow...
Posted with Blogsy
Sounds like a greta bike ride and not too hot.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great day spent on the trail....and such history tied in to it makes it doubly interesting.
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