A labor dispute has the major league ball players locked out of spring training, but that didn’t stop us from riding some miles in Florida. We started with a visit to Palm Coast and three rides with Heidi and Al. February weather can be dicey this early in the season, but we lucked out with some warm temps. It’s all good as long as you accept the fact that it’ll be windy.

After we said our farewells to our hosts we drove west to central Florida and the town of Inverness. We stayed in an adorable “mint” house less than a mile from the famous and desirable Withlacoochee Trail.

This house restored our faith in the air B&B market. Last spring we stayed in a remote location, which we wanted in a pre-vax world, but the house was not clean and was in bad shape.

With Inverness as our new starting point, we visited with Team Reynolds and enjoyed a beautiful ride in horse country.

Webster was the next ride start point as we visited with new Florida residents Linda and Eric. They took us on one of their favorite Sunday rides and then treated us to the annual ice cream social at their home base. We had excellent timing since this treat only happens once a year!

The last two rides of the trip were from the Mint house and on the Withlacoochee Trail.

Accidentally intersecting with fellow tandem riders from the Atlanta area (Lora and Jim) as we were finishing a ride was a special treat. After we said goodbye I realized that we didn’t snap a photo so I can’t share a visual. Speaking of special treats, there is none better than the fresh strawberry shakes from Floral City.

We hadn’t been on our bike since the first of January so the seven rides made us very happy. Next up is a trip to the West Coast as our spring training continues. We’ll be updating you from there next time.

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