The Hills of Lake County Florida

If you have to come to Florida for business, you may as well come down a few days early and hit the hills of Lake County.  Rising from the surrounding flat lands is the Lake Wales Ridge and is crossed by lonely country roads that provide a great environment for cycling.  Roads like Sugarloaf Mountain, Buckhill, Scrub Jay, etc... are up and down like Blue Jay Road east of Newark, OH.  Usually, these roads are filled with cyclists but with today's temp (54) and winds (gusting to 20mph) I saw only 3 others.

The view from the top of Sugarloaf Mountain, the highest point in peninsular Florida at 312'.  The climb to the top is not exactly daunting but at about 1/4 of a mile and grades sustained between 8-14%, it beats the bike paths.  Short ride today of 40 miles with 2700' of climbing.  Warmer tomorrow and lighter winds.

On the ride back, I saw a large group of kids playing what I assumed was flag or two hand touch football but nope, it was the real thing and there were some bone crunching tackles.  One kid caught a pass and was immediately lifted in the air and slammed to the ground. It was like old time NFL.