Biking Scenic Florida Byways: A Road Scholar Program

Stetson University in DeLand, Florida hosted this Road Scholar program.  Our first morning included a talk by Tom Bustos, the executive director of the Florida Bicycle Association.  Then we biked to  Stetson's campus which was a couple miles from our lodging at the Clarion Hotel, and after a biking tour of the campus, enjoyed lunch in their cafeteria.  Following lunch, we biked to Blue Springs State Park using backroads and a section of the Spring to Spring Trail, and had an informative naturalist tour led by Ranger Cass. On the ride back, we looked at a number of the murals adorning buildings in DeLand's downtown.  Our biking total for the day was 26 miles.

Day 2 was a very special treat.  Bike Florida week was in progress and happened to be in nearby Daytona Beach, so we joined the 800 other bikers on 38 miles of their 50 mile route, which included biking one lap (2.25 miles) around the famed oval of Daytona International Speedway.  Below is a photo I took on the 31 degree banked turn (which we not allowed to experience on our bikes.)

Then we continued on the route and ended at the picturesque Ponce Lighthouse in South Daytona seen below...

On day 3 we biked another 30 miles, this time from our hotel to Barberville's Pioneer Art Settlement for a tour of the facility.  Below is the school room they have restored.  They also have a restored blacksmith shop, railroad station, post office, wagon barn, log cabin, barn, and much more.

A number of peacocks were roaming around the backroad highway as we biked to Barberville...

Twice this week we biked over bridges crossing the Intracoastal Waterway, which around sea level represent some of the biggest hills in Florida...

On day 4, we bused to Ormond Beach to bike 24 miles on the Scenic Ormond Loop which takes  riders under this tall canopy of trees for a number of miles, later alongside wetlands and swamp areas, past several state and local parks, along 10 miles of the Atlantic oceanfront, past scrubland set aside for the endangered Florida Scub Jay, and later past some nice housing areas...

All breakfasts were in our Clarion Hotel and offered pancakes, eggs, hash browns, sausage, bacon, cereal, yogurt, cereal, fruit, and more.  Several of our tasty suppers were also provided by the hotel.  We also had the treat of eating twice at the DeLand Fish House right across the parking lot from the Clarion.  Besides one lunch at the Stetson cafeteria, we also had lunches at Our Deck Down Under, Lagerheads Bar and Grill in Ormond Beach, and the Old Spanish Sugar Mill Restaurant in DeLeon Springs State Park where we cooked our own pancakes at our tables.

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Here's our entire group of stalwart bikers...

(Click to enlarge)

(l to r):  Ron, Chris (a leader), Bob, Jack, Ken, Dick, Jeni, Chuck, Mark, Kathryn (leader), Roy, Fred, and Barb.

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Our leaders this week were (l to r) Bill (Director of Continuing Ed at Stetson), Chris (Bill's assistant director), and Kathryn...

Photos of our week together are available for viewing and downloading on Chuck's Photo Gallery.

You will find information, photos, and videos of my other 38 Road Scholar programs here.

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Our week's adventures are depicted and summarized in this video...