Lake Minneola

Beautiful vistas of lakes dotting the rolling countryside made cycling to Clermont serene and peaceful. Lightly traveled roads made the ride one of the nicest rides I’ve experienced in Florida in several years. Passing so many lakes, some small, some large, reminded me of cycling in Minnesota. Only the live oaks draped with Spanish moss reminded me that I was still in Florida. I cycled through Minnesota in August of 2013, and with a little bit of imagination could feel like I was back there. I remembered seeing the headwaters of the Mississippi River in northern Minnesota.

The highlight of the ride was a 16 mile loop around Lake Minneola. Perhaps the name Minneola is more than just a coincidence since the lake and terrain looks so much like Minnesota, I don’t know. The lake is about four miles wide.  Quiet peaceful lake side roads and a wonderful bike trail lined the shores of the lake.

Stopping on the south side of the lake, I found a little lake front restaurant to eat lunch. While the food was not very good, the bartender was a very beautiful woman from Norway. Her name was Lise. Lise previously lived in Norway, Miami, California, Alaska, and somehow landed in Clermont. She said she moved here to be next to her aging parents. Lise told me her Dad used to be a Captain for Norwegian Cruise Lines. All these old guys at the bar were vying for her attention, she was very nice to everyone. I told her I was an aspiring travel writer and planned to drive to Alaska in my RV next year. When I went to use the bathroom before I left, I looked in the mirror and was shocked to see the face of another old man staring back at me. Even worse, I had zinc oxide sun blocking white paste smeared across my nose, cheeks, forehead and ears. I looked like an old clown, I just needed some animal shaped balloons. Oh well.

On the way back I missed a turn and rode for another half hour before realizing I was lost. Well, I wasn’t exactly lost, I just didn’t know where I was. Missing the turn was silly since I was going back the same way I came. I thought I started seeing things I had not seen on the way out. Seeing a new home being built with insulation visible clued me in that I had not been here before. I knew I had not seen that home before. Due to my lack of paying attention to the route I did get to see another beautiful lake named Cherry Lake. I was also on Cherry Lake Road, go figure. Thankfully phones have GPS on them, so I was able to see were I was. Exhausted and dehydrated, going off course and adding extra miles was not good. Turning around, and another half hour retracing my route, I saw the clearly marked turn I missed. Finally pedaling slowly back into the park five hours after starting, I felt very serene and content. Today had been a very good day.