Bicycling a missing link

Volusia County just completed a 2.5 mile, mostly sidewalk connection between the Spring to Spring Trail and the East Central Florida Regional Rail Trail.  This short section connects Gemini Springs with Green Springs, and gives bicyclists about a 20 mile out and back ride to where the Osteen Bridge is currently under construction over highway 415.
A trail bicyclist used to have to ride in sometimes heavy traffic with no bike lanes to pedal this busy section, so the sidewalk is very welcome!  This road is named Dirksen Avenue west of the Interstate and is called Debary Avenue on the east side.  Building a trail along this missing link is awesome!

Trailhead, just off 17/92

I bicycled this new section today, and despite the heat, it was a pleasant bike ride.  I parked at the gravel trailhead just off highway 17/92 in the shade.  The first section along Gemini Springs Park is well shaded.  The path splits directions around rocks a couple of times and it curves a bit, keeping your speed low around park entrance and exit crossings.
Beware the mileage markers along the trail may be confusing.  I never saw the 0 mile, and somehow gained half a mile between both trails.  The miles count down from 4 out of Gemini Springs and then count up from Green Springs.

Trail splits in Gemini Springs

Where the trail previously dead-ended and turned left to climb to historic Debary Hall, the new section continues ahead, built as a wide sidewalk along the busy street.  There are some restaurants and convenience stores located across the street.  It soon comes to where the Interstate bridge crossed the road and the railroad line.  The sidewalk is paved under here, just a little away from the traffic.  It then passes by a Park-and-Ride lot, and continues along, next to the street for about a mile and a half, until the trail turns into the trees.

Where the trail used to end, new trail continues ahead

Under the I-4 bridge where the railroad used to run

About a block after the trees, Green Springs is on the right.  The trail then climbs a bit and continues along until it dead ends in about 5 miles.  I have written about this trail here before, so I won't repeat all of that.  It does dead end at the base of the new bridge construction which will cross the recently widened highway 415 in Osteen, just north of the almost famous Osteen Diner.  From there it will continue to the next stop about 5 miles away.  Plans call for the next 50 miles of this trail to become a major portion of the cross Florida bicycle trail.  I understand funding is approved and construction on that section will begin next year.

Where I used to begin the trail

While hot, today's ride was pleasant because of the clouds and light breezes.  I saw an eagle in its nest and a turtle crossed the trail in front of me.  Where the trail has shade it was nice, but the last couple of miles near Osteen are wide open and the heat was increasing.  It is also very hot when crossing the boardwalks along the trail.
In total the trail ride was 19.72 miles long.  The trail gained 482 feet (surprising) riding out and back.  I didn't ride very fast and stopped every 10 minutes or so for a drink or to take a photo, so it took me over a couple hours to complete it on my mountain bike.  I used an app called MapMyHike on my iPhone for the first time, and I liked how it worked.
To get here, take I-4 East from Orlando.  Cross the St. John River and take the next exit, 108.  At Debary Drive turn right (west) and drive just under 4 miles.  Turn left into the trailhead just before you reach the stoplight at 17/92.
When the Osteen bridge is finished in August, I'll bicycle over that part of the trail (on a cloudy day).

Osteen Bridge construction, maybe finished in August

Green Springs

Green Springs

Green Springs is a natural spring in a park on the north shore of Lake Monroe in Volusia County.  Its light green waters are beautiful to see and it is a peaceful and quiet place to relax.  It is also a hop-skip-jump from the Orlando area and being adjacent to a rail trail, makes for a nice walk in cool weather.  Not that it is too cool yet, but it was 72 degrees an early Sunday morning in late September.  You could smell the sulfur spring when you first got on the trail, just a few yards away from the water.  That was the smell of money before the Civil War when Cornelius Taylor built the first hotel on top of a shell midden on the spring outflow.  The  hotel attracted riverboat tourists in the mid-1800's who were looking for recuperation along Lake Monroe.  Many years earlier the Mayaca and Seminole Indians considered the land sacred because they believed the sulfur water was healing.  Here's the link to the park.  The midden, or shell mound, like many others in Florida was hauled away for road construction and fertilizer production early in the 1900's.
This is my first post-summer (short) hike and I promised a weighed packing list for my day pack.  All weights are ounces except the total.

REI Flash 18 Pack	9.7
Bladder (empty)	5.5
Back Pad	1
First aid kit	3.5
Headlamp	1.5
Hand sanitizer	0.9
Carabiner	0.7
Bug spray	0.8
Pocket knife	0.8
Compass	0.5
Bandanna	0.8
Stuff bag	1.2
Book & pen	3.5
Marmot rain jacket	12.5
Hand Towel	1.4
Wet ones lg	3.3
	44.1
Water/1 liter	35.2
Food
Breakfast bars x2	2.4
Nuts	0.8
Weight oz/lbs	82.5	5.25

This is my REI Flash 18 with the reduced item list from a few months ago at a comfortable 5.25 pounds, a lightweight rig for day hikes with lots of room to spare!
It would be hot with an afternoon temperature of 93 degrees forecast this day, but Walt and I were starting the bike trail at 8:30 AM, when it was cool and finished a couple hours later when it was just 86 degrees.  Walt showed up with a smile and we began walking along the East Central Regional Rail Trail (click the name/link) adjacent to the Green Springs park.  The blue sky was framed with a few puffy white clouds.  We paused along the way to check out an Eagle's nest in a tree beside the trail.  The trail is well designed and is setup like the other rail trails in the area with occasional benches, painted traffic lines and lots of signage at road crossings. There was a cool breeze blowing through in a low spot and we took full advantage of it while we caught up on our lives.  We saw a woodpecker flitting from tree to tree.  There was a good amount of bicycle and walker traffic on the trail, and we struck up a good conversation about feeling healthy with a lady who passed us.  The walk back seemed much quicker, probably because we were going downhill.

East Central Regional Rail Trail

The rail trail has a lot of great possibilities where in the future it will reach across the state to both Cocoa in the south and Edgewater to the north, near Daytona Beach when it is finished.
I tried a couple of Walt's "health bars" when we got back to the car.  The pumpkin one was quite good for something made out of desperation.  Walt had made the mistake of reading the label on an energy bar a few weeks back and decided he could make something as good tasting but with no fat and way fewer calories.  Walt is good about stuff like that, he built my road bike (and several others) from tubes and can make just about anything with his hands.  He has made a great start with these "Walt's Bars"!  I brought my breakfast bars home to eat another day.
I'll be back to walk and bicycle this trail and the nearby Springs to Springs trail later this fall.