Biking 3

Done with the third day of this biking trip. Different from the other days. I was not on a bike trail, but rather back back back roads. They were like the logging roads back home in MN. And these were FL logging roads. We saw logging trucks with huge loads of long, very straight trees on back. They are pine trees with long needles and very very rough bark. I biked through forests of these trees. I wonder what kind they are? Slightly large pine cones, not very large trees, but tall, tall. They also seem to grow in swamps or at least close to swamps.  I saw very little wildlife, which seems strange to me because it really is not settled areas: no houses, etc. But it was the middle of a very hot day and any wildlife was probably sleeping. It was probably only silly me out in the sun. I did hear some plopping into the swamps now and then. Most of it smaller bodies, but once it was obviously a very large something going into the water, a little unnerving. There also were 4 inch long grasshoppers sitting out in the sun. (Rick's response was that one could probably eat that size. Shows that we have lived some different places.)  One of the biggest curiosity issues though was the roads themselves. I am from Northern MN. I lived in the Chippewa National Forest my entire childhood. Logging roads are ubiquitous in my area....and they have always been gravel, are now gravel, and will always be gravel (world without end). These roads here in central FL have been paved at some time in the past! The pavement has now broken up and it is hard at times to bike on them. It does not look like anyone ever has lived here and I just am astounded as to why they would have been paved. Oh well. Yesterday I learned how to use my first gear which had not been exercised until the hills on the trails yesterday. Today I figured out how important my hydraulic suspension system on the bike is! It feels good to be able to be biking like this.

PS : Can anyone help me with an app that has detailed biking trails in the US? We are using Google Maps and pressing the bike route button. The problem is that they are not necessarily very accurate. Rick spent most of the day driving down different routes to figure out if they work or not, and where we actually need to turn. I have downloaded a few apps that say bike trails, but nothing has worked well at all. Somewhere someone must have a bike trail map?