Gators, Jon boats and Kayaks!

Springtime is coming! The snow is melting (not in Florida!). I biked down to Lake Sybelia, here in Maitland, FL yesterday and caught this sunset photo with an iPhone camera. Click on the photo to see more sunsets from this ride and other days...

A neighbor had a garage sale and look what showed up! It's a 10' Jon boat. Weighs in at 80lb. It's quite a bit heavier and bulkier than my kayak, but it seats 2 people, so that's the attraction. My neighbor has a truck to "toss" it into. It take a little more finesse and ideally 2 people to put it on the car. But, the good news is that it fits on top of the bike racks.

The Bianchi I brought back from Crested Butte had an issue yesterday. I bore down on the pedals coming up a hill from the lake and a gear on the rear cassette spun.

The chain slipped between a couple of the gears. So, that's the challenge with a bike that's been out in the elements for a long time. May need a new cassette. That, combined with a couple of missing spokes on a somewhat rusty, but cool French wheel, may make me look around for a used replacement for the whole thing. But, you can see the derailleur is a lot cleaner now that I took the time to degrease it a bit.

That's a gator I saw at Wekiva Spring here in Orlando while canoeing.

And, believe it or not, I photographed this gator near Payne's Prairie in Gainesville using my iPhone and a pair of binoculars! Turned out pretty well.

This is where the gators live...