I set out today at about 6 AM from the Omni Champion's Gate in Orlando. I make a wrong turn right out of the gate despite having the route in my GPS. I just couldn't see it as it was still dawn. When I got to I-4 I knew I had made a wrong turn. And I was heading into the the rising sun, and I knew I needed to be heading west. A quick U turn got me back on track. I headed west out Dean's Still road and it was very quiet. The only vehicles to pass were 3 hot air balloon vans with gondolas. Soon after they passed they turned off into an empty field for launch. Shortly after I saw a large "road kill" ahead. It turned out to be a feral pig. I had to get a shot of it. It was very near to a nice orange grove. I continued on Dean's Still for about 10 mi. Only 2 more cars passed. I then turned north on FL 33. It was wider and had a nice bike lane. There was a little more traffic, but not bad. There was a few hills, and I stopped to take a pic of a microwave tower that connect Orlando to Tampa. After about 8.5 mi on FL33 I headed east on 474. The light breeze was out of the west, so now it was at my back. There was no bike lane, but no traffic either. Maybe 6 cars passed me in the 8 miles. I then reached US 27 where I headed south. It's a 4 lane divided highway with a nice bike lane. I could continue heading south and end up about 10 mi west of my house after about 10 hrs. But after a few climbs I'm at the point where I'm going to head east again and get off if US 27. I wanted to avoid the "busy" road, and at first I thought I had made a good decision, but after several lovely miles I would find out I had made a mistake. I saw an interesting hill and stopped to take a picture. I don't know if it is man made, but I suspect so. There is not a lot of hills in this area. Just after this photo stop the pavement ends. At first it did not seem too bad, and I figured the pavement would begin again soon. I was wrong. As we were arriving last night there was a horrible thunder storm with torrential rains. I think it all fell on this road. I was only a few miles from the hotel, and I was right on schedule. Turning back would add 30 mi to the ride. I press on. The road was packed beach sand, and it was washed out from the rains. It was very wash-boarded, I didn't know it, but I lost my rear light. After about a mile or so, it got worse. The sand was very loose, and i had trouble keeping the speed up and keeping balance. The 23 tires were cutting into the sand, and the rear end was fishtailing out of conrol. I went down. The sand was soft, so only my pride was hurt. I got up and brushed myself off, and started to walk. I realized that it would be a while, so I mounted the bike and tried again. I soon fell again. I tried walking again, but it was just too slow. I tried to start again, but I was tough to balance long enough to get any speed up. I finally got going and I was determined to keep 2 wheels down. Finally I reached the pavement and only had about 1.5 mi back to the hotel. It was not a ride I would want to do again on a road bike. At least not the last few miles.