Creating the Tango Through Hell Aka the Tango Lite
Background and Route Development
When I got into route creation, I leaned hard into the Mountain biking part. To me, a good route utilizes as much beautiful, buff, remote singletrack as possible. As a result, for about 10 of the 15 years or so that I have been doing this, that was my focus. Find the cool segments of singletrack, and link them together. From there, you develop a hierarchy as to what connectors you use. Naturally, if singletrack isn't available, then you look for some other sort of dirt or bike path connector before having to use paved public roadways.
And then I met Graham Partain, who reminded me that dirt road riding is fun and, honestly, it's a lot easier to create routes when the dirt road is your primary choice. As a result of this philosophical shift, the King's Road was born. Then I thought, what about a big dirt road loop?? Then as if by magic, the HuRaCaN Lite is created.
Graham brought forth the Forgotten Florida loop, then I created the Highlands to Lowlands route, and you see what's happening rather rapidly is the development of a bunch of compelling, fun, dirt road-focused routes.
So naturally, I knew that we needed a Tango Lite.
The best part about the current state of technological affairs is that historical data is available on the RWGPS app via heat map. Take your own personal knowledge and skill, mix it with local sources of the same caliber, add some heat map data, and you can get a route nailed down fairly rapidly. The only time things get complicated is when you're brave enough to venture into a place no one has thought of going and score that first-timers Hero dirt.
Utilizing elements of the Tango route, we verified some connectors to replace 99% of the singletrack portions and created a magical loop. It seemed unfitting to call it the Tango Lite. I didn't want folks to think that Lite meant easy. So I gave it an alternate name, The Tango Through Hell.
Time to Ride
As fate would have it, we couldn't leave till the end of business on Friday to start our trip. So I figured we would park at the Weems road and then ride 40 miles to camp at the Aucilla Rapids.
We ended up leaving even later than expected, and I hatched an on-the-fly plan to park in Wacissa. I decided I could return later to work out the approach and departure, as the current options are rather bumpy and full of technical terrain.
First, I called the Wacissa church to see if they would let me leave a vehicle there, but I didn't get a hold of the decision maker, so they advised me to call back. We were mid-drive; I didn't want to wait, so I called the local volunteer fire department, and the gentleman on the phone said it was absolutely fine. Perfect, that trims about an hour and a half of our ride time and puts us back on schedule. We reach Wacissa and load up. Instantly, we are greeted with the odd sound of all the dogs in town howling simultaneously.
Ominous at best, we push forward. Not even 2 miles after we start pedaling, we are on some really good dirt that eventually gave way to primitive double track. Right away, I noticed things were wetter than expected, but I was warned of severe flooding just weeks before. Onward we pushed till we reached the part of the route where we had to deviate from the Tango and use a new dirt connector. We continued following lightly used roads. Several puddles were traversed, and for a bit, I played the game of trying not to get my feet wet. Eventually, it didn't matter as we hit a water hole so enormous that I couldn't even see the other side.
I had spent a lot of time studying the map and knew a dirt road was on the other side. But visually, it was unseen. So I started going forward despite being unsure as to where. It got about waist-deep for me, and when Toni shined her light, I could finally see the other side. We made our way across, got back on the bike, and before long, we made it to the rapids. It was apparent that other folks had been camping there as there were not one but two fire pits.
We pitched, made a fire, and attempted to dry Toni’s socks. We had two more days of riding and wanted to try and get dry. It was a beautiful night, and the water level was the highest I had ever seen. In places where there would normally be a 10-foot bluff, it looked like you could just step into the river. There were no rapids to be seen, although the narrowing of the river still provided great White Noize for our night's rest.
It was a cold but cozy night in our two-person hammock. Steve had contacted me and wanted to join the fun, but I sent him the google dot location of our camp spot, and he never showed(turns out I sent the wrong one). Eventually, we connected in the morning, and I told him to meet us at JR’s. The road out of there was bumpy and challenging. I like bumpy roads. Always a nice change of pace. We eventually meet up with Steve and ride good limestone and then pavement. I decided to bypass Saint Marks for our scout cause I have ridden through there at least a dozen times. Instead, we stayed straight and tried a different way. Again, I know what that area is like, so let’s see our alternative options. We discovered that JR’s has stove fuel and great breakfast sandwiches. There is a lot of new bike path heading down that road. I mean, you can go farther than ever before. Unfortunately, you run out of it in a section where I prefer to ride dirt. From here, the Tango Lite avoids one of the sandier connectors and Skipper Bay, which can be heavily affected by the tide, and the grass can get rather tall.
Honestly, I had hastily planned this trip Timing can be a real challenge, with all the necessary things you have to do above and beyond your personal goals and desires. One of my bucket list items is to be in Sopchoppy during the famous worm grunting festival. And without even trying, we nailed it. We got into town, and it was a madhouse, full-on Festival mode; we even drafted a kiddy train into our planned stop at Civic Brewing. We had to work as a team to get our food and beer as the brewery RAN OUT of beer. Can you believe it!
Regardless of the bumrush, we got everything and had a good long break. We even talked to some fellow riders who had just completed the Sopchoppy 100 event (also forgot that was happening), and once done, we took off. I stocked up heavily at JR’s and recommended Toni grab more food. She didn't like the options at the store and figured she was fine for the rest of the ride. The Tango lite uses parts of Mat Bull's Forgotten Coast route, his Tango extended route, and the Florida Divide. There is a road Mat has on the route that, after Gully Branch, it dives south towards Carabelle. It takes riders by a bunch of cool camps and eventually lets them ride the singletrack on the high coastal bluff. But if you go straight on that road, you can trim off that lower, deeper visit into the bowels of Tates Hell and eliminate a huge distance. So after a wonderful stop at Gully, we drank the well water and continued on. Tate’s Hell was stunning and, truthfully, the route's highlight. Likely cause I had only seen the outskirts of it in my travels and never the deeper core. But I got to see it this time. The bridges they construct are unique compared to all the other natural lands I have traveled. The ground was firm and fast, with nothing soft to report during our trip. There were several deep water crossings with rocky armor. This long dirt road extends 20 miles in one direction and has frequent motor vehicle use.
Toni worked her ass off to keep her feet dry cause the nights were getting downright freezing. But there was nothing I could do, as the ground was jagged and painful to walk on barefoot. I managed to pedal across most of the crossings, but around halfway out of the six, I got my feet wet.
It took a long time to get through there, and finally, we made it to the abandoned bridge I had been eyeing from space. Since we were now in Apalachicola National Forest, dispersed camping is allowed unless otherwise stated.
I had to immediately make a fire as I had lost feeling in my toes two hours ago. I got a fire going, we set camp up, and I sat by that fire, burning wood well into the late evening. Eventually, I climbed into the hammock with Toni and slept the night away.
The next day, we got up and did the normal morning routine. We had to carry a lot of food into the forest, but Toni was worried that she had not brought enough. So, limited on water and food, we had a very focused day ahead. The rest of the time we spent in the forest while we made our way to Porter Camp was brilliant and lovely. The day went from cold to perfect. We dressed down and clipped the miles away. We eventually reached Porter, where we got clean water and then onward. At some point late in the day, we saw Nico and Shukun riding the Sopchoppy 100 route. I guess there is a reason the heat map is so bright through there! Forest road 13 is a huge hardpack road that I have never seen sandy, it can get dusty, but you will always have traction.
From there, we made our way as fast as possible back to the start. Eventually, we passed Freebirds store, where we stopped, and I called Mat Bull to give us a bonus lift back to our car. We had 20 miles of straight pavement lto get back to Wacissa(not route-related), and Steve had already broken off on FR 13 to head back to JRs to get his car.
Final Impressions
Overall, I knew that this was gonna be an amazing route. I returned two months later and found a great way from the parking lot and around the railroad tracks, which I rode on a gravel bike first, and is not recommended. The next day, with the help of Susan Burkley, we double shuttled to Porter camp and back and rode the last 60 miles into town. We even swam at Silver Lake, an oasis in the forest with water and electricity. The final pleasure from that day was the ATV trails behind the airport, which, although challenging in spots, I was able to avoid walking with my 45c tires. In the end, I sourced local knowledge to find the optimal route from Porter back to Tally. Dont worry, folks, the ATV Trail made the final file. What didn't make the final file was using the Tally Tango approach to the Weems finish. Instead, I opted to cross the canal using this old metal pedestrian bridge and then ride through an industrial complex that coincidentally passes by the Ology brewing company. (Insert Shoulder shrug emoji)
In the end, I am excited about the Tango Lite, aka the Tango through hell route. I think it's gonna be a real hit. And for those interested in riding the biggest dirt loop in Florida, you can combine the Tango Through Hell with Forgotten Florida to create a 420-mile loop. I'll Just leave you with that little nugget right there!
Take care,
Karlos
Get the route info here choose the option for just the route information.
