Our longest ride yet!  40 miles from Trenton to Cross City!  A beautiful ride on a very flat trail.  Most of it is out in the sun, but the first half of the ride the sky was totally overcast so we enjoyed the 70 degree temps.  The first picture below is very typical of this trail.  Not the prettiest by far--it mostly runs along roads.  The second picture is one of the prettiest parts near the top of the trail in Trenton.

Parking at the Trenton Trailhead, is offroad by the old train station in Trenton.  After about 6 miles you come to the Fanning Springs turn off (we didn't take that turn); after 8 1/2 miles you come to the beautiful Suwannee Railroad Bridge Trestle.  At 9 miles you come to Old Town where there is off road parking.  Those first 6 miles are aside Rt. 26 with alot of traffic.  However, the trail is well off road but you can see and hear the cars.  The rest of the trail runs alongside other roads, some smaller.  The trail is mostly rural.

At 19 miles from Trenton is the Dairy Queen!  Yea.  And one mile beyond is Trail's end at Cross City, for a full 20 miles. 

Total: 566.5

Jacksonville-Baldwin Rail Trail

Probably one of the prettiest and nicest trails to ride.  We started at the Brandy Branch Trailhead which is just north of I-10 and Rt. 301.  There's good parking and porta-potties here.  The trail is very flat with only two real cross streets.  Alot of the blogs talk about industrial areas--we didn't see any!  The whole trail is under a canopy of trees.  You don't even see very many homes or businessess; only woods and pasturelands and creeks.  Since there is a wonderful canopy you only get direct sunlight when it is straight above you.  Otherwise you get filtered sun through the trees.  There is a park a couple of miles into our trip, The Baldwin Trailhead and Park.  And there is a park at the Jacksonville end, the Imeson Road Trailhead. 

The whole trail is marked and is 14 1/2 miles.  We did the whole 29 miles!

Total so far:  526.5 miles!

Local Roads and Places

Started out just riding from Tioga to where the side walk ends travelling west on Newberry Road (3 1/2 miles).   On the way home stopped at the Chinese restaurant at Steeplechase for some wonderful lunch of Egg Foo Young and Broccoli and Tofu.  Dropped by the bicycle shop to have my gears adjusted.  Came home and we wanted to ride some more. 

So we decided to ride to Haile Plantation.  Rode through Tioga and another neighborhood to come out on Parker Road, heading south to 8th Avenue and rode on the bike lane there to 91st St.  It was hilly compared to Rails Trails.  Then we took that into Haile Plantation.  Rode to 46th Drive and then through the Town Center where we stopped for some juice at the Cupcake bar.  Came back west on 24th Avenue.  There is a sidewalk until about 3/4 mile from Parker Road where there is not even a bike lane.  24th is flatter than 8th Avenue was.  Had to walk the bikes some when traffic got heavy.  It was 6 1/2 miles on this leg of the trip.

When we started the trips today it was cloudy, breezy and a chilly 61 degrees.  By the end of the trip, the clouds had gone, the sun was out and it was in the high sixties. 

Today 20 miles total. 

497.5 miles thus far.

Withlacoochee Trail from Inverness to Townsend Lake Park - November 11, 2012

Rode from Mile 16 to Mile 31 and back.  A beautiful day in the 70's!  The beginning of the trail is very flat.  The second half has alot of long slow ups and downs.  Didn't matter too much until coming back, after going 24 miles my blood sugar was dropping fast.  The next two miles were very hard--until we came to Ferris Groves and guzzeled 16 ounces of freshly squeezed orange juice and a chocolate covered strawberry.  The last 6 miles seemed a breeze after that.  We saw many gopher tortoises and a pretty dear crossing the trail.  30 miles

Total of 477.5 miles thus far.

Nature Coast from Old Towne to Chiefland

November 4, 2012
This is our favorite part of the Nature Coast Trail.  It's flat and through the trees. Old Towne to Fanning Springs (4 miles) crosses the Suwannee River via the old railroad trestle.  It's beautiful.  And a nice place to stop, look at the river and talk to other bikers.  The weather was about 70 degrees--perfect for biking.  And then it's another 9 miles from Fanning Springs to Chiefland.  The reward is the Yum Yum Shop where you can get delicious Working Cow Ice Cream at a reasonable price!  Eat outside on the picnic tables.  26 mile round trip.



447.5 miles thus far

 

First of the new season

October 28, 2012
Finally the weather has cooled down from scorching and we couldn't resist a ride.  We began by riding through Tioga and Jockey Club and then decided to ride west down Newberry Road to the end of the sidewalk which is 5 miles long.  It's been a long time since we were on our bikes and we missed it.  It felt great.  Inlcuding neighborhood the ride was 12 miles.
Total of 421.5 miles  ridden.

Fanning Springs to Chiefland and Sturgeon

May 5, 2012 Started in Fanning Springs and rode to the end in Chiefland. I had to test out all the bicycle presents Jeremy & Randy gave me for my birthday! Loved my odometer! The trail is nice and flat--but oh it was hot! The trail is mostly sunny; but there is alot of mottled shade as well (50/50) Now that summer is here and it's in the 90's we need to either ride very early in the morning or late afternoon. We rewarded ourselves with ice cream at the Yum Yum Shoppe in Chiefland! That round trip was only 18 miles so we rode on to the Suwannee River Bridge where we sat for quite a while watching the sturgeon jumping out of the water! That was cool! 24.5 miles today 409.5 miles thus far!

Palatka/Lake Butler Trail

April 8, 2012 Started in Keystone Heights, to Grandin, and on towards Palatka. We thought there was a mile gap in the paved trail. So when we hit the Etonia Forest, we continued through the pinestraw, grass, and gravel. It was really tough going! After going quite a ways we decided to turn back. Good thing! When we got back we drove and found that the entrance to the forest was the end of the paved trail! I guess one day it will go through. It's a pretty trail and nice and flat. There were lots of gopher tortoise holes and you could often see one with its head sticking out! Turns out we did a three mile round trip within the forest. 33 miles today

385 Miles thus far!

Wildflowers, Leaves & Rain - Nature Coast Trail

Went back to the Nature Coast Trail, starting in Fanning Springs, riding to Cheifland. A very stormy looking sky! However, we've learned in Florida to go ahead and do things because it may or may not rain where you are. We had a nice, fast ride to Chiefland. There were beautiful wildflowers along the trail, especially approaching Chiefland. There were also falling leaves from the oaks everywhere lining the trail and coming down like snow. We completed the round trip, 18 miles, and wanted to go a few more. So we started toward Old Town, and got to the Suwannee trestle bridge. It started sprinking so we turned around to go back at a very rapid pace. Randy was running short of breath so we stopped 2 1/2 miles from the end at a covered bench. As we waited, the rain only got harder and harder. After about 20 minutes it let up a little so on we went. We never rode so hard! It was cold! It was pouring on us and it was very hard to see. We finally made it back to the car and.....of course...the rain stopped!! All the trails we've ridden on thus far have had nice clean bathrooms. However, the facility at Chiefland was NOT!

24 Miles today
352 miles thus far

Withlacoochee State Trail - Southern Third

The final leg of the 46 mile Withlacoochee State Trail! We didn't know that there was parking at the very southern end at US301. We drove to Ridge Manor where there are rest rooms, a drinking fountain, picnic tables and ample parking. From there we went 6 miles south to the end at US301. Then up north again past Ridge Manor and on to Lake Townsend for a 31 mile round trip!
A hot 85 degree day--but oh so windy! There were times I had to stand up to pedal against a very strong head wind--alot of effort expended! The trail is very flat and nice. Very rural and mostly sunny. We saw a gopher tortoise, raccoon, and sandhill crane. This section probably had the least crossroads of any of the trails thus far. We didn't see restaurants nearby the trail, so when we were finished we drove from Ridge Manor 10 miles south on US301 and had a wonderful dinner of cuban marinated pork, yellow rice, black beans and plantains at Matter of Taste in Dade City--a very nice place, especially upstairs, in a pretty small city.

31 Miles today!
328 miles thus far.

Withlacoochee State Trail - Middle part

This time we began in Inverness and rode 15 miles south. Almost didn't go with the predicted rain; but in Florida you just have to take a chance--and it was a beautiful day. This part of the trail has more inclines (albeit slight) going south; so the road home is easier. In the beginning (first 3 miles) it's mostly in the sun; thereafter a mix. More people on this trail than we've seen anywhere thus far. But there are few crossroads and pretty rural Florida. About 7 miles from Inverness is Ferris Groves where you can buy wonderful fresh produce--this time of year they had citrus, strawberries and tomatoes. But for a biker, the fresh squeezed orange juice really hits the spot. This part of the trail goes by Lake Townsend park which has nice bathrooms, a playground, picnic tables and shelters, and a volley ball court. There are lots of places to stop along this trail especially in Floral City.

30 miles today
297 miles ridden thus far!!

Withlacoochee State Trail

This is the longest paved bicyle trail in Florida; 46 miles. This was my favorite!! About 50 miles southwest of Gainesville the trail begins just south of Dunnellon. The trailhead is new with nice rest rooms and parking. The first 5 miles of the trail are in the open sun. Most of the trail is in the woods but you can hear the traffic (not too loud) on Rt. 41 which it parrallels. Mile markings are clear on the pavement. All of the trail goes through what seems to be nice, safe areas. There are some road crossings but not excessive--long stretches with none. I loved it when it passed the "bottle tree forest of colors"! And a giant pink elephant. But my favorite was when it passed over Lake Apopka--it was beautiful--benches and a gazebo; lots of bikers sitting and reading. We went as far as Inverness where there was a beautiful park on the lake.

Inverness was 16 miles from the start.
Miles today 32
267 miles ridden thus far!

Suwannee Greenway: Branford to Fort White

We did 27 miles on the Suwannee Greenway. We started at Branford next to the Suwannee River. The trail winds through a Gopher Tortoise Management Area in the woods, but then emerges to run beside US 27. It's pretty rough for that stretch; lots of potholes and tree-root bumps and piles of litter and trash. :>(( But after you cross the Ichetucknee River bridge at Three Rivers (the off road trail is interrupted here)it improves and is pretty once again.

We stopped outside of Fort White. We ended the trip back at Ivey Memorial Park next to the river in Branford, which is really gorgeous. The Suwannee flowing past, with a nice scenic spring feeding into it. All in all, it was a really good afternoon!

27 miles

235 miles ridden thus far!

Grandin to Keystone Heights

Began at Grandin, parking just off Rt 315 north of 100. Rode towards Keystone Heights. First part of the trail is mostly shady--to Twin Lakes Park where there are nice clean restrooms and water. The rest of the trail is equally shaded and sunny. There are a couple of pretty bridges which go over the land. Very rural. We met riders on the trail (Cheryl and Tom) who warned us not to stop at Putnam Hall. There are alot of businesses in Keystone Heights--Wendy's is right on the trail where we stopped for a quick bite (but no bicycle racks!) This is a rails-to-trails flat paved path. There are no mile markers along the way except for painted numbers on the pavement and no rest benches. This leg is 10 miles.

When we got back to Grandin, there was a just paved trail heading east which we rode on for about a mile. We had to stop when we came to construction equipment laying sod--but we understand it will open any day now!

Very pretty trail--would do it again.

21 miles today!
208 miles thus far!

Downtown Connector Trail - Gainesville

Not really sure where this trail starts vs Depot Avenue trail. Most of the trail is very pretty--but it runs along side tent city. Can't believe--these guys have real big tents all over the woods. It is a city. Anyway, the trail was nice a flat and through the woods. Part crosses Williston Road and there's a pretty bridge. It connects to the Hawthorne Trail at Boulware Springs.

Old Town over the Suwannee to Chiefland

Starting in Old Town we crossed the old Railroad trestle over the Suwannee, then on to Fanning Springs, and out to Chiefland. What a beautiful day for a ride. About 70 degrees--threatened rain at the end. This is one of our favorite trails. It's flat and runs through the trees. Towards the end there are alot of stop signs with street crossings.

4 Miles from Old Town to Fanning Springs
9 Miles from Fanning Springs to Chiefland

26 miles today
187 miles ridden thus far!

Marineland to Flagler

On New Year's Day 2012 started at the Marineland trailhead and headed south paralleling A1A. Most of the off road path is wide and along the road, but there are sections in Palm Coast which wind through the woods and is really pretty. There are alot of eating places along the way; several crossroads but not much traffic on them. Very flat and easy. Mostly in the sun. We stopped just before the Flagler City sign--11 m

iles from Marineland. This picture is at Sunset where we parked the car and started in Marineland.

Total miles thus far: 161!!

Christmas Eve on the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail

We were afraid to park at Boulware Springs so drove a mile down to park at the LaChua trailhead at Mile 1 of the bikepath where the car would seem safer. Hilly and curvy to about Mile 3 at 60th Terrace (potential parking place). Flat and pretty to Hawthorne. In Hawthorne went about a 1/2 mile around the town and stopped at a convenience store for a drink and a frozen juice bar. Weren't too many people on the trail this day. Coming back between mile 2 1/2 to 2 I had to walk my bike up the curvey steep incline (now I must get a new bike!)

The trail is 15 miles and we started at mile 1, but added a mile in Hawthorne

139 miles ridden!