Cycling in Florida

[mdj]

I am recently retired and planning on spending 2 months in Florida this winter to get out of the snow and to enjoy some cycling. I am hoping some 50+ riders may be able to suggest some good cycling areas in Florida. Something with not much traffic would be great but not sure if that is possible. Presently I am thinking of spending my time in the Clearwater and or Panama City areas. Appreciate any and all assistance. Thank you!

[mollusk]

I'd say that the best riding in the state is around Clermont/Ferndale (a bit west of Orlando). It's about as hilly as Florida gets. I ride a lot between Gainesville and Ocala and it is also very nice.

[Pat]

Well, I am mainly familiar with central Florida. You might go to the Florida Freewheelers web site. They have maps to rides in central Florida. I have done just about all of them.

Mount Dora is a good place too. It is the home of the Mount Dora Bicycle Festival. It is north of Clermont about 20 miles and there is quite a bit of nice cycling nearby and you can always go down and do Buck Hill and Sugar Loaf without too long of a ride and the ever popular Yalaha Bakery Ride. An advantage to central Florida is that there are a fair number of cycling groups here locally so it is possible to hook up with other riders.

The area around Ocala is quite pretty and it has the Horsefarm 100 there every fall. I have never done that one but it is a very popular ride.

The Florida Bicycle Safari is held up in Live Oak Florida which is east of Tallahasee by about 50 miles, I guess. I have done the Safari a number of times and there is some nice riding up there. The big attraction for that area to me is the fact that the drivers are much more laid back than they are in central Florida and they do not think they will die of old age if they have to sit behind a cyclist for 10 seconds.

Good luck with you research.

[will dehne]

I asked the same question last fall. My objective is/was to do hard training every day, not sight seeing.
I also did not want to get hit by careless drivers.
The solution I came up with are the Rails to Trails. Florida has a few of them. Someone suggested the "Withalacooche" trail from Citrus City to Inverness to Trilby. I liked it so much that I did not try the other trails suggested such as "Van Fleet" and "Suncoast". The link to Withalachooche is:

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/gwt/guide/regions/crossflorida/trails/with_state.htm

BTW, Inverness is a charming town with pretty good dining and has motels.

[bobka]

Although south Florida is filled with traffic, Boca Raton has been designated one of fifty Bicycle-Friendly communities in the nation. The city just this week issued a detailed full color map of the city showing roads with bike lanes, bike trails, wide curb lanes, etc. Roads are color coded showing levels of interaction with traffic. You can get the map at local bike shops, community centers, and at city hall. Also the Boca Raton Bicycle Club (www.bocaratonbicycleclub.com) has several hundred members (many over age 50) and an active regular schedule of group rides.

[Olebiker]

I live in Tallahassee and find the area around it to be the best place I have ever ridden. The drivers are nonconfrontational and the roads are generally well maintained. It isn't flat like much of Florida.

[lookinUp]

Another area with a lot of back roads (all flat) with little or no traffic is around North Port and the Rotonda area of Englewood. The Coastal Cruisers bike club rides in that area and has over 200 members, almost all over 50 and is very active. Check out their website at http://www.coastalCruisers.net for more information.