Mountain Biking - Hooray! Fun bike trip!

We finally got over to the Ocala area....Santos trails! (my husband, me and 2 friends) We had a lot of fun...got up early to drive over there since we live in Orlando. Good thing we did, because it got HOT! I think maybe 95 or so in the afternoon. We were done by about 2pm though so it was all good! There were some scary areas over there by the old quarries. I pushed it a bit and went down some steep loose rock areas and did fine but I was not keen on falling on all those rocks! I've fallen in the woods plenty but that's not so bad. Rocky terrain is a different story! For the most part, we stuck to the wood trails though....beginner and mid level, with some expert trails to get us where we were going. We all decided that the beginner was a bit too easy...mid level was comfortable yet challenging. Some of the expert was okay, though we had to get off the bikes since we didn't know the trail well enough to anticipate and ramp up for some of the tough areas. We all had a lot of fun and are planning to go again in a couple weeks! :)

I told you you'd like Santos Trail. Of all the places I've ridden, it's one of my favorites!

Glad you had a good time, and yes, it gets hot! Bring lots and lots of water.

What was your favorite trail? I personally like leaving the parking area and hitting "Sink Hole Trail" to start, then getting on the Yellow trail to "The other side" and doing the 3 blue trail out and backs, then "The Vortex" which is where that huge drop is. I like riding "the Vortex" two or three times, trying to get through it without stopping or putting a foot down. Then we start back to the truck via "The Bunny Trail" and "Termite Trail" coming to the south side of the pit and then back around through "Cow Pen". We then stop for lunch and a little nap, do a shorter 2nd ride, come back rest some more and then do one more short ride!

We sometimes will camp over in the Ocala Nat'l Forest and skip the 3rd ride, go get something to eat and come back for a night ride! That's a blast! The same trails at night are completely different in the dark!

Let me know next time you guys are planning on going. Maybe I can get my wife and a small group together to meet you guys.

L8R

Well I think we may go over the 3 day holiday coming up...on Monday (not this weekend but next).

I couldn't even tell you the trails we went on...just went all over, starting off with a lot of yellow trails and going near both quarries. We went down into one but not the other. Some of those areas are way above my level! I'd love to meet you although you may want to go ahead of us or separate...we're still novices and were only on the red trails for short periods. After my foot took so long to heal, I'm not taking any huge chances! There are some basics I need to work on, although I'm getting better! Next time we planned on definitely doing more blue trails and maybe some red. We may have a different biking group then, and the other chic may not want to do as much since she is more of a road biker now (and she doesn't have any shocks...pretty Kona though). She used to go off road a lot but now she seems a bit wary. She may bail though, but I'll try to get a backup 4th person in case.

We took a side bike trip to the land bridge...not worth going again but I was thrilled to see a lizard I'd never seen in FL! I think it was a swift, but haven't found any photos to identify it for certain...it was very spiny. (I'm a lizard lover...my dragon is on my lap now as I type!)

Anyway, let me know if you'll be there and how to identify you! If nothing else, it would be cool to meet :)