RonH

Glad you're getting out Linda.


Rode on the Withlacoochee again today. It has more shade so not quite as hot as the Suncoast.
Rode from Inverness to Croom Rital Rd. It was getting warm so I headed back to the car.
Saw these guys near the trail as just north of Croom Rital Rd. They ran toward the woods when I stopped to get a picture.



Rode 39.5 miles.

RonH

Decided to do something different today. Rode from Inverness (Withlacoochee Trail) to where our new house is under construction, with a few side trips. Just under 30 miles round trip. Riding on the bike path along Norvell Bryant Rd. reminded me of riding the bike path from Decatur (GA) to Stone Mountain.

Lindaosm

Gym on Wednesday on spinner, no ride on Thursday but back out today. From Central Ridge Park in Holder to the north end of the Withlachochee and just a little further north. Only about 14 miles and back before 10:30AM so not too hot. We'll be back out again tomorrow. Just not sure where yet.

BikesHQ

Wasn't able to get a picture, but I rode around 15 miles alongside a river beside my house today. Went into the deeper off-roads this time and it was actually quite pleasant!

Lindaosm

Nice ride on Sunday on the Nature Coast Trail. Started in Fanning Springs at the State Park and rode about 8 miles north and back. We had taken our bathing suits thinking we'd take a dip afterwards afterwards to cool off, but the swimming area was still closed due to high waters in the Suwannee. This is probably my favorite paved trail in FL.

RonH

Glad you had a good ride? Where is this river?

zzOtherlandzz

Rode in the Etoniah Creek State forest yesterday on the mountain bike.... Almost over heated at one point, slow riding in the loose stuff not much air moving. About 12 miles on the mountain bike. Then met some friends at about 6:30ish for a ride on the paved Palatka Lake Butler trail.. So about 21 miles on the road bike.

By the way.... The Palatka Lake Butler trail in open all the way from Florahome west through Keystone Heights now. They have finished the repairs in that section. But the section east of Florahome is closed all the way to Holloway road. But But... The NEW section east of Holloway road is all paved now... They aren't quite finished with the signage, sod & markings but its nice!! Sometime later this fall the Whole 19 mile section will be open!!

fire

Yeah it's a nice trail up there, Linda. I have to say I probably prefer the Van Fleet northern end, and some sections of the Withlacoochee. The Northern section to Inverness, and the section from Croom Road to Floral City. We rode from Ridge Manor up to a couple of miles North of Istichata on Sunday, and back. What a great morning for a ride.
Another one I really like is the Hawthorne Trail.

So the swimming area at fanning Springs park was closed, when the spring hole is? That's a shame, I rode the trail last September in 100 degree heat, imagine how good that water felt at 72 degrees when we got back.
Did you ride up as far as the Diary Queen?

Lindaosm

Yes, the swimming area was closed. We were there several months back and it was clsed then as well. The swimming area is all brown, not anything like it used to look. Yes, the Withlachochee is our normal ride. We usually do from Holder (Central Ridge Park) north to the end or south to Hernando. Sometimes we park at Inverness and ride south to Floral City. We've been on the Van Fleet once and we may have to try it again. We also ride the Gainesville/Hawthorne trail frequently. We didn't get as far as a Dairy Queen, as far as I know. We left Fanning and headed north. Went over the Suwannee and continued north for about 4 miles. When the trail starts running next to the highway there isn't much shade and it was way too hot. One of my other favorite trails is the Withlachochee Bay Trail north of Crystal River. Great trail with probably the best scenery. They extended it last year a mile east so it ends up being about 12 miles round trip. Guess we'll have to check out the Dairy Queen next time we hit the Nature Coast Trail.

fire

That's a shame it was aqua and clear right to the bottom in September last year. Last time I was there was March this year, and I didn't look at the at the springs because it was raining on our return leg, and we basically just wanted to get into the dry and have some food... We settled on the barbeque place that we'd tried the time before.
I've been up there 3 times, and ridden all of the trail seperately. We parked at Fanning Springs each time, and rode the section to the end. The Dairy Queen at Cross City isn't anything special (its pretty obvious they don't hear many English accents in there though), lol, but it allowed us a break for some liquid and a cool down from that extremely hot 3 or 4 mile (basically unshaded) trek up to Cross City adjacent to the road, which you mentioned. When we did the other section of it, we rode around Trenton and stopped for refreshments there, I was surprised at how nice a little town it is.

I like the Inverness - Floral City section of the Withlacoochie, but not if I ride with my OH as she finds it the least pleasant section beause of 41 running so close alongside it, so I've started avoiding that if I ride with her.. I do kind of agree with her. We do seem to ride more from Ridge Manor for convenience, too, because its almost our closest after the Southern Terminus at Trilby. (Must ride that section again soon too).

The Van Fleet is nice. I like the section between the Northern Terminus down to Clermont (they've put a new trailhead in down there now too).We started at the North end (off 50) and rode 11 miles South and then back again on the Sunday before last. The Southern section is nice, and the 3 bridges usually have an alligator or two to see, if you're lucky.

Agree with you about the Withlacoochie Bay Trail, fantastic scenery with the Marshes and inland waterways, and the canal on the other side, it makes for a great little scenic ride, and the little pagoda at the end is a nice place for a refreshment point. Maybe I should offer that as a suggestion for a ride to my OH at some point soon.

Lake Palatka to Lake Butler is a nice trail too, if you fancy a bit of a drive, (obviously not so much of a drive for you as for me) have you done that one? I've done it a couple of times. From what I heard, they may have opened a new section now. The last time we were there, they were doing repairs on the trail and we couldn't go as far as we had hoped. We generally just park at Keystone Heights, and choose which direction we will ride.

I don't know if you have done it, but one trail that offers a nice place to stop in the middle is the trail up at Branford. If you do it, ride from the Branford trailhead North though, to where the trail ends abruptly at a road crossing (no trailhead as such), take a left on that small road, and ride about another quarter mile and bear around to the left at the end, it takes you down to the Suwannee Springs Park, and the area looking out over the springhole and river is fantastic... Much prettier than even than Fanning Springs or Crystal River. The section south from the Branford trailhead soon starts to run along the side of the road, and is basically like the unshaded bit on the Nature Coast Trail to Cross City, that you mentioned... Also, it's bumpy and potholed, so if you're on a bike with narrower tires, and no suspension, besides being uncomfortable, it starts to make you worry that you're going to wreck a wheel. We didn't ride all of that section due to that, and turned around after a bit.

The problem for us getting up there to all the more Northern trails, is the driving time, especially when the Withlacoochie and Van Fleet are so much closer .

zzOtherlandzz

The Palatka Lake Butler trail is all paved from Florahome west through Keystone Heights now. As of this past Sunday they had not taken the road closed signs down yet though. The repairs are all done west of Grandin. But now they have started repairs east of Florahome all the way to Holloway road, so that section is closed. On the plus side they have finished paving the new 4.5 mile section east of Holloway road, but the trail isn't quite open yet. They still have signage, sod and other things to finish up. In a few months the whole 19 miles from west of Keystone Heights to Roberts Lane on the east should be done....

fire

Thanks for the update on that, it's much appreciated.
It's a couple of hours drive from me, so to get there and not be able to ride it, was a bit of a pain. I really like the trail though. Once I know it's open again, I'll be up there to ride it.

Lindaosm

Thanks for all the info. If you ever get up to the Panhandle area, there are several nice trails there we have been on. The Tallahassee/St Marks trail is very nice but I really like the 30a trail. It's not a rail trail but a paved trail that runs from just east of Destin next to SR 30a? It's also called the Timpoochee Trail. Here's the info on it if you ever get up that way. Beautiful trail that in places runs next to the Gulf. You do have to be careful though as there are lots of driveways to watch for. We camped at a State Park ( Grayton Beach) and rode both east and west. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
https://www.visitsouthwalton.com/tips...mpoochee-trail

We are so fortunate in Florida to have so many wonderful paved trails. Since we also like to camp, we plan lots of our weekend camping trips around where we can ride. Hope to see you out there riding one day. If you see a grey haired lady huffing and puffing with a man with a back pack, it's probably us.

RonH

Finally got out for a ride today. We've been tidying up the house. Our friends (the landlords) are putting it on the market since our house should be finished sometime in Sept (we hope). The realtor is coming by to take pics, etc.
Went over to the Withlacoochee. Rode from Hernando to just south of Lake Lindsey Rd. Wanted to see if the goats were back -- and they were.


Rode north toward Hernando. Got rained on (light rain) for about a mile or so just south of Floral City.
Saw something new (to me) in the parking lot of the big thrift store on US41 on the south side of Inverness. A GIANT pink Adirondack chair. What's going on? A pink elephant and pink dump truck between Inverness and Hernando and now a pink chair?




Stopped at the farmers market in Hernando for a banana and "fresh from the farm" chocolate milk.

Rode a total of 40.5 miles.

fire

Thanks for the info too!
We don't get up to the panhandle too often, working means we only have weekends, and with the driving etc from down in the Tampa area, it makes for a short day to ride, and a long day of driving.
We'll have to give it a go sometime when we can get a long weekend or something.
We're heading up to TN in a couple of months for a few days, but I'm not sure we'll manage to take the bikes as we'll be in a hotel.
Maybe in the winter we'll manage a trip to the panhandle. I have heard of the Timpoochee before, and I've been tempted, but just haven't had the time.

We'll hopefully ride somewhere on the South end of the Withlacoochie on Sunday morning (not quite sure where we'll start from yet), and no matter how far we ride we try to be finished by midday... it's too hot for us anytime much after that.

I'll keep a lookout for the huffing lady and the man carrying all the gear in the backpack, then. Who knows, we may well have passed you going the other direction a few times, there's a lot of people that fit the description you mentioned!

RonH

It was overcast and "cool" this morning so I headed over to the Withlacoochee. As I was putting my helmet and shoes on I realized I didn't have and gels or bars. My wife put all my bike stuff out of sight for the real estate folks who stopped by Thursday to take pics of the house. What's the saying? Out of sight, out of mind. So I bought some gels at Suncoast Bicycles (next to the trail) and then headed south. The weather was so nice and for some reason I had extra energy so decided to ride to Ridge Manor. Stopped there for a short rest and then rode over the "big bridge" over SR50. Then headed north for Inverness. I ran out of gels and was getting hungry so stopped at the store in Istachatta. Nice folks there. We talked about family history, etc for about 15-20 minutes while I ate a Snicker bar and had a grape drink. Had lots of energy for the whole ride so my average speed was up. Haven't ridden this well in a couple of months.
Rode 50.9 miles.

Lindaosm

Took the mountain bikes out to Inglis Island. Started at the locks off of SR 40 before you get into Inglis. We found out we can park there and go over the locks to the island. Much closer than driving all the way around to the other side. Anyway, got over the locks and headed west towards the newly paved area. Just after that we had a bobcat cross the trail in front of us. A couple of years ago we saw one just over the river on the Bay Trail but this was our first here. Turned around at the end of the paved trail and headed towards the spillway at the other end. Rode around the park there and then headed towards the unpaved north end of the Island. That area was very swampy and muddy and no breeze whatsoever. By this time it was almost mid day and really hot. Had a tough time the last few miles as the grass was high and really hard to ride through. Only about 8 miles total but a real workout, at least for me.

Lindaosm

Gainesville/Hawthorne Trail today. From SR 234 to Hawthorne and back. About 16 miles and we lucked out again in not getting wet. On our way back we rode through Evinston and came across a flock of turkeys crossing the road. There must have been at least 20 of them. Very cool sighting. Back to work tomorrow so gym time on the spinner.

RonH

Glad you're able to get out and do some riding Linda.

RonH

Did something new today. I rode from Inverness to the south end of the Withlacoochee Trail. I'd never been south of the Wal-Mart warehouse before today. Not much down that way. Trilby looks like another small FL town that civilization passed by. Are they extending the trail to the south? I saw a pile of dirt across the highway from the parking area. Or is that just another road project?
Ran out of gels and bars on my way north so stopped at the store in Istachatta again. I'm glad they're there for food and water.
Rode a total of 61.6 miles.

After my 50 mile ride on Saturday and 61 today I'm tired. Rest day tomorrow, we meet with the decorator about window treatments on Wednesday, and doctor on Thursday (not for me, I'm the driver). Next ride will be Friday. I doubt if it will be 50 or 60 miles.

RonH

The temperature wasn't bad so I rode the Withlacoochee Trail from Inverness to the top end and back. A total of 33 miles.

zzOtherlandzz

I hadn't rode since the 17th at the Palatka Trail Festival. But yesterday I got out for a ride on the PLB trail from Grandin to Palatka (including the new section that is done)... The trail and roads were a bit wet but I didn't get too wet........ UNTIL I decided to come home after hanging out at the bike shop waiting for the weather to clear (It didn't)... The WHOLE 21 miles back to my truck was a light rain.. Great ride though ... NOT HOT... 40 miles..

Today got up early (bad for me) and rode with a group for 25 miles then had breakfast..... Was fun... NOT too hot lots of cloud cover and no rain...

fire

Are you referring to the work that's being done to the rairoad tracks on the East side of 301?
There are no current plans to extend the Withlacoochie that I've heard of.

fire

Hey mate, is the whole trail open now?
I'd like to get up there and ride it again when it is, but its a bit of a drive for me just to ride some of it.
Weird what you said about the rain, when we were up there awhile ago, it rained rained for a lot of the ride. It was a coolish day too. It didn't spoil the experience though, afterall we'd driven 2 hours to get there, so we weren't about to not ride just because of a little bit of rain.

zzOtherlandzz

Nope.... It still isn't quite open all the way yet... About 12 miles of continuous trail is open right now from SE 57th Street west of Keystone Heights (where the paved trail ends right now) to Coral Farms Road in Florahome (the blinking light in Florahome). The trail is closed from Coral Farms Rd. to Holloway Rd for repairs to the cracked pavement & the building of a trail head/parking area right near Coral Farms Rd. But the new 4.5 mile section of trail east of Hollow Rd is open all the way to Roberts Lane. On the weekends (when no workers are there) we usually hike the section being worked on, or if you have a mountain bike or hybrid you can ride it (most times). The construction does NOT stretch the whole way from Coral Farms road to Holloway, the actual area being repaired is about 1/4 of a mile. I can hardly wait for the repairs to be done... When done it will be very close to 19 miles of paved trail (not including the trail up to Gold Head). Longer than the Gainesville Hawthorne trail then...

There is also a trail from the traffic light in Keystone north on State Rd 21 to Gold Head Branch State Park. Actually the trail doesn't start till the top of the hill near the Hardee's (just ride the sidewalk to the top of the hill). About 6 miles to Gold Head and another 2.5 miles or so in the park. The 2.5 to 3 mile ride into the park is REALLY nice with almost no traffic and some light rolling hills. They have never charged us to ride into the park.... But I guess in theory they could.

The repair section on 8/25/2013