We're supposed to be there in Oct so I'm planning to do the Rails to Trails Ride on Oct 2.
My wife and I do the October ride every year. I think we may have missed only 1 since the rides started.
That was a nice read! 
Looks to be about an hour north of the Tampa / St. Petersburg area, yes?
We are about an hour and a half North of Tampa.
I have long heard that the Southern most part of Florida, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, etc. is not bike friendly at all.
I don't really know about that. We usually go North in the summer for vacation to cool down a little.