Bike in Orlando? Help?!?
 

First...I apologize if this is a bit off topic. If I need to move to a different thread, please let me know. I am new to bikeforums, and you guys (and gals) are the only ones that may have seen me around!

I am traveling on vacation to Orlando next week, and since I am new to cycling (and commuting), I don't want to get "out of the groove" of riding every day or every other day... Does anyone here know of a place in Orlando where I can rent a bike?

If someone in this forum has an extra bike that they are willing to rent out to me for a few days next week, it would be GREATLY appreciated! It would be fun to rider around a new city! :)

Thanks for any help you guys can provide!!!

I have no clue about rental places, but if they dont have it, you can always check a thrift store or a pawn shop for something to ride. And when you leave, you can pawn it back, or give it for thrift.

Or you can accept the fate of riding a department store bike for a little while. As long as you get it back within thirty days they will normally let you return it. A "friend" of mine has done this twice at walmart. Once to cruise around on a road bike that they had. I rode that around for a couple of days, but the brakes were so bad I thought I might die. Then I wanted to ride some trails in the niehborhood, so I got the coolest looking 50 pound mountain bike they had. It had disc brakes in the front and shocks...Besides the bad shifting it actually worked pretty well. Each time I returned the bikes within 30 days and got a full refund, my reason was that I was just going to look at a different model. They really need to do something about the return policy. Anyway thats what I would do if I were in a different city on vacation.

What part of orlando are you going to be in? The riding here is really not very good to be honest.

this sounds like pure scam artistry...i love it and can't wait to use it on my next vacation!

I travel to Orlando alot and ceridwen is right abot the riding there, the traffic is terrible.

Thanks all for the replies... That's too bad about the traffic. Maybe I won't even try if it is too bad.

Are there any decent MUP's to hop on anywhere in the area? I'm not exactly sure where we will be...all I know is that it will be at a Marriott Vacation Club.

I kinda like the thrift / pawn shop idea. I also really like the dept. store idea too! :) I just gotta justify it in my head first! :)

If you are there for Disney/Universal/Convention center type stuff, I've got no idea of the MUPs over there (I'm at UCF on the other side of town). I can tell you that traffic in that area is *bad* though. Even worse than on my side.

Here are a couple of links with maps. There are some pretty nice MUPs. What area of town will you be in? Saying A Marriot around here doesn't really narrow it down a whole lot:) . The long path that runs from Winter Park through to Apopka has some nice stretches, and is probably the best bet relatively close to the theme parks.

http://www.metroplanorlando.com/site/plans/maps.asp

http://www.cityoforlando.net/plannin.../tourmaps.html

Thanks Hemlock. These definitely help. Now I just need to find a bike or two (one for my brother)!

If you're willing to drive a little (about 45 minutes) Cleremont is a much better place to ride. Less traffic, and even a few hills. Unsure about rentals but check onlune, I'm sure there's something.

Not sure if Orange Cycle rents bikes but it's a great shop. Maybe give them a call.


Last time I was in Orlando (last Sept) I saw lots of bike lanes and bign signs.
If you want terrible traffic, come to Atlanta.

I didn't think of this when I posted before, but I could swear that the stations on this trail (the one I mentioned before being nearer the attractions) rents bikes.

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/gwt/guide...est_orange.htm

Try the contact info on that page, if they don't rent there they may be able to point you in the right direction.

It took me over two months to figure out how to get from one side of Orlando to the other without getting in some pretty bad traffic areas. Best place to drive and ride to is the Clarmont area.

Hemlock is right the bike shop at the West end of the trail rents bikes.

Roadpig2001 and ceridwen are also right about the bad riding around here...actually I would go a step further and say the riding SUCKS around here. All things are relative to where your coming from though...I just moved from Oakland CA where the riding is a dream.