Like you "knock on wood" the few times that I've been on The Trail after dark I haven't had any run ins with the "undesirable" element that likes to prowl The Trail. I have however encountered a number of braindead individuals who for whatever reason thought that it'd be a "good idea" to sit down in the middle of the bicycle side of The Trail. As well as those who are out walking their dogs and letting said dogs wander all over The Trail.

Yeah, or how one isn't using the bike lane because of it running in the door zone. I had an encounter not too long ago where a "former" motorist (they were now out of their car waiting to cross the road) called me an "ffen" arsehole for not riding in the bike lane, even after I explained to him that it wasn't safe to do so. His "logic" was that the city installed them we cyclists "need" to use them. Apparently even when they're unsafe to use.

It's a rail-to-trails trail, so I'm not sure who "owns" it, as it does pass through several Pinellas County cities.

Agreed, I've been in windowless rooms that weren't as dark as some of the sections of The Trail.

Black Motobecane Cafe Express8. I call it Kit, I am it's Hasselhoff.

Cowboy, I couldn't reply to your pm. Not enough posts yet I did talk to the officer. He was a decent guy, seemed like he wouldn't care but according to him someone was complaining. I found a safer night route on google maps that uses a side road with only a short run on Seminole Blvd. Traffic isn't too bad that time of night, but people coming off the side streets don't tend to give a crap. Well, the people that caused me to run into their rear fender with my pickup anyways.

Volunteer to become an auxilliary parks patrolman....Problem solved!

I'm a bit surprised that 19 doesn't have a bike lane on both the N and S side. It's seems to be a major road going past shopping centers. Maybe what you might want to consider is start up a petition at bike shops in town and see if you can signatures to attempt to have some put in. OR, have a petition started that would keep the park open only to cyclists at night? That would be the cheapest alternative for the city because painting lanes on a road can cost $5,000 to $50,000 per mile, and you could argue for the city to save money and leave the park open, and cost the city nothing in additional money for a bike lane, and would probably save the city money due to lower emergency responses for bicycle related accidents. Then add a law that would forbid loitering, cars and pedistrians in the park after hours. Just a thought.

I cannot recommend that you break laws either including traffic laws. It is not more dangerous to wait at light, national safety records have shown a high degree of bicycle fatalities due to cyclists running lights and stop signs...not while stopped.

I think the officer was telling you a story, why would someone complain about a cyclist riding through the park on a silent bicycle unless you had a ghetto blaster on your bars cranked up?

That's good to hear, as sadly there are those who can be arseholes. It's also too bad that someone has complained. Which unless you were riding/operating some sort of motorized vehicle on The Trail or making a lot of noise. I don't really see why they should have been complaining.

It's also good to hear that you were able to find an alternative route. I would suggest going to B.O. and talking to them as they can help you plan out other routes.

That's an idea, or maybe working with the various shops in the area, several of which are members of the S.W.F.B.U.D. Alliance and police, about forming a civilian patrol for the trail.

Sadly, there are a lot of roads that only have bike lanes on one side or the other. One would think that logically it would make sense to put bike lanes on both sides of a road. Cars/motorized vehicles are already barred from use of the trail, that sadly doesn't stop some people from riding their scooters/mopeds on The Trail. As logical as that is, next we'd have pedestrians lobbying for access as well. It would be better to just open the bloody thing up 24/7 and to install lights and security cameras and to increase the patrols along The Trail itself.

He could have been, or he could have been telling the truth. People do complain for the dumbest of reasons.

If you do decide to continue riding the trail at night, bring some pepper spray or something. Doesn't sound like it's too dangerous on the section you ride, but if it's closed at dark because of trouble-makers, you'll want to have something to even out the odds a bit if you happen to run into one.

The OP is about 8 miles west of US19. There is not a trail along 19, yet. The Progress Trail is being built but does not, at this time, extend south of Belleair. When completed it will parallel US 19 in a lot of areas and run from Eastlake to Weedon Island Preserve.

Fight it if you get a citation. Involve every elected official you can. I had a similar situation commuting home from my last job. I'd get off anywhere between 12am and 3am and my choices were:

A) Ride on a trail that officially closes at 10pm but is patrolled by police.

B) Risk life and limb on a road that serves as the main vein between two cities and is known for the number of drunk and/or disorderly drivers. People getting DUI's on that 5 mile stretch of road is a nightly thing, several times a night, 7 days a week.

I was 'pulled over' several times when I first started using the trail, but the cops really had no interest in someone who wasn't doing anything other than trying to get home from work.

FYI I don't consider the road more dangerous, I consider drivers at night in cars, not paying attention more dangerous. I think the road itself is fine... especially as it is probably lit up.

And "danger" around here uses interesting statistics... where the actual injury has little to do with the perception of danger... Getting hit by a car carries a far higher risk of severe injury than falling down and scraping your knees... yet folks here constantly tout the "dangers" of paths while ignoring the severity of the dangers involved.

Now that all said... sure, an unlit path with perhaps a handful of miscreants, might not be the best place to ride. And I too have found dark paths at night to be less than welcoming... of course the reason those paths are dark, is that again, cycling and paths are NOT considered part of a transportation network here in the good old USA. Bikes are toys and paths are for recreation. Hence the core reason the path is closed at night... when no similar road would be.

And sadly, Walmart and the like aren't helping by locating bicycles in the toy rather than the sporting goods department.

Since the officer doesn't care and it was only because of a complaint, you might try again after a couple of weeks after the noise has died down.