Yep.... Had to go look up Ocklawaha Prairie Restoration area. Quite a bit of trails... And primitive camping (just have to con the 2 friends into going... haah). I wonder what the shelter is on the map?

Anyway.... Another place to ride to put on the list..

How did your knee hold up?

I went for a short ride the other day... Had 2 flats as a result... Doh!!

After a week off due to a small injury, I was able to get out and do 33 miles today on a beautiful Tampa evening.

I went for a ride on the bike yesterday!!!!

It was only a mile, down the street and back, but I did it! Even stood up and sprinted a little.

Holy freaking cow, that was the most awesome bike ride I've had in years. Won't be long now.

Congrats x 2 .... How is the trike coming along?

Nice pics Linda. :thumb:


I got the new handlebar, stem, and seatpost for the Litespeed on Saturday and put them on the bike yesterday. Compared the adjustments with the Felt and went for a ride today. Did my usual 33 miles. The Litespeed felt awesome -- kinda like it did when it was new. It's amazing how the bike changes over time. Or is it my body that changed? :twitchy:

Yep... I managed to get a ride in on the way back from taking my mom to her doc appointment in Gainesville. Went to the center parking area on the Gainesville Hawthorne trail and rode some of the dirt trails on the 29'er. 8 or 9 miles with a bit over an hr ride time I think.... PERFECT weather.

They are working on a walkway over one of the "wet" areas. Going to be nice when they get it done. In the rainy season it can get pretty wet and muddy there.

Also since I rode out there last they have blazed another whole new trail. About 2 miles I think, I think it's an out and back trail. I'm not really sure because when I got to the area with the 2 picnic tables I kind of lost the trail. It looked like I was riding on somebody's property. If the trail did not end there.... I'm sure where it went. There aren't any maps yet. I think with the new trail it makes for about 8-10 miles of off road riding... Mostly in the shade too.

Anyway a pretty nice ride... If you have a mountain bike... its pretty cool you can ride the paved part of the trail.. and then to change it up... ride some off the off road trails.

Just a few pics....

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=224369http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=224370http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=224371

I sat on my bike and felt the cool breeze then I came back inside as there was ice on the road

i will ride in the morning from home to company and then ride from company to home when i am work off.....

just saw your post on this. Hubby and I tried to find the primitive camping area when we were there but never found it. Didn't spend lots of time looking though as we were headed back with a leaky back tire. Knee is doing great! I swear though that 10 miles on the mountain bike feels like at least 20 on the road bike sometimes. I guess partly because my tire was low and it was harder to pedal.

This place is nice to ride but I will tell you that the map is a little deceiving. We headed to the right after we crossed the bridge (I think that would be north)and road the shellrock road on the top of the dike about 4.5 miles. That's where the shellrock ends. It then makes a turn to the left and goes over the river. Then it turns into grassy/sometimes wet/sometimes sandy area for at least another 7 miles and that was tough.(we rode the complete loop last year.) Hubby kept asking if I wanted to turn around but I thought we were more than half way and said no. (I regretted that later.) We finally got back to the dike shellrock road and I swear I was a bright shade of red.....and this was last winter!! I think we saw that the loop is about 13-14 miles but it sure felt longer on the other side. On Sunday when I was there I said to hubby "we should try again" and he just looked at me and laughed. Also, last year we saw a bobcat that was up on top of the dike. He saw us and took off...luckily. No other wildlife sightings though. Very scenic ride especially at this time of the year when the weather is nice.

Yep there were almost NO bugs the whole hour or so I was out there.... except for a few gnats... It was nice and dry right now, even the low spots where they are working on the boardwalk. I kind of like the idea of riding the off road trails and if you want to ride more... just hop on the g.ville trail. Looked like the grass was cut on the trial (where there was grass)...

Jay.....

Linda .... I always say 10 miles in the dirt easily equates to 20 miles on the pavement... And I really think that is so too. The other day when I rode, I swear it felt like my tires were just sticking to the trail. NO mud or anything but the bed of leaves, pine needles and grass just makes it seem that way.

Does sound like a pretty cool ride. It looked like on the map the shelter was on the back side of the long looping trail. I think I remember you posting pictures from your ride there last year now that you mentioned the bob cat.

I dunno.... The one friend sent me pictures of bikes he is looking at..... Maybe he really will get one... haha

It was a gorgeous day so decided to do an extra lap at Stone Mtn today for a total of 38 miles. :)

Trike is going slowly, just haven't had the time.

And I did a 19 mile ride yesterday!!!!! Went out with the group, it was about 45F, and very windy, so I bundled up and pulled all my cold-weather commuting gear out. I had no problems with 19 miles, though I was starting to get a little tired at the end, as I didn't eat much breakfast. The owner of the local pro bike shop was with me (along with half a dozen others) and we stopped at a nice coffee shop afterwards.

I AM BACK!

Fall is here. :(
It was 48 degrees when I left on my ride today. :eek: Got dressed for the cool temps and hit the road. Did 33 SLOW miles. My muscles just don't work well when the temperatures drop. :(
My wife is waiting for me to win the lottery so we can have a summer home in north GA or western NC and a summer home in a warmer place. Sounds good to me.

Where would the summer home be? Florida? California? Hawaii?

Did you get hit with the snow we got in NYC this weekend?

Glad to see you back Funky! Feels great, doesn't it?

Sunday we rode the mbs out @ Inglis Island Trails. Perfect day. A little cool when we started...maybe in the low 50s but it warmed up nicely. The rain we've had recently helped the sandy areas so they weren't bad either. We rode the trail that goes around the perimenter of the island...overall only about 7 miles. Towards the end the winds had picked up and we were riding into them. Beautiful area to ride if anyone gets over that way.
Here's a good map if anyone is interested...I put some notes on a couple of the areas on the map.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=225165

Same ride today only on the Felt.
Let me know when April gets here. :o

Great 65 mile ride at the Space Coast Intracoastal Waterway Century on Sunday and a 50 mile ride today with a friend. Winds were about 25 mph Sunday and 20 mph today from the ENE. Brutal going out but great on the way home.

Did my usual 33 mile ride on the Litespeed. Started with arm and knee warmers, vest, full finger gloves. When I got to Stone Mtn it all came off. Good thing I have those 3 rear pockets on my jerseys to stuff everything in. :)

Yesterday afternoon, I rode 40 miles around Houston, Dale and Geneva counties in SE Alabama with every mile absolutely beautiful! Clouds set in near the end of the ride as did a pretty stiff northeasterly wind. I added arm warmers for the last few miles, encountering drizzle in the last mile. Every ride is an adventure!

I was planning on doing 3 laps around Stone Mtn but was tired after 2 laps. Not sure why. Was I tired because of yesterday's massage? :rolleyes: It usually doesn't affect my riding.
The weather was kinda cloudy but warm enough for only arm warmers. They came off as soon as I got to SM.

yes, I did about 15 miles around the Lake Mary/Cassadaga Florida area. These are such cool little towns. If any of you live around them you should check them out. Cassadaga is a Spiritualist town that was created just for that purpose back in the 1870's. The have a bed and breakfast in town if you are traveling far and you can get a spiritual reading while there. I just went for a bike ride which was spiritual enough for me.

Brain lapse correction = Lake Helen/Cassadaga Florida!