So, I had already taken today off to make the most of this being a 3 day weekend, but to make todays ride even better, I haven't been able to get on my bike for a week and a half due to a bout of "Hand Mouth Foot Disease" (thanks day care!). Surprisingly this week has been a bit cooler and much drier than we ever get to see here in Florida (no less in late August/early September). Today was no exception. After waiting for the traffic to ease, I loaded up the car and headed out the road around 9am. I got to the trails and was riding by 9:30, with low humidty and a temperature of around 84F degrees. Considering the last few rides I have been on have been in 94F+ and highly humid weather, this was an absolute blessing.
Due to all the rain we have had the last few weeks, a fellow SWAMPer had posted a "dry ride" itenerary for the Wilderness Trails.
I parked out at the Trout Creek parking lot and headed for the first two trails, Bayshore and Coconut Grove. These are two of the nicest trails I have ever ridden on. Nice flowing trails with little climbs and drops, a few roots here and there to keep it technical. After finishing up these trails I continued down the access road and crossed Fletcher and dropped into Hole in The Fence. I felt like I would be pretty safe today, as it appears that several law enforcement agencies were out on a group ride. I hit the rollers and then down to Misery. I rode misery to the Main trail and then down to Palmetto. I ran into the peloton of Police officers on the main trail, and they all gave me a "hey!". From Palmetto I ran down Grandpa, to Techno Pig (Piglet was closed) and then caught the main trail. I rode the main trail up to Morris Bridge, hit the highway down to Flatwoods and into the main trail again. Since the inner loop trails were pretty damp, I stuck to the paved trail and rode it around to the top of the loop and stopped to get a drink and take some pictures.
A controlled burn was recently performed out here:
After drinking a bit of water and catching my breath (hadn't taken a break yet at this point) I continued down the trail toward the Bruce B. Downs parking area, rode over the bridge at the high water point (the paved trail was under what looked like 2-3 feet of water). I headed for the berm so I could ride down and catch the trails at the end of trout creek. I stopped and took a few pictures of the trails around markers 43-44:
Finally, I finished up my run and headed back to the car, happy to have gotten out and put some miles on the bike.
Ride Stats and Map:
Started: Sep 3, 2010 9:29:21 AM
Ride Time: 1:30:10
Stopped Time: 2:34
Distance: 14.39 miles
Average: 9.58 miles/h
Fastest Speed: 17.97 miles/h
Climb: 113 feet
Calories: 567
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