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Road Trip – West Coast of Florida – Part 1

Dec 24

Posted by admin in Bicycling General, Bicycling Places | 1 Comment

Susan and I are on a road trip.  While we have taken many road trips by flying to a location and renting a car . . . this one is a first.

We left from home in NY with our bicycles in the car. We took several days to get down to Florida, visiting various cities along the way.

In the next week we hope to ride the three big rail trails in the central western part of the state.

Today we started in Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park, just east of Port Richey.  There are six to seven miles of bicycle trail in the park.  The surface in the park and on the rail trail is asphalt with crushed stones embedded. The riding is flat and smooth, though not quite as smooth as 100% asphalt.

The first and last 6.5 miles of our ride, where on this trail.

The first and last 6.5 miles of our ride, where on this trail.

In the park, the scenery is nothing short of WOW!.  It is not spectacular, but there is a strong urge to slow down and just soak in the atmosphere.

The riding is flat with mostly semi open vistas, like the one in the photo.

THE SUNCOAST TRAIL starts where the park trail ends.  It runs six miles to the southor 33+ miles to the north.

The trail does run along the Sun Ccoast Toll Road…but sometimes swings off the highway for awhile.  For most of this ride there was close up forest on one side and landscape (across the highway) forest on the other.

There are good stretches were you could even pace line if you wished.

We did a leisurely 30 miles along the two trails.  However, you could do close to 100miles   if you did the whole thing.

Sun Coast Trail – about 42 miles one way.

Suncoast Rail Trail

Bird Viewing area along the rail trail.

More tomorrow.

Glenn

Bicycling Oregon – Willamette Valley

Jul 26

Posted by admin in Bicycling Places | 4 Comments

Tucked about a hour away from Portland, Oregon is a different place.   The Willamette Valley (accent on the la) is an area of vineyards, farms, small cities and much open land.  Where Portland’s weather in summer is in the 60s and low 70s, The Willamette Valley is in the 70s, 80s and 90s, and very dry.

Susan and I had the opportunity to ride there today from the B & B we are staying at.

Here is the good and the bad.

The free mountain bikes at the B & B are all there is, as the bike shop in town does not rent bicycles and there is nothing else nearby.  The owners are, obviously, casual cyclists as the men’s bike was a Trek and the womens, a Huffy!  Both are in need of serious tune ups.  However, they were ride able if you knew how to futz with brakes and shifting.

Glenn is ready to ride.

The ride start is good.  Down  you go from the hilltop B & B and turn onto roads that descend more than they ascend (yes, the bad comes later).  We passed open fields, vineyards, llama farms, tiny towns, teenagers jumping off a bridge into the ‘ole water hole’ and a full wood log railroad trestle.

Top of the .8 mile driveway. Four sections over 20%.  One at 29%.                                                           LLama farming

We meandered over rolling terrain on heavy mountain bikes with under inflated tires in 90 degree heat.  So, we are bit dedicated or stupid.  The ride was as lovely as we were hot.

Most of the roads were super quiet, except State Route 99.  While a busy road, it had a good shoulder and was flatter than the alternatives.

The end was the payback however.  Until the last 1.5 miles we had descended 1000 feet and ascended 500 feet.

SO… up we went.  The first .7 miles was not too bad and gained us 200 feet.

However, the last .8 miles was the driveway up to the B & B.  Four sections of this driveway (all paved) had grades over 20%!  Maybe it was the heat.  Maybe it was the heavy bike.  Maybe it was me, but for the first time in 12 years I had to walk parts of that driveway.  The last part was so steep that I had to rest while walking the bike!!!

Loved the ride.  Would even put up with the bikes. Will not do that driveway again, however.  So another ride is up in the air.  If the owners will drive the bikes back up, I may go out again.  We’ll see.

The quieter view from the B&B.

BTW: Oregon is an incredibly bicycle friendly state. There are bike lanes everywhere, even on highways.  On one highway from Portland to the Airport, I even saw off road bike paths! Motorists and cyclists seriously share the road.
There was even a sign at a busy right hand turn in Bend, Or.  “Motorists Yield to Cyclists”.

In Portland there are multiple bike hooks in the cars of the light rail system.

More on this in another blog, however.

Glenn

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Riding In Another Place

Sep 20

Posted by admin in Bicycling Places | 2 Comments

There is something surreal about bicycling in The Grand Tetons.

One of many views of the Grand Tetons

Regardless of which way you ride, there is open prairie on one side and the majestic peaks of the Tetons on the other. Susan and I had an opportunity to ride through this landscape. As with the Mickelson Trail ride, the ride was flat to rolling, but the base altitude was 6,000 feet.

We both had road bikes, but Susan elected to ride with sneakers on stb pedals, making it somewhat difficult.

Anyway, to the ride.

A friend ours has one married child living in Jackson Hole, WY. As a result we had a personal tour guide for our ride.

We started out on T ride from Antelope Flats Road. By that I mean we rode a road shaped like a T out and back (riding each section twice). Considering it was 18 miles and four turns this was great. We did see blue birds, osprey, eagle and antelope. Our views below.

Susan

After riding the T, we went down the highway about a mile to ride in the park itself. While you can ride on the road in the Grand Tetons, there is, at current, an eight mile paved asphalt path from the the southern end of the park to Jenny Lake Lodge. It is very lightly used. There are plans to extend the trail. For our ride, however, at the end of the trail, we rode a few miles on the main Teton road and did the loop road to Jenny Lake.

All told, the ride was about 40 miles.


Above, the bike path and wild flowers.

More photos here

Glenn

109 Miles or Less of The Black Hills of S.D.

Aug 13

Posted by admin in Bicycling Places | 4 Comments

The George Mickelson Trail is 109 miles of hard pack and gravel running along the Black Hills of South Dakota.

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On our trip out west we interspersed site seeing with a couple of bike rides. As low landers, we gave our bodies a little time to adjust to the 6,000 foot altitude by spending some time in The Badlands (another beautiful place to cycle) the previous day.

 

The riding is mostly through uninhabited areas, with a few moments passing limited civilization or a stretch alongside the highway.

 

Rabbit Bicycle, Hill City, SD

 

About three blocks from the trail head in Hill City, SD is Rabbit Bicycle. They are real patient and helpful. Susan and I must have tried six different bikes before settling on what to ride. Originally, we looked at the comfort hybrids, but the configuration was all wrong for people used to a more aggressive position. The high end hybrids would have worked, but the additional cost was somewhat steep. We finally rode away on some mid range mountain bikes. Thank you Rabbit Bicycle.

 

Mickelson Bike Trail

 

The section of the trail we rode from Hill City to Custer and back was a steady but gentle nine mile climb, followed by a steady but gentle six mile down hill, with the reverse coming back.

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The trail flowed through several changes of scenery and was lightly traveled. We started out rather slowly, partially to get used to the different bicycles, but also because of the altitude. The ride up the first nine miles put us in a mellow and pleased state of mind as the views unfolded and the quiet surrounded us. At the top we saw the profile of Chief Crazy Horse sculpted from granite, in the side of the mountain. The ride down to Custer required little pedaling if you were not in a hurry and was a good change of pace from the climb up.

 

There are more photos here.

 

 

After a brief snack in Custer we headed back up the six miles to Chief Crazy Horse. Unfortunately a strong headwind had developed so we had to really work for awhile.

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At the water stop the sky clouded over and rain seemed imminent. In a strange sense this was good news for me. Nothing lights a fire under Susan as the prospect of rain while cycling. We flew down the last nine miles and beat the rain that never came. The people at Rabbit Bicycle, however, did tell us it was just as well we were back because they not only get rain….but sometimes hail!.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A great ride in a new area of the the US.

Feel free to comment or tell us about a great ride of yours, with or without photos. If it is interesting and detailed enough, I may publish it as a separate blog.

 

Glenn