Jacksonville-Baldwin Trail

Almost as much fun as riding a trail is sharing one with someone who's not yet seen it. Don and Mei joined us in Baldwin for their first trip on this particular trail and Deanne and I enjoyed showing them around. First, we took in the two miles to the west end and then turned about to head toward Jacksonville.

The first day in quite some time with a reduced chance of rain seemed to really bring folks out. There were riders of all types cruising along in both directions, about the busiest I remember ever seeing it. At one point Mei and I chased up to a pace line that had just passed us and hung on to the back for a mile or so, surprising the head first riders somewhat.



Apparently due to all the rain we have been having, there is some fairly serious erosion of the trail surface edges in a few places, but evidence suggests maintenance crews have the situation well under control. Otherwise the overall condition of the trail was excellent, as usual.

We took in a visit to the park about midway where the Harvey House and all the carefully planted oak trees are, including a roll along the boardwalk through the piney woods. This is all back behind the trailside restroom facilities. There was the hint of an isolated shower looming as we turned around at the Jacksonville trailhead and some sprinkles followed us downwind back to Baldwin.

No trip to Baldwin is complete without a stop at Everybody's Restaurant, so we stopped in to find it was "Chicken Day!" The special on Saturdays is their terrific fried chicken. And it "...is served with not one, not two, but three sides of your choosing for only $7.10!", we overheard the ever-engaging waitress announce to a neighboring table.

Photos are in the Gallery and the map of the ride is on the Trails Guide.

32 miles and smiles
O\vo~