Palatka-Lake Butler State Trail

Ignoring the forecast calls for rain, Pete Ensing and I enjoyed a remarkably pleasant bike ride on the Palatka-Lake Butler State Trail Saturday morning. The new, nicely maintained, end to end distance of 21 miles gave us our total of 42 with perfect weather.

Fast Feet First Friends

A slow, relaxing morning and an unexpected phone call resulted in an impromptu reunion with my recumbent mentor. Dave Greenbaum and I enjoyed a gorgeous and somewhat spirited spring ride around some of our old rural haunts near O'Leno and Ichetucknee State Parks.

Palatka-Lake Butler State Trail

Wayne Bettis was kind enough to show me that the trail has grown since last I rode it. The western extension has a grass lot parking area and is at FL 100 and CR 18 east, west of Keystone Heights, extending the existing trail by about two miles.
Wayne and Artie joined me for a ride from end to end for 41 miles round trip, and we also discovered a brand new trailhead in Florahome, FL with restrooms, bicycle tools, and concrete parking.

Cooler Runnings

No matter which goldenrod you follow, it looks like we'll have much better riding weather, as first frost is due in six weeks.

Withlacoochee State Trail

Mark, Russ, and I met up with this CRABS gang in Inverness this morning for a real nice ride in the shade down to Lake Townsend and stopped off here at Floral Park for a break. Pictured are George, Tommy, Phil, Charlie, Dick, Mary, and Glenn.

Just Ride

It's not about being fast or slow, it's about being out there!

Palm Coast Pedalers

Wayne, Russ, Marty, and Bob met me on the Palm Coast Linear Park this morning just before nine o'clock. We nosed into a very light headwind and made our way down to the Lehigh Trail which used up our morning in relative shade as we rode to Bunnell and back.

We then crossed the Intracoastal Waterway to land our lunch at the Flagler Fish Company in lovely Flagler Beach. After a few minutes overlooking the boardwalk and pier, we were out on A1A northbound with a positively wonderful tailwind all the way up to Washington Oaks State Park (photo). On the way back, another left turn to the beach once more, then down we went... Into "The Rabbit Hole", a nearly surreal riding experience that scoots you along completely surrounded by palmettos while winding left and right on a fast, but lightly straw covered, concrete path.

Emerging from the hole, we climb again up and back over the waterway into Palm Coast and enjoy its many threads of trails along the waterway itself, down to "Waterfront Park" and then finally back to our trailhead of origin. A quite pleasant day of riding totaling 48 miles.