bikecrate

The Alexander Springs to Clearwater Lake loop is the one I was thinking about. A bit far south for me if I was doing a door to door ride.

I'm not looking for trails for the sake of a place to ride. I can get plenty of miles on the roads. I just wanted to incorporate some of the unpaved roads in there as well.

rumrunn6

stay away from the edges & looks like you might be OK



or just skip it cuz sand is evil. rent a MTB & ride that trail designated for MTBs ?

Caliper

I've been on ATV/snowmobile trails that are such loose and deep sand that it's a pain to even walk on them. The other thing to consider is that sand conditions can be heavily dependent on many variables; how much it has rained recently, humidity, recent traffic levels, etc.

A 40mm tire gravel bike can definitely do a lot in sand, but as it gets deeper and looser the going gets worse and less fun for any appreciable distance. At some point it becomes a high effort bike handling exercise just staying upright. A good skill but not something for exploring miles of such a surface, especially if you are still developing the skill.

If this is a fairly local ride, go ahead and try your current bike. You won't be out that much if you have to abandon the ride. If this is a further away trip, I'd look into renting/borrowing/buying something with 3" to 5" tires (ie: a plus tires or fat tires) They will cope with the worse end of sandy conditions far better. That way, if you get there and it's really soft your ride won't be ruined. If it's firmer then you have had a chance to scout the location and learn for next time.

bikecrate

I was poking around the internet and found this. Price is just about right, specs aren't bad, and it looks like it already comes with some large tires and perhaps room for larger.

Breezer Radar Expert

phobus

The National Forest Service has an interactive map:

https://www.fs.fed.us/ivm/index.html

You can check out all the trails in the Ocala NF there. Lots of good detail, although you'll probably have to do some recon to see how the real sandy stuff is labeled. I would assume anything it calls suitable for passenger cars or managed for biking would be fine though.

I did some research on the Florida scenic trail recently and from what I remember, bikes were specifically not allowed on most if not all of the route.

bikecrate

There's also a information station on the way into the forest. Probably will stop in and ask some questions. It would be great if I could ride on the FL Trail. There is a connection only a few miles from where I'm going to be and it heads in the right direction for most of the rides I would like to do.

phobus

Let me know what you find. I've been casually planning a route and would like to make use of the trail if possible, too.