NoviceJohn

Hey guys,

I'm planning on visiting my brother in South Florida and on the way, I am thinking of stopping by the LOST (Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail), a 110 mile trail (about half is paved) and do some riding. I've never rode and read many reviews on it. Most stated there is no shade (no trees) and no bathrooms/water on the trail, which is fine. If I need to urinate, I'll do it off to the side. My two camelbak bottles survived me before on a 70 mile ride. This shouldn't be any different. Anyway, I was wondering if anyone has rode on the LOST and can give me their feedback (good or bad, specifics are much appreciated)

Thanks guys

ctpres

Didn't go all the way around but did put many miles on the paved section this winter. True no water or very hard to find. Shade yes - north and east side has rest stops about every 3 miles just a little bench with tin roof. Weekends tend to have more traffic. If you can ride during the week you can put in a lot of miles between humans. There are numerous vehicle gates with open walk thrus on the sides. Would not recommend riding thru them as some have large bolts that would make a real mess out of your leg. You will enjoy it.

floridamtb

+1
I've ridden some of it, I have more experience with the levees around the Broward County Everglades area near where I live. Depending on when you go you will be miserably hot (I'm used to it) so take plenty of water or Gatorade, at this time of year get out there early! Also check the wind direction and plan accordingly as the wind can really alter your riding experience.

stonecrd

I rode about half of it and never went back. Your riding on the top of the levee so hot, windy and little to look at. The gates were a complete PITA, plenty of better places to ride.

floridamtb

Ride the Keys!

PaulRivers

Has anyone else actually ridden the Keys? I was down this year, and it seemed to have 2 potential issues:

1. Some parts of the keys smelled AWFUL after a rainstorm. I mean seriously, I don't think I've ever smelled anything else as an adult that made me want to physically throw up. At least in my car I drove past them fairly quickly (though there were several). Can't imagine that on a bike...

2. Some of the bridges have separate bike paths, but some did not, and you had to ride on the shoulder with highway-speed traffic buzzing by you. The longest bridge at the end was over a mile and was like this.

Really curious about better places to bike while in Florida, though...

Miami Biker

Live a South of Miami so here are a few areas to explore depending on where you will be.

1) Key Biscayne is an island with our highest area mountain (bridge). Many bikers go there and go to end to the park.

2) Miami Beach by the causeway, a low bridge that gets you from Miami to SOBE.

3) South of Miami are two marinas, Blackpoint which can be a destination or a starting point

4) Bayfront Marina is about 11 miles south west and then east of Blackpoint. Go by back of Homestead Air Force Base

5) Beyond Bayfront is speedway and then can ride West to Roberts or La Casita which are food places west in the Redlands. Can go further South to Everglades National Park or to old Nike Base where we planted missiles trained south to Cuba in 1960s.

South of Blackpoint little traffic and lots of bikers on weekends.

Have fun

NoviceJohn

Thanks for the feedback! It's my first time so I'll see if I like it or not. I expect to be hot since it's close to summer so I'll ride as much as I can without burning myself. I'm planning on riding on the south side since that's where most of the paved path is (based on a map created by a cyclist who rode the entire LOST). I probably will start in the middle of that south section so I can have somewhat a break area (my vehicle) when I turn back to head to the other end of that section. One last question. I understand there are wildlife out there, including gators. Will any of them actually be on the trail or laying on the side of the trail?

Yankeetowner

Orlando: West Orange Trail, which connects to the South Lake Minneola trail and goes to Clermont and Minneola with some nice Florida hills. I do my evening 25-40 mile training rides here. A little crowded on weekends.

Dunnellon/Inverness: Withlacoochee Trail which is currently 46 miles (a new 3 mile extension on the North is open, but there is a couple mile gap to the extension) from Dunnellon on the North to near Dade City on the South. A lot of shade, and a lot of country roads to which you can venture. You can also take the country roads to Brooksville and this area has some nice rolling hills. Never crowded, and I do my weekend rides here.

ctpres

I rode NE section from Taylor Creek south for about 25 miles for two months almost daily. Never saw a gator. Couple dillo's, some small snakes and lots of birds.

otg 

I saw this guy near Clewiston. was under a bridge near the pumping station where they control the flow to the Caloosahatchee waterway. I stopped in there to talk with the operators and they let me fill my water bottles from their cooler.

merlinextraligh

Central part of the state. Clermont (outside of Orlando) and Ocala. Lovely rolling bucolic countryside. and some surprisingly steep (albeit short) climbs.

Lots of bike lane along the coast on A1A (at least in the right areas). You can do a great ride from Amelia Island to Jax Beach on to St Augustine, with great ocean views, much of it undeveloped, and all bike lanes, or residential streets.

In South Florida, the ride along the coast is nice from Palm Beach to around Boyton Beach, with bike lanes is nice.

NoviceJohn

My brother lives in Coral Springs and I want to try A1A in that area. Do you know how A1A is in terms of bike lanes and the amount of traffic?

stonecrd

In that area (Hillsboro if you go straight east) there are some bike lanes and going North is better than south. As for traffic it depends on day of the week and time of the day. Mornings will be lighter as will weekdays. Weekends between 10-6 you have a lot of beach traffic. IMO the main challenge with A1A even with bike lanes is the condo driveways. You have people pulling in/out onto A1A frequently so you need to pay attention. Probably the best area but not scenic to ride is where I live in Weston you have about 30mi of bike lanes and little traffic issues, most groups ride through here on weekends and most group rides start around 7:30a on weekends.

1748357

I used to live in the lower keys, between Marathon and Key West, which is the most rural part.

I never experienced any smells after rain. One awesome thing about the keys is that after a rain, the roads can be dry in ~30 minutes. They are currently building a trail from Key Largo to Key West, it's not done yet so there are times where you will be riding right next to highway traffic (including semis). That is something you just have to get used to if you ride there. In my opinion, the hardest part about riding in the keys is the heat and the wind. This is especially true where I used to live because there are very few places to stop if you need water and food and there is little to no shade if you need a break. My worst bonk ever was in the keys, but that was when I was new to cycling. As long as you bring enough water and food, it's an awesome ride and an awesome place.

floridamtb

The trail is complete in the upper keys and all it is is a paved 4-5 foot path, most places it has a lot of bumps, roots etc. Not a ride I want to take my $3000 carbon road bike on. I've gone from Key Largo down about 30 miles and then back. I'm thinking of starting a little further down next time and see if it's any better. As for the heat etc, I only do the Keys rides in the winter.

1748357

There's a lot more to see the lower you go in the keys. I think I'm going for Memorial Day weekend and I can't wait.

floridamtb

Is the trail in the lower keys better than the northern part? I've driven to Key West (last time was last April) several times and tried to pay attention to it but don't really recall. Also, do you ride a road bike down there or mountain bike? I've only ridden my mountain bike in the Keys, the road seems so harsh and brutal.

Thanks!!

1748357

It's fairly sporadic, but it's getting better. If you take a road bike (which is what I always ride when I'm there) I recommend Gatorskin tires or something similar. I would not use expensive tires that you can race on, they wont last. I prefer the lower keys because you can get closer to water/nature, etc. Sugarloaf and Lower Sugarloaf (~mm 20-17) have some nice trails/roads that I ride and run on whenever I'm there. They're a nice break from U.S. 1.

1748357

Also, I recommend Gatorskins from experience. My first bike had Continental Ultra Sports, which are nothing special but aren't complete junk either. I got flats like it was my job because there is a lot of glass, etc. on U.S. 1. I switched to Gatorskins and never got a flat again.

NoviceJohn

So here's my experience with LOST.

Positives: (1) pretty flat, probably the flattest route I've ever taken, (2) pretty easy to find, was able to park under a overpass for shade, (3) didn't run into any gators.

Negatives: (1) VERY boring, (2) very hot and windy (as I expected though), (3) not very scenic (my pic describes it. Grass on one side, canal on the other) even though it's called the Lake Okeechobee SCENIC Trail, (4) no one was there (only people I saw were a few construction workers building something and a maintenance guy driving by while I was resting. It may be the fact I went on a Thursday morning), (5) resting areas were horrible (it's practically a 4' 2x4 bench with a roof of same length) and I can't imagine when was the last time bench was cleaned.

Conclusion: I was on the Northern paved section and only did 20 miles. The rest of the paved sections (southern part of LOST) were closed till 2016 for rehab. Yea people, 2016. The heat and boredom were the major discouraging factors. Bad experience (not horrible since there were a few positives). I would not go back even if I lived close by just because it's a 23-25 mile drive off the main road to get there. I probably would had a better experience on that 25 mile road (had a bike lane) leading up to the lake because it had tiny bit of shade and the fact I wasn't by myself. Seeing cars drive by and a few houses / farms are better than grass and canal. Good thing it was on the way to my bro's house or this would have been a total waste of time. No offense to anyone who lives nearby and likes the LOST but I can't imagine a out-of-townee, like myself, would come back after my experience.