kjc9640

Anyone planning on doing this ride? CLEAN AIR RIDE on the Withlacoochee Trail
Where: Inverness Trail Head
270 N Apopka Avenue
Inverness, FL 34450
When: Saturday March 19, 2011 with kickoff 7.00 - 9.00 a.m.
Rain or Shine. No Mass Start. Continental Breakfast for all Entrants
Course: Our trail is the longest paved trail in Florida and listed in National Geographic's Traveler Magazine as one of the top 20 trails in the United States. The World Wildlife Fund says our trail is "one of the coolest places you've never seen".


The ride begins at the Inverness Trail Head this year, with additional SAG stops at Ridge Manor, Istachatta, and Citrus Springs. This paved Withlacoochee State Trail winds through Pasco, Hernando and Citrus Counties in West Central Florida. The Trail Head is 2/10 mile north of the Old Historic Courthouse in downtown Inverness.

Choose from 4 distances on this springtime nature ride:

14 Miles: Heading South from the Trailhead, take our shortest loop and enjoy a scenic ride to Historic Floral City.

28 Miles: Enjoy a fully supported SAG stop at the small town of Nobleton, including a park, music, and restrooms!

48 Miles:
This is our most popular distance and the SAG stop is located at Ridge Manor Trailhead (24 miles South) with large food and beverage support.

100 Miles For the more serious rider. Ride the trail from end to end and complete this 50 mile stretch out and back with limited road crossings and plenty of wide open space to spin your wheels
Century Challenge Riders who complete the 100 mile route will receive a commemorative Century Finisher Medallion to wear proudly.

RonH

GREAT!!! My wife says we're going down to Crystal River sometime in March to spend a week with her 86 year old aunt. I told her I'm bringing my bike. Maybe we'll be there on March 19.

kjc9640

Ron, this is a great ride on a beautiful trail. If my daughter can get off of that Saturday we will be their. Look for us we will be wearing our Tampa Bay Rays jerseys

FL_MarkD

My riding buddies and I have this one on the list for our training rides for the MS150 this year. The trail is very nice and a great place to do a long ride.

KJC..., where did you get the Rays riding jersey, I want one!

Mark

kjc9640

Mark, my daughter got them as Christmas presents for each of us. I think she got them at https://revolutionbikes.com/ I will call her tomorrow to make sure and if I am wrong I will post a correction. The shop is pretty close to the Trop where the Rays play and the owner told her that Joe Madden comes in quite often. He does most of his riding over in Tampa around Davis Island, I am told.

RonH

My wife asked about the date of this ride. Looks like we'll be heading down to Crystal River on March 16 so I'll be there for the ride. Trying to decide which bike to take.

kjc9640

Ron, the ride is Sat March 19, I am still waiting to see if my daughter will be off from work before I make a final commitment. If we both happen to make it let's try to meet up and say hello. You could ride your bike from Crystal River to Inverness. If I not mistaken 44 has a wide shoulder all the way. You can bring any bike you want the trail is very flat and easy to ride. There is always a lot of trikes and recumbents at this ride.

RonH

Sounds great. I'm looking forward to meeting you and any other southeast BF folks that may be there.
The reason I'm trying to decide about the bike is because my Litespeed is my favorite but if the bike got stolen or fell off the trunk rack while heading down I-75, I'd feel "better" if it was the Specialized (new bike).
Weird logic, right?


I don't think I'm ready to ride 20-25 miles from CR to Inverness, then do the 48 mile option, then ride 20-25 miles to get back to CR. You must remember we've been in the dead of winter up here and my longest ride this winter has only been ~35 miles.

kjc9640

I didn't realize it was that far from CR to Inverness. I can understand not wanting to take a chance on the Lightspeed. I sure hope my daughter gets the day off.

RonH

Are there any decent hotels in or near Inverness? Every hotel I found (within 10 miles) has no rooms available March 16-March 20. The closest hotel was in Bellevue. We stayed there last October when we visited family/friends in CR, *****assa, and Orlando. Not close but not far away either.

kjc9640

Ron, can't help you much on the hotel/motel situation. Boatdesigner post on here some and lives in the area perhaps he will have some advice.

4500trek

i would be interested in this ride. being a first timer i have questions. do i need special equiptment for the ride; clothes, shoes? is my 4500 good enough for it or do i need a road bike? do i have to change my peddles for special shoes?

i would do the 28er and depending how i feel the 48er. someone contact me and let me know what i need so in case i go i am prepared. i don't think riding in regular shorts and sneakers would look right. not to mention looking out of place.

also, is there a fee for this ride?

RonH

Here's the link to the ride. https://cleanairride.com/
Entry fee is $25.

I've never done this ride but I'm looking forward to it. In other charity rides I've done in Georgia I've seen a few riders in regular shorts/t-shirts. I've also seen riders wearing cycling clothes riding mtn bikes.
Wear whatever you're comfortable with.

kjc9640

You will see all types of bikes on this ride. No special attire is required but a good pair of bike shorts would possibly make your ride more comfortable especially if you spend a few hours in the saddle. Don't be intimated with cyclist on high speed bike and fancy cloths. Ride your bike and do your thing but most important enjoy yourself.

RonH

Finally registered for the ride and we have a place to stay.
Now, which jersey should I wear.

RonH

We're leaving for Crystal River in the morning. Can't wait to do a trial ride on the Withlacoochee on Thursday. I hope its everything that I'm expecting. Who else is doing the ride on Saturday?
I'll probably wear this jersey. I'm not as "trim and fit" as the model. I look more like the Michelin tire guy. If you miss it you'll recognize me by the tattoos.

kjc9640

Ron, nice jersey, I guess I will have to wait for another trip to view the tats in person. I am pretty bummed out about not getting to do the ride. I did 70 Miles yesterday with a couple of friends and that is all they talked about. I hope all of you have clear sky's and tailwinds on at least half of the ride. Please post about the ride as soon as you can.

RubberLegs

Looks like fun, AND nice weather. Unfortunately, I have a handbell workshop in Gainesville I am attending that weekend. Revolution Bikes is WALKING distance from my house...Ray's Jerseys huh?!? I think I did see those hanging on the wall there. I have yet to purchase any ACTUAL bike clothing, did 25 miles on my MT bike wearing jeans and a T, chasing my 12 yr old a few weeks back...and I'm out of shape. Just wear whatever, AND sunscreen, the FL sun is becoming WARM.

FL_MarkD

I will be there and plan to do the 100 mile ride; first north and get the hilly (road section) out of the way and then south. I will be wearing my new Tampa Bay Rays jersey (picked it up online at VoMax).

Weather looks good for the weekend. Can't wait.

My club is doing the Suncoast Trail end to end to end on Sunday. I don't think I will be ready for another 82 miles on back to back days so Sunday sounds like a rest day. :-)


Mark

kjc9640

Gotta support the Rays... I hope everyone has a good time. I wish I could be their, two of the guys that I ride with will be their probably doing a metric.

kjc9640

How was the ride??? Anyone...

RonH

Just got back from FL a few hours ago. The ride was awesome. Sorry but no pics. I didn't take the camera.
I rode Friday (3/18) to warm up and get ready for the ride on 3/19. Did 28 miles. The weather was awesome -- mid/hi 50s in the morning and mid 80s in the afternoon.
The start of the ride (3/19) was about 56 degrees and very foggy. I could see about 50 feet ahead of me on the trial. Couldn't see much off the side of the trail. After about a hour or so the fog started to lift and the ride was great. I must have passed about 500 riders, mostly on hybrids, recumbents, trikes, and even a few road bikes. Suncoast Bicycles (located at the start of the ride in Inverness) sells Giant and Trek (and Terratrike) and I have never seen so many Giant and Trek bikes at an event before. I rode my Specialized and saw several others plus a few Cannondales.
The rest stop at Ridge Manor was great. Loads of food -- 3 types of "fig" bars, other cookies, PBJ and Nutella, :yum: gatorade, bananas, apple slices, watermelon slices, and orange quarters and chips and salsa. There may have been more on the other tables but I was full after sampling most of the cookies, and PBJ-Nutella.
I rode the last 8 to 10 miles with a local guy. He is 70 and is a regular rider on the trail. We followed (about 20 feet behind) a group of younger cyclists who "pulled us" along.

The trail is awesome. The closest thing we have in the Atlanta area is the Silver Comet, once you get past about the 15 mile marker.
There were very few crossroads and they were about 2 to 8 miles apart. I only crossed 2 or 3 "big" ones where we had to stop for traffic. It was nothing like Atlanta were you have to stop and wait for 3 to 12 cars. Two of the crossings south of Inverness we stopped for ONE car. Most cars stopped for us and waved us on. They weren't in a big hurry like Atlanta drivers. The only place I had to wait for more than one or two cars was at the Hernando trailhead. It's a major intersection and I had to wait for the light.
I saw a snake on the trail about a mile north of Hernando. I've never seen a snake on the Silver Comet or on the Atlanta-Stone Mountain path.
My wife said maybe we need to move to Inverness or Hernando or somewhere close by. She might take up cycling.

Ate some great seafood while we were there. :yum: The best was at Stumpknockers on the Withlacoochee. It's located where Hwy 200 crosses the Withlacoochee, between Hernando and Ocala. The other was the Riverside Crab House in old *****assa.

This trip wasn't all fun. It was mostly work. My wife's aunt went into a nursing home recently so most of our time was spend cleaning out her house getting it ready to sell.
Can't wait until our next trip down that way. It should be a lot more fun.

kjc9640

Sounds like you had a great ride. I really wanted to make that trip. I plan to be their next year.

FL_MarkD

Ron, glad you enjoyed the ride and the area. I did ride, but unfortunately my exercise induced asthma reared its ugly head. Sometimes I am fine, other times it stops the ride. I forced 11 miles north, but couldn't ride more than 17mph. Turned around and limped back to Inverness and drove home. The group I went with had a great 100 mile ride. Weather was nice once the fog lifted.

I did ride 45 miles Sunday morning at 'home' and felt great. Such is the way it works out sometimes.

Mark

RonH

Sorry you two missed a great ride.

I heard a few people "complaining" at the Ridge Manor rest stop about not knowing there was more than one registration/check-in place. They said they lived south of the southern end of the trail and drove all the way to Inverness to check in. They also had registration at the Ridge Manor trail head. They said they would have ridden to the southern trailhead and checked in at Ridge Manor. Then ridden to Inverness to start the ride. Then ridden home after the ride. Since they didn't know about it they had to drive, then ride, then drive home.