Flatwoods Trail Ride

The Flatwoods Trailhead entrance is Located about 0.5 miles northeast of I-75 on Morris Bridge Road. The Visitors Center located 0.5 mile after entering the park. The Visitor Center or my starting point for the ride has Restrooms, water, pay telephone, cold drinks picnic tables, heck they even have a bike wash for you guys that like to play with your bikes in the mud.


The Flatwoods Loop is approximately 7 miles and with the addition of the extension to the entrance at Bruce B. Downs it adds about four miles more. Our mileage for the days ride ended up being 24 miles.The Trail Map to the left shows the route.



Flatwoods trail is part of the Lower Hillsborough Wilderness Preserve or Wildlife Management area and there is plenty of game. If you look at the map, the little blue speck is a small lake and at that point during the ride I had a Eight Point Buck cross the road in front of my trike.
The photo to the right was just part of the Group that attended the Flatwoods ride and you can tell by the photo that it was a beautiful day and all in all a great ride I really don't know a better way to spend your time.

Night Riding

I was wondering if any one else does any Night Riding and about light packages they use and prefer.To the right are the Cat Eye EL500 and EL530. Both a single very bright 1 watt LED with a rated run time of about 30 hours. The lights are pretty bright and light up the roadway pretty well. The EL530 produces an amazing 1,500 candlepower while the 500 produces 1000 candle from the single LED.

To the left is a combination of two Cateye LD600s. With five bright LEDs and 4 flashing modes these lights very eye catching. The universal mount make these one of the easiest lights mounted to the Frame or most any where on your Bent or Bike. The LD1000 mounted to the rack is the latest and brightest tail light from Cat Eye. It is highly water resistant, has 4 different modes, and offers side visibility as well. With the 10 super bright LED lights and Cat Eye Opticube lens technology, the TL-LD1000 is designed to be bright enough to be used even during the day or so they say, so what the heck it only cost me batteries and I guess when you live in a retirement town like I do It can't hurt.

Withlacoochee Recumbent Rally

The Withlacoochee Recumbent Rally I was sorry to miss this one. November 13th thru the 15th. Bent riders from the South, Central,and North Florida Recumbent Riders along with riders from as far away as Texas, Tennessee and who knows from where else get together at the Central Motel in Inverness Florida for a weekend of Socializing and great riding on the Withlacoochee Trail. For those not familiar with the Trail the Withlacoochee covers 46 miles one way, all paved 12ft wide asphalt trail from Dade City to Dunnellon and back. (Trail Map). Check Out the Video. (Withlacoohee Video) Video by Bob Emmerich Our thanks to him for his efforts. The next time this rally happens be sure to make your arrangements to attend, I'm not going to miss another.

Manitou FS 94

Yea I know it's not a Recumbent but the thing is rather unique for a Mountain Bike. This particular model, the Manitou FS 94 was only made for one year and had some unique features. It was manufactured with front and rear suspension forks. These frames will always be remembered for using fork legs for the rear suspension. At the time, it was a fairly elegant solution. The Bike Components are as follows:
XTR Crankset, XT Derailleur, Deore LX Rapid fire Shifters 7spd, Deore LX Brakes
Control Tech Stem, Specialized Handle Bar. Added at purchase; Grips with Answer logo / Blue, Scott Bar ends, American classic Bottle cage / Blue, Quick Release / Blue.