May 17, 2014

Alafia River State Park

Lithia, FL
It was an absolutely beautiful day with cooler tempts and a slight breeze. We decided to take advantage of the weather to drive to nearby Alafia River State Park to test out my new bike.

First, Monte removed the saddlebag rack from my old bike

and installed it on my new bike.
There were a few other adjustments required including raising the seat and handlebars. 

We drove the short 20 mile distance from Little Manatee River to Alafia River State Park in less than half hour.

Alafia River State Park offers some of the most challenging off-road bicycling trails in Florida. 

 When I researched the park I saw that they have some easy trails so I thought it would be a perfect place to try out my new bike. In addition to bike trails, the park also contains hiking and equestrian trails and a two loop campground. The back in sites along the perimeter, are very long and big rig friendly. The inner pull-through sites are a little smaller.

I got an uneasy feeling as soon as we reached the day use parking area and I saw all the cars with bike racks and people walking around in serious biking attire. Oh boy. I got my share of looks when Monte took my old lady bike down from our rack.

Easy trail! We began our ride on the Sand Pine trail. The very narrow two way traffic trail forced me to pull over to the side when bikers wanted to pass coming from the other direction. At times I had to get off the bike and walk it through sections that had trees on both sides of the road.

At the end of the Sand Pine Trail we had the option of turning around or continuing on to the Rock Garden Trail. 

 We chose to continue on and very quickly discovered how the trail got its name. There are huge rocks sticking out along the trail. 

 Again I had to walk part of the trail because I just didn’t feel secure enough to traverse the rocks while riding.

There are also several small bridges along the trail. After losing my balance on the first one and almost tumbling into the water I played it safe and walked the bike across the remaining bridges.

 I had lost our park map but luckily there are signs along the way. I was especially glad there were signs because at several points there forks in the trail, one leading to the easy trail and one leading to the intermediate or difficult trail.

The Rock Garden trail leads to the River Loop trail that is very narrow and at several bends in the trail there are trees on both sides making it difficult to get through without hitting the handlebars.

We did part of the River Loop. 

 When we stopped to take a rest I was hoping we didn’t have to return the way we had come because I was pretty tired at that point. 

I was relieved when we came across a sign that showed a short bailout trail leading back to the parking lot. Whew!

Our final stopping point before heading back was along the river where we noticed an alligator half submerged in the duckweed.
We had each brought along two bottles of water and were wishing we had brought along more because by the time we got back to the car we had gone through all the water.
I had wanted to try out my new bike but taking it on the type of trails we had been on wasn’t exactly what I had in mind. It handled great on the trail but now I am anxious to see how it handles on a smooth paved road.
Word of warning-Alafia River State Park requires all bike riders to wear helmets regardless of age.  After seeing the "easy" trail I can understand why the park adheres to a strict helmet rule.