Back in the saddle again!

 After a long time without a riding schedule, I am back with an additional rider in the family. We started our summer  by taking our bikes into Santos Bike shop for a tune-up then we hit the baseline trail for some easy going family fun.

Brenden was learning his gears. The novice level paved hills on the baseline trail offer a great training ground for kids to learn the basics of  shifting and speed management.

 Sarah didn't break a sweat on the 5 mile trek with the fam.

Everyone had a good ride. We worked in some light exercise and the time outside as a family was literally a breath of fresh air.

After a long hiatus and the addition to our family, Biking with Roy will soon be back up and running. My first new articles will be added next week!

- Chris Roy

Last ride of the year with my wife and daughter at Boulware Springs park.

    Boulware Springs park

    This was a treat. There is nothing quite like riding with your family. We had a ton of fun not to mention a nice easy going 5 mile ride. Stacey and I took a trip here early in December and she decided she liked it. So in the evening on December 28th we packed up our bikes and took our oldest up to Gainesville for a nice leisurely ride. This trail which starts at Boulware Springs park in Gainsville takes you 16 miles West to Hawthorne Florida. There are several lookout points and scenic areas to to take pictures or picnic. There are a few sharp turns and changes in elevation at the start of the trail but then it evens out to a long straight gentle ride.

On our way.

This over the shoulder shot is a lot harder out on the Santos mountain bike trails.

One of our stops is a nice overlook view of Paynes Prairie reserve.

   
It started getting dark so we headed back. I was glad we could get a ride in during my daughter's stay (which are always too short.) Next time she's home we will do a longer ride and stop for a picnic.

End of a great year.

  Photo album of lost rides.

  Hello folks,
    My blog has been a bit stagnant these last few months but the riding has continued. Instead of going back and writing up each of my trips that I missed I thought it better to give you a "best of" picture tour instead. We had some great rides through the Ocala Santos bike trails, the Rails to trails sanctioned Gainesville to Hawthorne trail as well as the Greenway baseline trail. I will be starting new this year with a few updates between January and February. Articles may replace rides as it is quite cold out there. I have a few articles I've started that I've been meaning to finish up. This seems like the perfect time to do that.

Here are the random pics from some of our rides. I hope you enjoy

My wife has been coming along as well.

     

Even Don got in on the fun.

 

Biking the Santos Trails ,Ocala.

   Today Mike and I rode 12 miles from the Santos trail head in Ocala, Florida. All the rain we've been getting made for a nice trail with no surprise sugar sand traps as well as giving us a cooler morning to start our ride.

We started off biking the Pine Tree trail and took that until a fallen tree blocked our way. We scuttled under the tree and made our way to the Vortex. We noticed that the tree had already been worked on with some obvious sawed limbs. We are very fortunate to have an active group like the OMBA to take pride in our trails. They are dedicated people who really make the trails a great place to ride.

Next we made our way across the road at Turning Hawk and rode through one of my favorite areas. My GPS hit a spot where it lost signal so I lost 2 miles but I was lucky that Mike has a backup on his bike to record our actual distance. The loop across the road takes you through some starkly different environments from hills and open fields, a sinkhole (or maybe an old excavated area of the Greenway) and through pine woods where everything is shady and brown. All in all it was a good but albeit sweaty ride as the humidity soaked us (especially me) as the morning grew warmer. The plan is to go Thursday morning and catch some sun as we take a ride through the villages. Remember, you can always click on any picture in this blog to see it full size. Some of the scenery is better appreciated in a larger window.