New Port Richey to Inverness
April 2, 2008
Today was our longest day on a bike tour in a while. By the time we had finished dinner and reached the motel we rode 90 miles. As we approached the motel our computers registered 88 miles so we decided to ride an extra mile down the trail and back to make it an even 90.
We started the day with a 7 mile ride to Starkey Wilderness Park, along Cecelia, Riverside Crossing, and Trouble Creek Road, with no problems and little traffic, despite warnings from Bike Florida staff. The first trail of the day was the Starkey Park Wilderness Trail, a good paved trail for about 6 miles that intersects with the Suncoast Parkway Trail. The Parkway trail was built at the same time as the parkway toll road, as part of a compromise with environmentalists. It's an excellent, wide trail with a smooth surface that is still in good shape. I hope that funds for maintenance of the trail were part of the deal.
While the Parkway Trail is a good one, there are few sights along the way. It's basically a trail superhighway, with fences on both sides. There were a few locals but not many. It's ideal for someone in training who needs to ride long, unobstructed miles.
The first rest stop at Crews Lake Wilderness Park was OK although there were limited supplies and the volunteers had a hard time keeping up with the hungry cyclists. Crews Lake is mostly dry now with a few ponds of water where the wildlife congregate. We heard Sandhill cranes in the distance. In order to ride to the park we needed to exit the Parkway trail. The Bike Florida organizers seemed paranoid about having cyclists ride on roads, so we were forced to squeeze onto a narrow sidewalk for a few feet, then onto another narrow sidewalk along the next road. No cars passed on the roads. Police seemed more interested in making sure cyclists didn't ride on the road than in directing traffic.
We continued on the Parkway trail to the next rest stop at mile 27 for better snacks although there were still not enough for the cyclists. The pb&j man couldn't keep up with demand and at one point another cyclist offered to help. On the way to the stop we encountered several moderate hills.
 |
 |
 |
| Starkey Wilderness Trail | Crews Lake Park | Portable mechanic van |
After leaving the trail at mile 34 it felt good to be riding on the roads again. The rest stop at mile 43 was at Eden Baptist Church and it won the award for best rest stop of the trip so far. A woman was making snacks of Oreo cookies with a banana slice and raisin on top. There were plenty of pb&j sandwiches, and lots of cut fruit. The grapefruit was excellent. We topped off the snacks with a bag of peanut butter cookies. Since there was no lunch stop today, and few places to purchase lunch, we had to eat enough at the rest stops to get through a long day of riding.
As we left the church we saw a Sandhill crane by the side of the road, with a beautiful red crest. As we turned around to take some photos it crossed the road and wandered over to the lotus pond behind the church.
At mile 49 there was another rest stop where we began our ride on the Withlacoochee Trail at Lake Townsend Regional Park. We chatted with a couple from Madison, Wisconsin who were escaping large amounts of recent snow.
At the entrance to the trail there was a film crew who we later learned were making a documentary film on the development of a trail rating index. At the end of the ride, cyclists were asked to take part in a study to rate segments of trail that were filmed by a cyclist riding a Bilenky recumbent. There is currently a rating for riding on roads but not one for riding on trails.
The Withlacoochee Trails is our favorite so far. It is very wide, with few markings on the trail such as a center strip or separation of cyclists and pedestrians. It seems to work better than trails where there is too much separation. It's a scenic trail and passes near some real places. Granted this is still the interior part of Florida and there are limited sights, but the stretch in Inverness is adjacent to several lakes with boardwalks and trails widing through a city park. Many local people were out on the trail.
 |
 |
 |
| Eden Baptist Church | Sandhill Crane | Caboose on the Withlacoochee Trail in Inverness |
We stopped at the Central Motel which is adjacent to the trail, to check in and put or bags in our room. The room looks out over the trail and there was a steady stream of cyclists passing below. Today was century day so riders were very spread out, some not arriving until after 7pm.
We returned to the trail to ride to tent city at Inverness Middle School to check out the Trail Level of Service study and see what was going on, which turned out not to be much. Since we didn't ride the century and had made good time, we were far ahead of the main pack of riders. Volunteers were just getting to the school and headquarters was not set up yet nor was the trail study group. We had time to ride back to the room, shower and change clothes, then return to the school for a good dinner. It was difficult to talk to our neighbors over the big band jazz playing. We did dance briefly before returning to the motel.
 |
 |
 |
| Inverness Town Hall | Former Inverness Trail Station | Tent City Inverness |
Before dinner we participated in the trial study being conducted by Sprinkle Consulting and the State of Florida. We were shown 20+ clips of riding conditions and asked to rate them on a scale of A-F. We had a bias toward on-road routes.
Along the way we stopped at one of the lakeside parks to watch a family fishing and other locals enjoying the lovely evening.