Any cycling in the Punta Gorda, FL area?

[54ny77]

How's the riding?

Please PM me or post here with suggestions.

Thanks.

[bcroslin]

Very flat and kind of boring. There's a multi-use trail in the Rotunda area but it's in the middle of nowhere. There's also a trail out on Boca Grande that will be totally deserted this time of year. It's pretty out there with a few light houses and a restaurant or two. If it warms up you might get to see some of the brown-spiny iguanas that have infested the island.

[Johnnyg]

How's the riding?

Please PM me or post here with suggestions.

Thanks.

Go south a few miles to Ft Myers. The Caloosa Ryders (see web page) has rides every day. Enjoy

[alancw3]

go north to nokomis (venice area) and get on a ride with coastal cruisers:

http://www.coastalcruisers.net/rides.cfm

several different levels of rider ability. great ride through casey key to first watch restaurant for brunsk and back about 30 miles.

[Fixed]

Are you kidding Florida is great go fishing swim or run ,serious biking is a dangerous activity in most of Florida besides it is flat and not much to look at once you have seen the first hundred oak tress with Spanish moss on them .
Go catch a big fish or play golf
Cheers

[Ralph]

Fixed....You are way out of date. About Florida generally. I've been about all over the US with a bike. Never really found any better biking, at least on a year around basis, than Central Florida. Hundred's of miles of wide trails to get you out in the country...to ride low traffic roads. Avoid traffic. Hills W of Orlando that will challenge you. And cyclists everywhere. Agree....beach towns not usually cycling paradise.

Punta Gorda....may have to travel a few miles. And it'll be flat wherever you ride. If I didn't know the area, and wanted a "get aquanted" ride by myself, I would go ride the Legacy Trail out of Venice, and than head over to the coast just S of Sarasota (Casey Key I think). Above mentioned a ride out of Osprey that's good. But Punta Gorda not where I would head with my bike. I usually go to Sanibel Island to ride about once each year. Flat, but very cycling friendly. Just cross the bridge onto Island, park, and go for 40 mile ride....N, then back S, then back to car. Can't get lost. If you have time, hook up with one of the cycling clubs mentioned above. Take a straight block. Flat riding in a pace line not difficult, but you never slow or coast. Even in my group of "old timers", it's big ring (standard crank) all the way.

[ultraman6970]

No, but i do have the punta gorda :D

[bcroslin]

Are you kidding Florida is great go fishing swim or run ,serious biking is a dangerous activity in most of Florida besides it is flat and not much to look at once you have seen the first hundred oak tress with Spanish moss on them .
Go catch a big fish or play golf
Cheers

I think I finally found someone who hates Florida more than I do and his name is Fixed. With that said, every time you chime in on a FL thread it makes me feel defensive about my home state and then I start to get annoyed. I'm afraid I sound like you to my friends and family and now I feel guilty for annoying them.

Because of you I'm announcing that one of my New Years resolutions is to stop complaining about Florida.

Happy New Year

[Fixed]

I think I finally found someone who hates Florida more than I do and his name is Fixed. With that said, every time you chime in on a FL thread it makes me feel defensive about my home state and then I start to get annoyed. I'm afraid I sound like you to my friends and family and now I feel guilty for annoying them.

Because of you I'm announcing that one of my New Years resolutions is to stop complaining about Florida.

Happy New Year
I don't hate Florida I love it I was born there ,I was a messenger for twenty years in Tampa ,I knew every pot hole in Tampa .i rode on bayshore blvd .and Davis island everyday .Did the weds and sun san ann .hill ride the graco Saturday championships
It is just that I never knew what it was like to be in a cycling friendly city .in ten minutes I am all by myself or maybe a few other cyclist in the most beautiful place I have ever seen ,with bike lanes and paths all over temps are great for riding year round too .
I have many great memories of Florida and many painful ones as well .
Florida is great in the winter but for a cycling only vacation you could pick a better state ,the keys are beautiful for water sports, and boating is great all over Florida . Golf is great as is water sking .baseball spring training rocks riding a bike there is still fun but be careful the car drivers are dangerous IMHO
Cheers
:)

[54ny77]

Thanks Fixed. Not looking there for cycling-only vacation, that's for sure! Will be in or near that area at some point over winter visiting family and considered bringing bike. Maybe not. Will be on land enjoying gin and tonics or at sea with fishing pole and cold beer. The only shimano I'd see there is a Shimano reel!

[gmcampy]

Most scared I have ever been on a ride was from Sebring to Port Charlotte (Punta Gorda)....Ride the trails, most major 2 lane roads have insufficient shoulders and too many orange trucks this time of year.

[Ralph]

http://www.sarasotalegacytrail.com/

Legacy Trail. Can start this in Venice at historic Venice Train Depot. https://www.scgov.net/parks/Pages/VeniceTrainDepot.aspx Worth a visit....place to start a ride.


http://www.traillink.com/trail/venetian-waterway-park.aspx
Venetian Trail....Hooks up to Legacy Trail at the train depot.

Not far N of Punta Gorda....easy to get to. These trails, IMHO, aren't as nice as the Central Florida Trails, but they will give you a ride if you don't know the area. One good thing....they're lightly used. You can taylor a ride off the trails when you know area better. As we mentioned in above posts.

Not suggesting this is worlds greatest ride, but it is a ride....weather should be great, you won't get run over and be hurt a long way away from your home, and you can stretch it into a safe (if boring) 35-40 mile ride. I've done it BTW....parked at Venice Train Depot, so know. When we stay at the beaches in area, usually in Venice, I take my bike with me and ride on these trails. Have a brother in Punta Gorda area, so know the area.

[EDS]

From a New Yorkers perspective, I have ridden both the Legacy Trail and Venice Trail while with my family visiting my father in law in Sarasota. Legacy Trail is nice enough, particularly early in the morning. Venice trail was like riding on a sidewalk I thought. I will be down in Sarasota again this year mid-February and expect I will do most of my riding doing loops in Sarasota, mostly to the southern terminus of Honore (similar to 9W in that it has a nice shoulder, but much lower traffic, and there is a good 10ish mile out and back you can TT without interuption).

[Vinci]

RE: Sarasota, Longboat Key can be a nice ride too. Depending upon where you start, you can do a 30 mile loop on nice pavement. Do it early enough, and there isn't much traffic around either.