Riding in Orlando FL any must ride loops and MapMyRide

[Satellite]

Fellow Paceliners,

I have a conference in Orlando Fl. unfortunately over springs break. Ouch. Anyways, I will be taking my S&S Coupled bike with me. Any rides I must do, besides Magic Mountain in Disney World?

Also I used MapMyRide in the past for GPS Waypoints from other folks that posted on MapMyRide, I recently tried to find some rides in my local area it seems like nobody uses MapMyRide anymore all the rides were from 2012. Did I miss something? Is MapMyRide NOT cool anymore? What sites are folks using to download rides into there Garmin's mine happens to be an Edge 705.

Thanks in advance for any help,

Satellite

[fa63]

If you can, I suggest you drive a little (30 minutes or so) west to Clermont and do a ride there. Lots of rolling hills and generally a very nice area to ride. For route suggestions, take a look at the Horrible Hundred routes to get an idea.

[bcroslin]

Clermont is where it's at. Don't bother with Orlando.

Also, Strava heat maps are very cool if you've not checked them out.

[Ralph]

Where are you staying? Will you have a car? Orlando and Central Florida has an incredible amount of cycling activity. Most consider the W side of town, the Clermont area, to be the best riding area. This area can be accessed via Winter Garden and the West orange Trail. Actually, most Clermont rides start in Down Town Winter Garden on the trail. Or from the beach (Lake Mineola) at Clermont. Depending on where you are staying (Orlando takes in a large area), there are rides in about every direction.

There is a 700 member local bike club called the Florida Freewheelers, that has organized rides almost every day going somewhere. Check their web site.


http://search.aol.com/aol/image?q=Downtown+winter+garden%2C+fl Would suggest starting your rides here from Trail, and bike shop here. Take trail about 5 miles, then get off and do lightly traveled roads. There is a popular loop, then trail back to where you started.

http://www.wgwheelworks.com/ Go here for info, and make this starting place for ride. Is in middle of Winter Garden on trail to Cldermont area. They will have maps, routes, for loop, etc. You can get in all the miles you want. Some 12-15% grades, even.

[Satellite]

I will have a car and I am staying at the Marriott on Universal Blvd. Looking forward to get down to oxygen rich elevations. :bike:

The bike club is a great idea I will look into it. :)

I won't be frequenting the Parks, but I would like to get to Disney World one day, only ever been to Disney Land. Any line of where to get cheaper tickets then at the gate? :banana:

Any must eat places while I am there? :hello:

Thanks for all the input so far, again I am NOT looking forward to it being Spring Break so I want o maximize the must do attractions. :help:

Best regards,

Satellite

[rePhil]

We traveled from the coast to Universal Studios with the grandkids a few weeks ago and I couldn't believe how bad traffic was / is.
My advice mirrors the others. Drive to a better spot. Florida can be very pretty or IMO the touristy areas can be pretty ugly.
Have fun.

[CSKeller]

Ride with a mirror! Spring breakers are dangerous.

Enjoy breathing in water too....so much humidity. I lived in Panama City for 5 years....it was fun and I enjoyed it enjoyed riding there but that was before I moved to Colorado!!!

Have fun!! You'll be as fast as me down there! :P

[Ralph]

Well....I live in Central Florida, N side....and I've never seen a spring breaker I was aware of. Disney and surrounding tourist area, is a world apart from the rest of the Orlando area. I avoid it like the plague.

If you live around here, and unless you work around Disney.....locals think of it as another country. What goes on down there, about 40 miles from me, doesn't affect my life at all.

In my above post, I suggested some routes from Winter Garden, that will take one out thru the Clermont "hills". I did that because most folks think that's the best riding around here. But I don't necessarily think that. I ride N of town about every other day. Not as hilly, almost flat actually, but winds change, and our group rides become hammer fests real fast. I think there is good year around riding all around here. Except....around the Disney and U Drive area where you will be staying. No way would I ride around those tourist areas.

[Joel]

PM me in the morning please w your contact info. I live a couple of miles from where you are going to be and we can chat on various route options. Depending on schedules happy to do an escorted tour! Best. Joel.

[bcroslin]

I won't be frequenting the Parks, but I would like to get to Disney World one day, only ever been to Disney Land. Any line of where to get cheaper tickets then at the gate? :banana:

Any must eat places while I am there? :hello:

If you're a AAA member you might check out their ticket prices. Disney tickets are now officially north of $100 so every little bit helps.

Orlando is far from a foodie town but there are some decent restaurants in Winter Park which is on the east side of downtown Orlando. The Ravenous Pig has decent food and 4 Rivers BBQ is worth checking out. Yellow Dog Eats I believe is closer to where you'll be staying and worth a drive.

Hopefully you'll get a chance to head out to Clermont with Joel. You won't believe your eyes when you see Florida actually has hills.

[Satellite]

PM me in the morning please w your contact info. I live a couple of miles from where you are going to be and we can chat on various route options. Depending on schedules happy to do an escorted tour! Best. Joel.

Joel,

PM sent, would love an escorted tour, I will look up the conference schedule tomorrow and figure out when I can get some ride time. Going to Disney World on Thursday the 19th.

Satellite

[Satellite]

Made it to Orlando, only a few hours late due to plane delays. :cool:

Silly me I thought I would be able to show up here in Orlando with my red blood cell enriched body and ride like have been taking EPO for years. :banana:

Well as it turns out, it is Hot as Hell and Muggy as can be. So I doubt coming from elevation will help one little bit. It's still hard to breath. :no:

Well we will see come Wednessday and Thrusday when I can get some miles under me. :bike:

Bike is built and just starring at me like the dog when she wants to go for a run and I am NOT ready yet. :mad:

Satellite

[bcroslin]

That's pretty funny. The last few days have been PERFECT riding weather. 75-78 and only 90% humidity. Remember, stay hydrated! :banana:

[JonB]

Hot and muggy??!? I almost spit out my coffee! The weather here is perfect! Come back in August for hot and muggy...

[Ralph]

Next few days humidity is forecast to be under 60% around here. That's near ideal. Yep....pretty much perfect weather in Central Florida.

Now as above said....come back in August.....and we'll complain with you.

No place in US perfect all 12 months. But I'll take here for all 12 months over any place in USA. Close second is Southern California. And I've been everywhere. And....I also agree there are lots of places near perfect for a few months each year. I especially like the Colorado front and back ranges.....especially Fort Collins area. Parts of Utah, New England, etc. NC piedmont for most of year. Lots of nice places for most of year. Terrific living locations some of year way too numerous to mention.

There is a reason why we just passed NY for 3rd most populated state. And it ain't job opportunity.

[Satellite]

That's pretty funny. The last few days have been PERFECT riding weather. 75-78 and only 90% humidity. Remember, stay hydrated! :banana:

Your right anytime I go somewhere with higher humidity (remember colorado has none) I always forget to drink water. I usually wait until the legs start cramping and say, "Damn it I haven't drank any water". This time I remembered and didn't have any cramping, took at least a sip every 20mins or so.

By the recommendation of Joel, I rode Surgar Loaf Mountain Rd, it was good, I looped it three times 13% grade but short. A house at the top had help your self to water, it was an amazingly kind gesture. He also had a Wounded Warriors Donatation collection for tank like motorized wheel chairs. Very awesome. :banana:

I got a little sun burn despite using sun block. I was able to average just short of 18 mph, I don't even come close to that in Colorado.

Everyone was super friendly the traffic was almost too accomidating, they continueouly tried to give me the right-of-way even when it wasn't mine. That doesn't happen much in Colorado.

I tried to stop in a bike shop, last 5 miles of the ride, just to check it out and buy a power bar and some sport drink right at the end of the ride. Now this has never happened to me in 30+ years of riding high-end bicycles. I took my bike in the store with me, I didnt' have a lock. The shop employees ignored me while there were 3 of them and only one other customer in the store. As I looked around the room it was pretty much empty except some stuff on the walls. So I begun to move to the second room a door between what used to be two seperate building that had been coneverted. When the employee talking the other customer stopped me. He told me I had to leave my bike outside. What a bike shop that won't let me bring my bike inside, are you kidding me. I have never ever had any bike shop tell me to put my bike outside. I nicely asked him if he had somewhere he could put my bike, he said no they have bike racks outside. Now keep in mind this room was completely open and they had empty bike stands agaisn't the wall. I told him it was okay, I would go. He tried to explain to me that they had bikes more expensive than mine outside and mine would be fine. I again told him it was okay I would just go on about my day. He got all offended. Now I get it's there policy and I don't expect any special treatment I simply didn’t agree to their terms so I left. What gripes me, he tried to dimenish the situation by saying his bikes were more expensive, how does he know and that's not the point my bike is custom fitted to me with couplers and has been all over the country with me. I have had magical rides on it and I can't replace that with another bike if mine were to be stolen. Also to get offended at me, because I choose not to leave my bike unattended, ridculous. He told me I could watch it through the window, how could I do that when I am in a completely seperate room? Again if it's there policy no big deal I just thought it was strange for sure, and they had plenty of room, where would they keep my bike if I left it for service outside unattened unlocked I don't think so or I certainly wouldn’t have my bike serviced there either. Most folks that ever had a bike stolen will tell you they left it unattened for a few minute. Happened to one of my racing team mates, when into 7-11 for a drink and had to walk home.

I don’t want the above story to detour anyone from riding in Florida it was a great time. The bike shop didn’t change any of the expericence for me. Thanks everyone for all the help, especially Joel, if you ever make it to Colorado let me know and hopefully we will get to ride together some day.

Satellite

[Keith A]

Glad you enjoyed your visit to the Sunshine State. I've ridden Sugar Loaf Mtn Rd many times, it's certainly no beast of a climb, but it does sting a little. BTW, I curious which bike shop you stopped at. I want to make sure I give my business to someone else if I'm ever in the area.

[Joel]

Hey! Thrilled to hear that you enjoyed yourself. I feel terrible that I was not able to join you. Trust me, a conference room with no windows was not what I was planning for this week.

Hope you enjoyed the routes, and do let us know which shop was being cranky. I think I know which one you are referring to, but that was not cool and we all should know about it.

All that said, really just happy to hear it was a great ride!

Best,

Joel

[Ralph]

http://www.wgwheelworks.com/

This one? They usually get good reviews. A great location on the trail and in the middle of town, rentals, bikes, parts, community involvement, etc. If this is the one, sorry you had a bad experience. Maybe the owner should be told of your bad experience. If this is the one. Hope you come again, maybe some of us can join you. Happy you had a good trip.

If this is not the shop, lets make sure it is clear this is not the shop you mentioned.

[Satellite]

http://www.wgwheelworks.com/

This one? They usually get good reviews. A great location on the trail and in the middle of town, rentals, bikes, parts, community involvement, etc. If this is the one, sorry you had a bad experience. Maybe the owner should be told of your bad experience. If this is the one. Hope you come again, maybe some of us can join you. Happy you had a good trip.

If this is not the shop, lets make sure it is clear this is not the shop you mentioned.

I usually don't call out the names of bad business on such and open forum so I will just say, "Ralph, you are very intuitive". I will leave it up to you to tell the owner of my bad experience. Again, I was more amazed than upset by them. It's NOT like I was going to spend any real money in their shop, just a power bar maybe some gel and some scratch labs water mix, so it was easy to just leave. Who knows maybe the owner is the one that told me no bikes inside? They had pretty nice hard wood floor (from what I can remember I wasn't there very long) I would think they would be more worried about my cleats.

I certainly didn't want to have my S&S coupled VaMoots stolen over a purchase less then $10. Do you suppose if I would have parked my bike out side and it would have been stolen, the guy that made me park it outside would have let me have one of his more expensive bikes? Doubt it! I definately would have rode something home, even if I had to steal one of there more expensive bikes that never get stolen, then I would of tried to shove it in my S&S box (LOL). Plus then I would have to deal with the police dapartment 1500 miles away from me. And I could never replace the amazing rides I have had on my bike with another bike.

Side note: I have been putting the luggage stickers on the inside of the S&S Hardcase for about half the time I have been traveling with it. I am up to 11 sticker showing all the places I have been. The airlines charge $85 each leg, that's $1870, I should have paid the airlines, but I only pay the $25 baggage fee that's $550 so the S&S package saved me $1320, more than paying for the couplers, plus I get to ride my bike custom fit for me. That's since I have been logging, I bet, I have traveled about 20 times with it, 40 round trip.

Holly cow, my doggies are a bark'in after a day at Epcot Center. I actually have a blister on my right big toe, I bet it's been 5/6years since I have had a blister on anything.

Thanks again everyone you have been most helpful, my skin is looking amazing from all the humidity. Heading back to the dry mountainous Colorado Rockies tomorrow morning plane leaves at 6:00am, so back to my lizard like skin.

Best regards,

Satellite

[Satellite]

Hey! Thrilled to hear that you enjoyed yourself. I feel terrible that I was not able to join you. Trust me, a conference room with no windows was not what I was planning for this week.

Hope you enjoyed the routes, and do let us know which shop was being cranky. I think I know which one you are referring to, but that was not cool and we all should know about it.

All that said, really just happy to hear it was a great ride!

Best,

Joel

Joel,

Thanks so much for the 6 routes you recommended, had just a bit of trouble finding where to depart from the Orange Trail system, I think it was 455, but once I back tracked a little bit I was good to go. It was hard to keep my speed up with all the road crossings so it was nice to hop off that trail system. Also thanks for the food recommendations. Good rides, food and beer, great trip. :banana:
Henery Fenstad is amazing to have water at the top of the Surgar Loaf climb left a donation for his Wounded Warriors wheel chairs, Chris Carmichael lives at the top of a crazy steep hard climb and he doesn't have any water for the Cyclist out on his drive way. :bike:

Best regards,

Satellite

[fa63]

I believe he is a retired air force pilot; he has been leaving water out in front of his house as long as I have been riding there (since 2006). Definitely a great guy.

Glad you had fun riding down there!