The Traffic Header

Mountain biking in Florida offers some outstanding “off-road” biking trails. Year-round riding is possible, although Spring and Fall are the most pleasant periods for casual bikers.

Part of the fun of mountain biking in Florida is the unpredictable weather. A thunderstorm can turn a sandy trail into churning mud within minutes. The heat will be a constant companion. You are also likely to do battle with mosquitoes and other bugs for ownership of the trail.

Nonetheless, mountain biking in Florida is enjoyable and scenic.

One of the best trails is in the Blackwater River State Forest. There is no designated biking route in this 183 000 acre forest, but there is a 14 mile trail on a doubletrack service road that covers an area between Coldwater and Dixon creeks. The sandy surface is most challenging during dry weather, although rain on the trail brings its own difficulties… This will be confirmed on more than one occasion, while mountain biking in Florida.

In East Jacksonville, a series of trails begins near the corner of Beach Blvd. and Kernan Blvd. The terrain is mostly rolling hills, although it varies quite a bit, with twisting rough cut singletrack trails that are ideal for the more advanced and technical rider.

Another area to visit while mountain biking in Florida, is around the Oleta River area north of Miami. This is a six mile singletrack trail. It is well marked according to level of the rider. It is best to start with an easy trail to test your skills, and then step up the level if you want more of a challenge.

These trails are dedicated to cyclists, so there are no hikers or oncoming traffic to consider. This allows you to ride as fast and tight as you want, although with mud, sand and slippery obstacles, it is may be wise to exercise some caution!

For a different experience of mountain biking in Florida, follow the narrow sandy track of the Grayton Beach Recreational Park Mountain Bike Trail. It meanders through interesting, dense vegetation for about 4 miles, and is quiet and easy - making for an ideal vacation ride.

You are not done with mountain biking in Florida, until you have been on the Razorback trail in Reddick. Rated as in the top 50 in America, this is intermediate to advanced riding at its best! The 10 mile loop will test your stamina, your reflexes, and your courage. There is a less demanding beginner loop of about 6 miles. Kids will feel at home on their own mile long loop. The Razorback is about 20 minutes from Santos Trails.

Mountain biking in Florida, particularly the north central region, can be packed into a 6 day trip if you have the stamina. The 327 mile Florida Springs Bicycle Tour is one way of doing this. Covering 10 parks and a forest, the rural roads will lead you to spectacular areas, including the Suwannee River.

For a great guide to mountain biking in Florida, read the revised edition of ‘Mountain Bike! Florida’ by Steve Jones. More than 300 action-packed pages will give you an overview of all the classic trails in the area. The maps and photos will help you to plan your trip. More than 80 trails are covered.

There’s no leaving this sunshine state, until you can say that you have been mountain biking in Florida!

For more information visit Best-Mountain-Biking.com

Rika Susan of Article-Alert.com researches, writes, and publishes full-time on the Web. Copyright of this article: 2006 Rika Susan. This article may be reprinted if the resource box and hyperlinks are left intact.

A bicycle is a human powered vehicle that has a frame attached with two wheels and that is
driven by a pedal. Bicycles were first introduced in the 19th century and it is demanded that presently there are approximately about
one billion bicycles worldwide, outnumbering motorcars 2 to 1. In many parts of the globe, bicycles are the main method of transport. Although
the essential use of the bicycle is as a means of transport, it has developed other uses including recreational activities, fitness activities
law enforcement diligences and competitive sports.

The Story of Bicycles

Since the origin of the chain-driven model in around 1885, the primary design and the shape of a
typical bicycle has remained relatively unchanged. However, the usage of modern material and design methods
such as computer-aided innovation has improved the many aspects of the bicycle. These methods have greatly aided the spawn of
specified bicycles for particular purposes such as racing, utility and law enforcement uses. Additionally, the concept of the bicycle has up to a great extent extended its contribution for the development of motorcars by introducing concepts such as ball bearings, pneumatic tires and spoke tensioned wheels.

What to Look for In a Bicycle

When relating to bicycles, the dynamics of the bicycle should be considered first. Bicycle needs its centre of gravity in order to be in its space. So it attains this by moving forward
using the steering which offers some balance to the rider. Additionally, in order to navigate successfully the body of the rider must balance out the dynamics,
particularly at turns. A technique referred to as counter-steering is used to attain this task by directly turning the handlebars with the hands
or indirectly leaning or slanting the bicycle.

Bicycle can be classified as an highly
efficient machine looked at in both biological and mechanical view point. Energy needed from the rider for the bicycle to execute its
marvels are high on the list but given the distance that a bicycle can take you through without fuel, it becomes a
precious journey at the end. The bicycle wheels carry nearly 99% of the energy because the rider exerts energy to pedals. But in
bicycles that have gear mechanisms, the energy needed will be decreased However the air drag faced by the rider will
always remain a problem. When the speed is high, a lot of energy will be needed
to overcome this airdrag resulting in an exhaustive ride for the rider. The only way to reduce the air drag is to significantly reduce the position to supine or prone that is in line with aerodynamics.

The main parts of the bicycle include the frame, steering mechanics, seating, drivetrain, suspension, wheels and brakes. Certain bicycles may include optional
mechanisms such as gearing which uses distinct sizes of gears to obtain a mechanical advantage from the bicycle. By using gears, the efficiency of the bicycle can be increased by descreasing effort and increasing output.

Not getting enough exercise? It’s a normal thing - we all realize this, yet so much gets in the way of working out. We watch people packed into gymnasiums working out, and consider : well, I must go to the gymnasium, pay my member’s costs, then workout. It just seems like too much hassle, isn’t there something I can do that’s not going to throw away a lot of my time - even something practical?

Then you may consider buying a bike, as bicycling around is a fantastic means to improve one’s well-being . You can ride to work or do some shopping, so it’s rather useful. It’s also very cheap - there’s no fuel called for and the running costs are next to nothing. It’s also very “green”. Oh, and it improves your health too!

Yet lots of people are put off getting a push bike since it’s TOO much exercise. As crazy as it sounds, consider that they may be elderly, suffer from particular ailments, be elderly, or live in a very hilly location that make bicycling too “hardcore” for their abilities. And for some people, it’s not realistic biking to their work since they will sweat too much through the exertions of pedaling.

Now it’s time to present e-bikes, or electric bikes. They let your legs have a rest on the tricky hills simply by twisting your hand on the grip and letting the electric motor kick in - you don’t need to do any peddling then. Then when you’re ready to switch to manual, just let your legs take over. So you get your gentle exercise and clean air without doing yourself in. E-bikes are also very cheap to run necessitating only a daily battery recharge if you cycle around 30-40k a day, although most people need just a couple of recharges a week since they are not doing this kind of mileage. You can find a local supplier of electric bikes by searching online.

These days the actual cost of buying an e-bike have dropped in price, so you can save yourself a considerable amount of money on bus fares, fuel, gym memberships etc. by purchasing and regularly using an electric bike.

Kona has been in the business of selling mountain bikes ever since they sold their first Kona Mountain bikes called, “Whistler Blackcomb” back in 1998. This is what showed the world they knew what they were doing and where one of the bests around.

Since 1998 Kona has created more and more bikes for all different types of bike riders. You’ve got the Rocky, Scott, Kona, GT, and many other types of bikes that a rider will use. The Kona Mountain bike is durable and always ready to be put to the test. Find out if the bike dealer will let you try them out before you purchase one.

Kona may have started off as just a design for a bike competition but it has since grown into a huge production line of nothing but the best. Kona doesn’t only sell bikes though, these days they are doing accessories as well as clothing. There are the DH Jackets ad ripstop pants that make biking in any weather great. They’ve even got gloves, socks and hats.

Finding something is never a problem either, if you can’t find it simply ask and they’ll be able to tell you what you need or direct you to someone that does.