Panhandle riding suggestions?

"Andrew Thorne" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hey Floridians - yeah, you too, Dave.

I'll be spending next week in Grayton Beach - about halfway between Destin

and

Quoted message said:

Panama City. Is there any good riding nearby?

Cheers,

-Andrew "Can't believe that he has to take a gearie to FL since his

Ionic

Quoted message said:

hasn't arrived yet... Arrrg!" Thorne

There's a trail right across the street from Grayton called the Longleaf
Pine Greenway. From Grayton, take 30A East into Seaside until you come to
395. Go north and the trailhead is on the right about a mile up. There are
some double track trails on the east side of the road, behind the kiosk
called the Eastern Lake trail. The better, singletrack trail (Longleaf Pine
Greenway) starts out to the left of the kiosk going north for a short time,
then heads back west across 395. About 8 miles of singletrack. You can
also access this at the west end by taking Satinwood drive north from 30A,
west of Grayton. These trails aren't great, but for the area you won't do
much better. You can head over to Timberlake trails near Fort Walton Beach
for somewhat better riding, but you need a permit to ride there...see the
link below. There's also some trails up in Pine Log SF north of Panama City
Beach on 79.

There's a paved bike path along 30A that rolls east and west from Grayton.
Very nice, relaxing, scenic ride.

This link has a good listing of all FL trails and should help you out.

http://rogersunderland.com/mountain_biking/mtb_trails/in_florida.html

mfgp

Quoted message said:

There's a trail right across the street from Grayton called the Longleaf
Pine Greenway. From Grayton, take 30A East into Seaside until you come to
395. Go north and the trailhead is on the right about a mile up. There are
some double track trails on the east side of the road, behind the kiosk
called the Eastern Lake trail. The better, singletrack trail (Longleaf Pine
Greenway) starts out to the left of the kiosk going north for a short time,
then heads back west across 395. About 8 miles of singletrack. You can
also access this at the west end by taking Satinwood drive north from 30A,
west of Grayton. These trails aren't great, but for the area you won't do
much better. You can head over to Timberlake trails near Fort Walton Beach
for somewhat better riding, but you need a permit to ride there...see the
link below. There's also some trails up in Pine Log SF north of Panama City
Beach on 79.

There's a paved bike path along 30A that rolls east and west from Grayton.
Very nice, relaxing, scenic ride.

This link has a good listing of all FL trails and should help you out.

http://rogersunderland.com/mountain_biking/mtb_trails/in_florida.html

mfgp

Wow. Useful info on usenet on the very first reply. What is the world coming
to?

Many thanks. I rode sections of the greenway to the west of rt283 last year,
but anything to the east was undergoing controlled burns so I steered clear.

I'll probably take a short drive to check out either Timberlake or Pine Log one
day when I'm down there. Which would you say is better?

Cheers,

-Andrew

If one is in such dire straights (right word?) that one is resorting to
panhandling, then one should reconsider participating in the sport of
cycling.

Bill "$" S.

Quoted message said:

If one is in such dire straights (right word?) that one is resorting to
panhandling, then one should reconsider participating in the sport of
cycling.

More like: if one is in such dire straights as to be looking for mountain
biking in Florida, perhaps one should consider bringing a road bike on vacation
instead.

-Andrew "but the beach is awesome, and I can't wait to get another fish
taco from the stoned guy with the pushcart." Thorne

Sorni says:

Quoted message said:

straights (right word?)

Straits...

HTH

Stephen Baker said:

Sorni says:

Quoted message said:

straights (right word?)

Straits...

Got their CD right here!

Bill "but wasn't sure if expression was same" S.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Andrew Thorne said:

Quoted message said:

If one is in such dire straights (right word?) that one is resorting to
panhandling, then one should reconsider participating in the sport of
cycling.

More like: if one is in such dire straights as to be looking for mountain
biking in Florida, perhaps one should consider bringing a road bike on vacation
instead.

_ The panhandle is only technically in Florida, really it's just
South Georgia and actually has some hills. Since there's nothing
there but pine trees and sand, a mountain bike is handy.

_ Booker C. Bense

Quoted message said:

I'll probably take a short drive to check out either Timberlake or Pine

Log one

Quoted message said:

day when I'm down there. Which would you say is better?

Cheers,

-Andrew

I know what you mean about getting good info off of Uselessnet. Usually 3
trolls per one serious reply...lol

Timberlake has more miles of trail and better hills...probably qualifies as
"better." Maybe 30 miles total. You need to buy an annual pass (five
bucks) to ride the trail since it's on Eglin AFB. They make you watch a
short video on Unexploded Ordinance before going in case you run across some
live missiles or something :^) But you need to do all this at the ranger
station in Niceville. I can't remember the directions exactly. You should
be able to get directions by following the link on the Sunderland site.

There's two parking areas, one on top of the hill and one below. There's a
creek between so it is difficult to find a way across besides the highway.
Park on top of the hill and ride that side if you want more challenging
trails.

BTW, for some real riding in Florida, Ocala is the place to go.

mfgp said:

Quoted message said:

I'll probably take a short drive to check out either Timberlake or
Pine Log one day when I'm down there. Which would you say is better?

Cheers,

-Andrew

I know what you mean about getting good info off of Uselessnet.
Usually 3 trolls per one serious reply...

uselessnet, that's funny.
I keep thinking this thread is going to refer to the panhandle of N Idaho...
still under snow in most of the good spots. That, or really, really muddy.

Penny

Andrew Thorne" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hey Floridians - yeah, you too, Dave.

I'll be spending next week in Grayton Beach - about halfway between Destin

and

Quoted message said:

Panama City. Is there any good riding nearby?

Cheers,

Grayton Beach - Nice area. The Truman Show was filmed near there, BTW.

Aside from the others already mentioned, Pensacola Florida ( www.porc.org )
and Tallahassee ( http://www.cccyclists.org/) have some good trails too.

Scott

Thanks to all who gave me some pointers. I'm leaving tonight.

Cheers,

-Andrew

Quoted message said:

uselessnet, that's funny.
I keep thinking this thread is going to refer to the panhandle of N

Idaho...

Quoted message said:

still under snow in most of the good spots. That, or really, really

muddy.

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Penny

Naw, this is the Redneck Riviera panhandle. Never seen it under snow, but
always plenty of sand.

mfgp