Balm Boyette Scrub Preserve Mountain Bike Trails, Lithia, Florida

Today’s featured trail network is Balm Boyette Scrub Preserve in Lithia, FL, another great spot I rode while I was in the Tampa area on vacation.

I had never heard of Lithia before… according to Wikipedia,  Lithia is an  unincorporated community in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States.  It is a suburb of Tampa and has a population of 8,527. The zip code is  33547. The area code is 813. The area includes the Census-designated  place of Fish Hawk… whatever that is. Read more...

Jay B Starkey Wilderness Park MTB Trails

After a few days in Orlando visiting with my mother, it was time to head towards the Tampa area with my wife and her parents. They were there for the beaches, I was there for the riding. And lucky for me, there was some good riding to be found. First up on my agenda was an area called the Jay B Starkey Wilderness Park in New Port Richey, FL. This was about an hour north of where I was staying. Distance-wise, not that far, but time-wise, it seemed like it took forever because it was just one traffic light after another after another after another. And, each traffic light seemed to last like 48 minutes. But I digress... oh, one more note about the drive though... I think this area of the country has more injury and accident lawyer billboards than in any area I've driven in. Billboard after billboard asking if I had been hurt or an in an accident... Okay, now let's talk about the riding...

Snow Hill MTB Trails in Oviedo, Florida (Little Big Econ State Forest)

Paradoxically, my interest, and subsequent obsession with mountain biking began when I was living in Orlando, Florida; a part of the world not known for any mountains except for Space Mountain. That being said, in the mid-nineties (and probably even still today), central Florida had a great MTB scene. It’s been almost 20 years since I’ve ridden off road in Florida though, and I wasn’t sure where to go. (Video after the jump too) Read MORE...