FL: Tallahassee - Miccosukee Canopy Road Greenway

 I had a couple of hours on Wednesday morning to get a ride in. I wanted to check out the path & trails off Miccosukee Rd, one of Tallahassee's famous canopy roads. I made it over to the west side trailhead with the goal of riding the greenway to the far east end and back, while also checking out some of the singletrack side quests Matt had told me about the day prior.

Lush pathway to get things going.

I was keeping my eyes peeled for any singletrack options peeling off into the trees. I wasn't sure if they'd be signed or not. I did find one promising looking trail off to my right almost right after starting.

After the first turn, I had a feeling I wasn't supposed to be here.

The deadfall looked a bit deliberate and the trail was fairly overgrown, so I turned around. Back to the pathway.

Passed by the Hickory Hill Cemetery with tombstones dating from 1919 to 1947.

A rare open section with long views!! And a bit of a downhill.

2-track section that rode like singletrack.

Fancy bridge crossing a dry creek. Believe it or not, the area is in a drought.

One of the signed singletrack offshoots.

The singletrack sections had more twists and turns than the main pathway.

Everything was generally fast riding.

They did a good job incorporating this type of erosion mitigation on dips. We may want to consider something of similar construction for notorious bad spots here in the desert.

Seven miles end-to-end. Time to flip it and make better time on the return!!

I noticed I had made it about halfway into the ride before feeling like I was covered in sweat!! Progress?? Dunno, but by the time I finished I was once again, soaked to the core.

There are a few canopy roads in the Tallahassee area, Miccosukee is one of the better ones.

Good info at the trailhead kiosk.

Classic shot down the canopy road.

One thing that really surprised me on this ride was the fact I gained over 1000' in elevation over 14.5 miles!! I keep telling people the trails here do have some ups & downs, just not like what we're used to out west, but it's enough to keep things fun. Thanks for the intel, Matt, I really enjoyed the ride and can see how it could be linked to other area trails for a longer outing.

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FL: Tallahassee - Lafayette Heritage Park

 I reached out to a couple of local guys I know to see if they were free for a Tuesday morning ride. They were!! I met Chris and Matt - who I hadn't met before, over at Lafayette Park only a few miles from where I was staying. I had ridden these trails before and they are quite fun. There is actually some terrain here, not big climbs by any stretch, but at least some ups and downs.

It was fairly wet out, so we started on the 2-track stuff. We covered a couple of miles heading west, then looped around hopping on some singletrack that was dry enough. Most of the 2-track rode like singletrack which was nice.

Matt leading the way at a solid clip.

Chris and Vince with the beard, who we picked up mid-ride.

Riding the levee between Piney Z Lake and Lake Lafayette.

Looks like gator country to me. Didn't see any though.

Elevated boardwalk riding.

Crossing over the train tracks to the north side of the park.

Just enough of a trail through the grass.

We finished our ride on a trail I hadn't been on before, Bill's Trail. It follows along the north side of Piney Z Lake, dodging trees and roots. Didn't have time to snap any pictures as the pace was high.

Taking some Spanish Moss home as a souvenir.

These trails were just as fun as I remembered. The Tally Tango 160 used them at the beginning of the loop I did back in 2018. If you're ever in the area, check that one out. It was great to ride with the guys and see some new stuff too. I was glad I remembered a post-ride dry shirt today, as once again: soaked to the core in sweat!! Matt told me about another nearby area I should check out as he's been involved in adding singletrack to the area. I put in on my calendar for the following morning.

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