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.

Route:

FL: Tallahassee - Munson Hills

 We made it to Tallahassee, our road trip destination. I had plans to meet some friends for rides in Alabama and Georgia, but weather was really looking like an issue this week. The guys I know in the Tally area said the trails here would be fine if wet. So, when it appeared my travel plans would be washed away - as they were, I made arrangements to ride most mornings while my wife slept in. I had been to a couple of the trail systems here in the past and wanted to revisit them, plus check out some other areas I heard about.

I let the locals know I'd be free during the week if any of them were able to join. The first ride I opted to do was over at the Munson Hills area, but it was super last minute, so I went solo on this one. It's one of the areas I had ridden a couple of times, so I didn't really need a guide and it's only 10 minutes away.

Florida Wildlife Corridor means gators to me. Would I see any??

These are fast, open trails, just pay attention to the occasional tight squeeze through the trees!!

Some thicker areas of vegetation.

Clouds began to roll in as I was really feeling the humidity. I'm not in the desert any more.

With the recent rains here, the sugar sand was packed down pretty good and rolled well over hard pack.

No horsies here.

Some cool trail routing through the thick vegetation.

Shroom!!

Skirting by some powerlines.

Can you spot it??

This fella was right in the middle of the trail, I missed it by 2"!! Check the previous photo again...

Really nice trail signage at every junction. I ended up riding all the main trails here.

The clouds grew dark, rain began to dump, but I was already soaked in sweat. No need to break out the rain jacket now.

Again, good signage here.

I think this sums up southern riding.

Soaked!!

Sign at the trailhead. This multi-use path runs from town all the way down to the coast.

The Munson Hills trails are really fun, fast, flowy and enough turns to keep you engaged. I had a blast here, but I did forget to bring a post ride shirt to change into, so I had to drive home completely drenched in sweat. Yuck!!

Route: