Biking trails at The Villages? Need help

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Old 09-22-2021, 06:57 AM
Matkins61275 Matkins61275 is offline
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Default Bike trails

Check out sumter landing bike club. We have scheduled rides almost every day from various locations.. if they like to mountain bike,, santos trails in ocala is one of the best in the country. Also,, the multi modal trails are intended for bicy les as well as golf cards.

QUOTE=Ele201;2007651]Hello! One of my dearest friends is seriously considering moving to The Villages. The issue is, she and her husband love to bike. They will often take their bikes with them when vacationing. I’ve been here less than a year, so not that long, but I haven’t seen any bike trails around. Bicyclists in The Villages, can you help her? Where are the trails, and would you recommend her living here if biking is so important to them? [Full disclosure, they’re also considering Hilton Head, which does have bike trials, so I’ve heard]

Thank-you for your input![/QUOTE]
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Old 09-22-2021, 07:05 AM
KRMACK55 KRMACK55 is offline
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Originally Posted by Ele201 View Post
Hello! One of my dearest friends is seriously considering moving to The Villages. The issue is, she and her husband love to bike. They will often take their bikes with them when vacationing. I’ve been here less than a year, so not that long, but I haven’t seen any bike trails around. Bicyclists in The Villages, can you help her? Where are the trails, and would you recommend her living here if biking is so important to them? [Full disclosure, they’re also considering Hilton Head, which does have bike trials, so I’ve heard]

Thank-you for your input!
Would tell them to move to Hilton Head. They don’t have bike trails only and the last few years of this awful heat means that perhaps 2-3 months of the year biking is possible !

Enjoy SC they have seasons there
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Old 09-22-2021, 07:06 AM
KRMACK55 KRMACK55 is offline
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Originally Posted by John Mayes View Post
I’ve only been here since June and I can only speak to what I’ve learned so far……you’ll probably get much better info from those that have lived here longer.

We live in Hawkins. Their are miles and miles of walking/biking paths around Hawkins and the adjacent Villages, (St. Catherines, Bradford, Chitty Chatty, etc). The developer seemed to incorporate the paths into the overall plan more so than in the past. As well, the multimodal paths are loaded with cyclists.

So from my observation, The Villages are very bicycle friendly, (at least South of 44) and offer miles of opportunities to explore.

Good luck to your friends.
Those are walking paths not bike paths the two can mesh not do well
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Old 09-22-2021, 07:26 AM
VApeople VApeople is offline
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Those are walking paths not bike paths the two can mesh not do well
What are you trying to say?
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Old 09-22-2021, 07:29 AM
GRACEALLEMAN GRACEALLEMAN is offline
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Default Bike trails

We ride our bikes on the golf cart multiuser trails. Who in the world doesn't know that?
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Old 09-22-2021, 07:43 AM
John Mayes John Mayes is offline
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Originally Posted by KRMACK55 View Post
Those are walking paths not bike paths the two can mesh not do well
The paths are for walkers, runners, dog walkers and bikers. My experience is that everyone seems to get along very well on the paths.
  #22  
Old 09-22-2021, 08:07 AM
spinner1001 spinner1001 is offline
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Originally Posted by Ele201 View Post
Hello! One of my dearest friends is seriously considering moving to The Villages. The issue is, she and her husband love to bike. They will often take their bikes with them when vacationing. I’ve been here less than a year, so not that long, but I haven’t seen any bike trails around. Bicyclists in The Villages, can you help her? Where are the trails, and would you recommend her living here if biking is so important to them? [Full disclosure, they’re also considering Hilton Head, which does have bike trials, so I’ve heard]

Thank-you for your input!
In and close to The Villages: There are lots of miles on the multi-modal paths. Generally, the southern parts are less busy. Of course, bikes need to share these paths with golf carts. If your friends from out of town ride alone, I suggest staying off the roads in TV except Sunday mornings. If they like riding in a group, they could likely ride with a local bike club group on the roads. Years ago, I cycled around the Mount Dora area a lot and it was beautiful and had hills but those roads have gotten very busy with cars and trucks.

I agree that the Santos Trail in Ocala is great for bicycling. It is cycling mostly in the woods on a paved trail.
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Old 09-22-2021, 08:11 AM
Angelcancel Angelcancel is offline
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As stated prior, several clubs travel in pelotons around TV. Several multi purpose trails which I use regularly and have never had problems . Between 44 and the Turnpike there are also trails for bicycles and pedestrians ( no golf carts permitted).Have personally biked 40-50 miles just on T V trail systems , going over the bridges at Brownwood and returning via the Chitty chatty bridge. Have also hone over TV bridge over the turnpike and biked that area at times
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Old 09-22-2021, 08:14 AM
bncuhler@verizon.net bncuhler@verizon.net is offline
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We are biking now more than we ever have. Wonderful biking here in The Villages South of 44, but also 45 miles of Trail through Inverness. Florida has many wonderful bike trails. All paved, shaded and very nice!
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Old 09-22-2021, 08:33 AM
toeser toeser is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ele201 View Post
Hello! One of my dearest friends is seriously considering moving to The Villages. The issue is, she and her husband love to bike. They will often take their bikes with them when vacationing. I’ve been here less than a year, so not that long, but I haven’t seen any bike trails around. Bicyclists in The Villages, can you help her? Where are the trails, and would you recommend her living here if biking is so important to them? [Full disclosure, they’re also considering Hilton Head, which does have bike trials, so I’ve heard]

Thank-you for your input!

I bike seven days per week in the Villages on the multimodal trails. However, when I wish to do true trail riding, we throw our bikes on our car rack and go to one of many fantastic trails in central Florida.

The Santos Trail is fabulous - 15.5 miles one way - 2 miles north of Belleview

The Gainesville - Hawthorne trail is wonderful

The Withlacoochee State Trail can be accessed in about one hour west of the Villages and is one of Florida's longest trails.

The General James A. Van Fleet State Trail about one hour south of the Villages is perhaps our favorite. It is 29 miles long (all paved) and goes through largely swampland. We have seen so much wildlife, including many alligators each trip, multiple kinds of snakes, birds, turtles, otters, deer, etc.

We have also done several trails two or more hours from the Villages. Florida is a biking paradise.
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Last edited by toeser; 09-22-2021 at 02:14 PM.
  #26  
Old 09-22-2021, 08:45 AM
Ptmckiou Ptmckiou is offline
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Default Trails

The Villages has 400 miles of multi modal trails. Down south in the new area, they have many miles of trails that are bike/walking only (no golf carts) because they go through nature preserves. The great thing…the land is flat ( except going in and out of tunnels).
  #27  
Old 09-22-2021, 11:43 AM
GenevaSteve GenevaSteve is offline
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Default Florida trails

There are many long paved bike trails in central Florida that are not far from TV. Two of our favorites are the Withlacoochee trail (44 miles long) and the Van Fleet trail (29 miles long). Both are only 30 minutes from TV. We also like the Suncoast trail (41 miles). The Van Fleet trail has very limited car crossings and there are lots of gopher tortoises to watch. Do a web search on Florida bile trails, there are many great trails outside of TV.
  #28  
Old 09-22-2021, 03:16 PM
Dzurinko Dzurinko is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ele201 View Post
Hello! One of my dearest friends is seriously considering moving to The Villages. The issue is, she and her husband love to bike. They will often take their bikes with them when vacationing. I’ve been here less than a year, so not that long, but I haven’t seen any bike trails around. Bicyclists in The Villages, can you help her? Where are the trails, and would you recommend her living here if biking is so important to them? [Full disclosure, they’re also considering Hilton Head, which does have bike trials, so I’ve heard]

Thank-you for your input!
For off road trail riding, have them try Santos. Great dirt bike type of riding. Between Bellview and Ocala off 301. About 26 miles of in woodland with roots and rocks. True trail riding.
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