Let's Celebrate Florida Bike Month
Since March is Florida Bike Month, what a great time for you and other cycling enthusiasts to be ambassadors for our sport.
Here are some initial ideas on how we can help:
Promote the healthy, lifelong activity of cycling.
Model how to safely share streets with vehicles.
Maintain and enjoy MTB trails.
Show your appreciation for urban and rural paved bike trails.
Introduce friends to the beauty and adventure of Florida gravel roads and trails.
Here are more specific ways to celebrate Florida Bike Month by getting out and riding this March.
1. Enter and ride in a cycling event. You can find a current comprehensive listing of cycling events on our companion website www.FloridaCycling.us. Events include road, MTB, gravel and paved trail rides. Something to everyone’s liking.
Here’s a great event for just about anyone in Central Florida. Ride the scenic Withlacoochee Trail in Inverness, FL in the Clean Air Ride on Saturday, March 22. Go your distance 14/28/48/62/100 miles and at your own pace.
Below is a current listing on www.FloridaCycling.us of some of the events happening in Florida. Just click on the chart. There is also a listing for cycling events in neighboring states to Florida.
2. Invite a friend(s) to go on a ride with you. Go at a friendly, conversational pace to make it as much about camaraderie as exercise. Help someone else begin a new healthy habit of riding a bike and rediscover the joy that we had as kids riding a bike. Or invite neighborhood families to do a “Bike Rodeo” to ride together around a few blocks for fun.
3. Join a club ride near you. Most cycling clubs have a variety of paces and distances for newcomers as well as for experienced group cyclists. You can find a listing of Florida cycling clubs on www.FloridaCycling.us. Search by location and use the link to the club website for more information.
4. Do a Google search for special activities in your area using Florida Bike Month with the city name, in your search engine. Here are a couple of activities I discovered:
Boca Raton is having a special ride on Saturday, March 15 on the Boca Raton El Rio Trail 4.9 mile ride.
In the Jacksonville area there is the North Florida Bike Ride for Bike Month on Saturday, March 29. It looks like a fun family event.
5. Ride a bike trail or gravel road near you. You can find a listing of hundreds of trails and paths throughout Florida on our website www.FloridaCycling.us. Check out past eNewsletters from FloridaCycling.us about “Destination Trails”. They are worthy of a road trip to experience the trail.
The point is, there is no better time than right now during Florida Bike Month to get on your bike and head out for a ride.
March weather in Florida is glorious for cycling!
Ride often. Ride safe.
Bruce
