PaisLeY WooDs

My wife and I seem to be in the long off road single speed ride business. The shop opens mainly on weekends and we start rides and end them when we want and were always in for some fresh dirt. Today, after careful pondering and a super late start I decided to finally go and check out the Paisley woods mountain bike trail located in the town of Paisley and part of the black bear capital of Florida aka Ocala National Forests.
The trail was exactly as advertised at 22 miles according to Garmin and all his normal forestrial miscalculations. We decided to ride all the way to Alexander springs. The gate fee was ridiculous so we didn't fulfill the fantasy of a swim but the ride was pleasant enough.

If you have ever ridden croom, then you would recognize the flaura and fauna of this trail. I would say this is the lake county version of croom. The terrain even rolls just like croom, lots of climbing, I was surprised, some long downhills and uphills, this place was a real treat.


At this point, is where you do a small out and back and basically turn around.
Part of the reason of riding this trail is to get a look at the forests service roads, this one in particular is in prime condition. I saw some others that were not so nice. Yea, the wheels are turning in my mind.

There were some long climbs that added up out there today. There was some super buff areas, that had you diving into the bushes head first. The Bird made almost every climb today, this one was one of the ones she didn't. It doesn't look like much, but it was hard. My out of saddle skills have improved so much, I was riding real good, I like the War Machine.
The trail was clearly marked and there was only one or two spots that we stopped and had to look around for the blazes.

We started on the East side.

And came back on the west side. Nothing but flavor and I look forward to riding out here some more (moonlight night ride anyone?). The Bird took a Lil beating from this trail today, but she just doesn't realize how good she truly is. We rode 22 miles through rolling terrain, with not a single break. I can think back to my beginner days and I dont think I would of been able to do that then.

Tomorrow, the rattle snake!

Laters,
LOS