Mountain biking in Florida? Why not

Thanks to people like Dan Moser, the bicycle/pedestrian program coordinator at the Lee County Health Department, we have some of the best bike paths and bike lanes in all of Florida.

Road riders can pedal from downtown Fort Myers to the beach and then to Naples safely. Sure, there's some construction to Summerlin Road's bike paths but the new bike lanes on that major highway are wide and comfortable even with traffic whizzing by.

Still, mile-after-mile on a road bike can get a little boring.

That's why my road-riding partner Mac and I strapped two mountain bikes on the back of my car last Saturday and headed out to the Caloosahatchee Regional Park in Alva to test the trails.

The brochure calls it "mountain biking," but that's a bit of a stretch since Southwest Florida is tabletop flat. But the trails do have some small hills, moguls really, that can challenge even experienced trail riders.

The park sits along County Road 78 just north of State Road 31 on the north side of the river. Parking is plentiful and there's a picnic pavilion and water for washing the mud off your bike. Parking is $5 per day.

And there are plenty of "horse apples" around since the park also has extensive equestrian trails - so mind your step.

COURTESY PHOTO Mountain bike tires are wide and knobby. They're best for the bike trails at the Caloosahatchee Regional Park in Alva. The 10-mile bike trail begins with a zigzag ride on flat open terrain. It's a good time to warm up those muscles you'll use when the trail gets demanding.

Before long, we dove down into the underbrush to the trail nearly completely covered with growth. There, it's cool and wind free. The riding surface is usually hard-packed dirt or rocks with the occasional sugar-sand patches.

The trail winds around trees and bushes and rocks and hills. Most are blind curves, so with some speed, the excitement increases.

Each month the trails are changed to the opposite direction, so make sure you're heading the right direction. We somehow got turned around toward the end of the ride and came face-to-face with another group. Luckily, it wasn't on a blind curve, which could have been disastrous.

There are some technical parts of the ride. The few hills are steep and the sugar sand makes it a tough hump. And there are some raised platforms, about a foot wide, that wind around some terrain and aren't as easy as they look.

It'll take about 1 ½ hours to ride with any pace or two hours if you take your time. There are picnic tables scattered around which are nice for a water break.

But bring your own water, the water spigots are for washing, not for drinking. And you'll need a mountain bike. Something with shocks on the front forks is best. Some people tried the trail with hybrids or cyclocross bikes, but the tires are too narrow and you sit too high to negotiate the hills.

Bug spray is an absolute necessity in the summer and I would avoid riding right after a summer rain shower. I did that last year and any brief stop, even for a couple seconds to make an adjustment or grab a drink brought swarms of mosquitoes to feast on my blood. The trails open at 8 am and closes ½ hour after sunset. ¦