Ferdinand State Forest

[Tim]

Had a great time here. Did about 4 laps

......Ummm no !

I would have to agree with eric that this trail is a beast.
It is by far the hardest trail I've ever ridden.
If you don't have strong legs or some sick enjoyment with pushing your endurance to its fullest then this place will probably be of no fun to you at all.

I started out at about 1 pm, there was no gate attendant so I did not have to pay the fee.
I parked in the first lot and headed clockwise down the Foxy hollow trail.
You get reminded real quick that your gonna be granny gearing it. The first hill was not bad but I was not ready or really prepared. i had been sitting in the car for 2 hours

You can really tell when your body starts to kick it up a notch. Wish I understood the mechanics of the human body because at times I felt like I was resting my legs while I was peddling uphill. Sounds crazy but it's true.

I thought it was an incredible place from a nature point of view. The scenery was just incredible and the weather was perfect.. Love the pine trees !!

There were a handful of things I didn't care for

Some of the downhill sections were still covered with leaves and some small broken branches which made things a bit treacherous. Other than that, my only gripes were the giant gravel they use on some of the fire roads and the guy fertilizing his farm was a real treat,

I got lost more than I wanted to, without the map I probably would have been in trouble.
Had no clue what FL meant on all the posts. Ha, I said as I peddled up another hill, it stands for fire lane !!

I actually road some of the fire roads in the other direction which added a few miles to my trip.
One of which was a hella ride up so I figured I would ride that bad boy back down again.
Anyway, I had a great time. it's an incredible park and an incredibly hard, long slow ride through the woods but it was worth the trip !

Oh, the fire tower was the shit !!

Here's some photos

s649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/spiritwild1/Ferdinand/

[Eric]

I am glad that you enjoyed your ride. Why did you stop at only 4 laps? That should not have taken too long. LOL

I know that I ride there a lot, but you are not the first person that said you had trouble not getting lost with out the map. I have done laps and tried to see where everyone has trouble, but there were trail signs at every intersection.

[Eric]

Also, I really don't like the section right behind the fire tower. I tend to take a right on the road and bring a different fire lane in to that section of trail. It has been years since I have dropped down that fun down hill behind the tower.

[Tim]

I may have missed them. I did notice some that said "trail"

It's like that at Angel mounds. If you zig when you're suppose to zag you will
end up back where you started.

There were a lot of good down hills. It was fun.
I enjoyed some of the gravel roads too.

I came blazin down one of them all skidding sideway like I was in and old repack race
If I would have lost it, I would have ate it and that would have sucked it !!

Aside from the biking, I really enjoyed the park, It was very quiet and peaceful.