Ed, this is a great alternative to SR50. I've ridden several of these roads and most at very quiet and enjoyable to ride. I would never advocate riding the entire gap on SR50 if one isn't comfortable riding on a busy road but if anyone wants to try it, early Sunday morning is as good as it gets. Make sure you have a flashing red light on the rear of your bike (I have two) and a mirror. I also ride with a Garmin radar to give me a little more warning. Also there are several areas on SR50 that have sidewalks that are rideable which reduces the amount of time on the road. Keep up the great work keeping the cycling community informed. It is much appreciated.
I felt that it needed to be done since there are sections of SR50 roadway projects in construction along with the bike trail. The gap has gotten smaller!
Thanks for the tour, Ed. I went westbound in April 2024, planning all along to ride ACROSS the Van Fleet and into the Richloam Wilderness Area (Green Swamp) to Trilby with a gravel bike with 2.3 in. tires. The Swamp was incredible- so quiet and desolate, but it is not for skinny tires, especially if your bike is loaded up. As your video shows, Empire Church Rd has no shoulder or bike lane, and it is a bit rough with patchwork, but fortunately it had little traffic. I turned Left/south off of Empire Church Rd onto Bay Lake Rd. If you like rolling hills, the most hills I found on this essentially flat route, they await you on the Bay Lake Rd section. Westbound, no water or stores after Groveland until the either the Richloam Store, or Trilby, so plan ahead. Thanks again for showing the paved options.
Excellent video Ed. I would add one comment from my own experience: Sometimes riding on a 2-lane back road with zero shoulder and 55+ mph traffic can be more dangerous than riding along a 55 mph road with a 3-foot bike lane.
Excellent video Ed. I biked straight across the Van Fleet through the swamp to Trilby. This route would keep you mostly on pavement and looks to be scenic. Thanks for video! Maybe, next time I will try it.
The new roadway construction projects seem to have gotten the new trail through the area that caused the largest deviation away from SR50 for cyclists. From what I have read from those who braved the sandy roads, I knew that I would need to stay on paved roadways and this route seems reasonable as far as length. Thanks for watching.
The side roads have lower speed limits than SR50 and the main thing is they have much less vehicle traffic. But you still have the option of riding in the bike lane along SR50. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for watching and for posting. I produced the video with the hope that fellow cyclists would find it informative and useful as a paved alternate to going thru the Green Swamp.
@@Ed_Cycles thanks, Ed. Thinking about doing the C2C trail east to west and I’ll look to piece your videos together in that order. Helps a lot. Thanks again for the time you’ve taken.
Ed, this is a great alternative to SR50. I've ridden several of these roads and most at very quiet and enjoyable to ride.
I would never advocate riding the entire gap on SR50 if one isn't comfortable riding on a busy road but if anyone wants to try it, early Sunday morning is as good as it gets. Make sure you have a flashing red light on the rear of your bike (I have two) and a mirror. I also ride with a Garmin radar to give me a little more warning. Also there are several areas on SR50 that have sidewalks that are rideable which reduces the amount of time on the road.
Keep up the great work keeping the cycling community informed. It is much appreciated.
Thank you! I appreciate you watching and posting feedback!
Thanks Ed for all the time you put into this. Not just driving the route, but editing, adding maps titles, mileage, AADT, etc. Awesome labor of love.
My youtube channel is not monetized, so my payment is in the form of compliments and accolades. Thank you for a great payday!!
Thank You ED 🙏🏿. You are THE MAN ! This is really,really HELPFUL. Your INTEL/RECON is EXCELLENT !!! 👍🏾. 🤜🏾🤛🏾🚴🏾
You're gonna make my head explode! Thanks for the kind words. And thanks for watching! Keep on pedaling!
@ 😎🕶 🤜🏾🤛🏾. 👍🏾
Wow. This is great. Liked, subscribed. Cheers!
Thank you! And thanks for posting!
hats off to you for putting in the work and then sharing it with us all!
I felt that it needed to be done since there are sections of SR50 roadway projects in construction along with the bike trail. The gap has gotten smaller!
Thanks for the tour, Ed. I went westbound in April 2024, planning all along to ride ACROSS the Van Fleet and into the Richloam Wilderness Area (Green Swamp) to Trilby with a gravel bike with 2.3 in. tires. The Swamp was incredible- so quiet and desolate, but it is not for skinny tires, especially if your bike is loaded up. As your video shows, Empire Church Rd has no shoulder or bike lane, and it is a bit rough with patchwork, but fortunately it had little traffic. I turned Left/south off of Empire Church Rd onto Bay Lake Rd. If you like rolling hills, the most hills I found on this essentially flat route, they await you on the Bay Lake Rd section. Westbound, no water or stores after Groveland until the either the Richloam Store, or Trilby, so plan ahead. Thanks again for showing the paved options.
You are welcome.
You are a Central Florida treasure!
Thank you for the kind words!
Excellent video Ed. I would add one comment from my own experience: Sometimes riding on a 2-lane back road with zero shoulder and 55+ mph traffic can be more dangerous than riding along a 55 mph road with a 3-foot bike lane.
As always, make your route decision and ride at your own risk. Thanks for posting!
I love these back roads. I prefer them to the bike trails.
Beautiful.
Thanks for sharing.
Me too! So long as there is little vehicle traffic which I believe describes these particular roads. Thanks for watching!
Hey Ed! Glad you like the shirt! Was happy to do it for you! Cheers!
Thank you! Had not thought of growing a 'brand', but hey, why not? Anyone want Ed Cycles merchandise? Go to www.teepublic.com and search on Ed Cycles.
Cooooooolest tee ever
Thanks for taking the time to upload this.
You are welcome! Let me know if you utilize this route thru the gap. Thanks for watching.
Excellent video Ed. I biked straight across the Van Fleet through the swamp to Trilby. This route would keep you mostly on pavement and looks to be scenic. Thanks for video! Maybe, next time I will try it.
The new roadway construction projects seem to have gotten the new trail through the area that caused the largest deviation away from SR50 for cyclists. From what I have read from those who braved the sandy roads, I knew that I would need to stay on paved roadways and this route seems reasonable as far as length. Thanks for watching.
Nicely done, Ed. Best video on trail I’ve seen. Good detail from both audio and video. Thanks for the time you put into this.
I enjoy making these videos to help fellow cyclists! Thank you for the compliments. It is how I get paid!
Fabulous resource, Ed. Thanks for your efforts.
My pleasure! Thank you.
Thank you very much Ed. Now I feel a lot more confident about riding across Florida.
You are very welcome. I look forward to posts giving me feedback on their ride using this route. Thanks for watching!
Great video. Thank you Ed.
You are welcome. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for your effort on this Ed, well done.
Glad you enjoyed it. I hope many people will benefit from this while we all wait for the rest of the SR50 trail to be completed.
Great research and great video. Would you be willin go add links to your RideWithGPS routes to the description?
I will try doing that, but cannot get to my computer until this evening. Thank you for the suggestion!
Thanks for the video. Concerning that a lot of those roads have really high speed limit. I'm looking fwd to doing C2C later this year.
The side roads have lower speed limits than SR50 and the main thing is they have much less vehicle traffic. But you still have the option of riding in the bike lane along SR50. Thanks for watching!
Awesome video. Thx for sharing, we need those info in order to expand our cycling network in central fl
Thanks for watching and for posting. I produced the video with the hope that fellow cyclists would find it informative and useful as a paved alternate to going thru the Green Swamp.
Yay. More sprawl coming soon.
Thank you Ed… are these files downloadable to Kamoot?
Thank you for watching! The files are GPX, so should be useable on any device. I do not use kamoot so cannot confirm.
@@Ed_Cycles thank you
the gap looks like it is the Green Swamp preserve which is supposed to stay in its natural state
I agree. It is why I show a way to navigate the gap on existing paved roads and avoid disturbing the swamp.
Ed do you have a Facebook page?
No. But I will be making more central Florida cycling videos when the weather cools down a bit. Look for the start of season 3 in a couple of months.
@@Ed_Cycles thanks, Ed. Thinking about doing the C2C trail east to west and I’ll look to piece your videos together in that order. Helps a lot. Thanks again for the time you’ve taken.