Looks like I’ll be in Tampa from January 13-20 and have nothing to do other than train. Am looking forward to escaping a Northeast winter to get some fitness in. Any tips on Masters swim groups, trail runs, and bike shops where I could rent a road bike to ride around?
Thanks!
Bikeshops: Outspokin in Clearwater
Trail and Road Running and Biking: Flatwoods Park (im sure theres more but this is where i use to train)
Masters swimming: Eastbay Pool
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cool thanks. will check these out.
Sun coast parkway trail is good for bike riding or running. New Tampa Y has a great pool. There are nonmember hours I believe It is close to Flatwoods. Davis Island in south Tampa is good for biking although there is light car traffic.
For Tampa bike shops, check Flying Fish, Trek, University Bike Shop, and Kona MultiSport. Check Chainwheel Drive in addition to Outspokin in Clearwater. Suncoast is your best bet for a long extended bike trail (~42mi). Flatwoods is good for dirt trails and a 7 mile paved loop. Lake Rogers regional park has a 2.1 mile dirt trail around the lake with a water station. Expect $2 trailhead fee at Lake Rogers/Suncoast and other Hillsborough County parks. It’s $3 in Pasco county. Dade City is where you go for the hills (Sunday morning roadies typically start a drop ride around 8am). Bayshore Blvd is where you run to be seen. Haven’t done Davis Island in years, but that is a flat low traffic area.
We had our cycling camp down there last year and it will be there again this year first week of February. We were out in Lutz, but here is the routes that we rode: http://app.strava.com/athletes/199228 (look at the first week in February for the rides)
Excellent. Thanks all.
If you’re downtown, hit the Bayshore Blvd. It’s like 5 miles each way of sidewalk (uninterrupted because it’s along the bayshore). Any time of the day there will be tons of people out hitting it…
Looks like I’m staying at the Sheraton Riverwalk, so I should be downtown. Thanks.
Don’t ride in Tampa (city). It’s a death trap (check death rate of cyclists if you don’t believe me).
Most of the Tampa riders I know either ride the hills (North area called San Antonio) or come over to St. Petersburg. There are a couple of nooks and crannies but why take the chance in an area with a history.
There are great bike shops to rent from with all the options depending on brand of bike you’d like to ride. St Pete Bike & Fitness, Outspokin
Ft. Desoto is a great ride in Tampa Bay. The Bridges in Clearwater, Gulf Blvd from Clearwater to Pass-A-Grille, etc.
We do group rides out of Northshore Pool (St. Pete Cycling Club)…
M - F 8:30am (15 Mile Pinellas Point Loop 22 - 26mph)
Sat 8:30 (45 Mile Ft. Desoto Ride 24 - 30+mph)
Sun 8:00am (Pass-A-Grille Ride 22- 26mph)
Tu & Thu 5:00pm (15 Mile Pinellas Point Loop 24 - 30+mph) @ USF St. Pete
To be fair, I was only talking about running Bayshore Blvd. and only on the sidewalk. I can’t speak for riding a bike downtown.
But, my understanding is that the Bayshore Run is one of the best in Tampa…
As you can see in this link, it’s super close to the Sheraton (http://www.walkjogrun.net/routes/current_route.cfm?rid=E327C542-AFAE-F5B5-D352B22DA0D10699).
I ran the Riverwalk last month and it’s a good, albeit very short, run also. My recommendation for running from your hotel is still Bayshore Blvd…
X2
The running in Tampa is good, but go out of town to bike.
The number of people on bicycles killed by cars in Tampa is definitely high, but nearly 100% due to casual bicycle riders getting popped off at 2am often in dark clothes, no helmet, and no lights. I haven’t read of a single cyclist (i.e., someone who was training) hit by a car in the past 5 years with the exception of the USF cycling team member who failed to stop at the bottom of hill (San Antonio) and was hit by a car (i.e., rider’s fault). If you are going to be staying downtown, your closest/safest ride is the Davis Island perimeter.
Other considerations:
- You are much closer to Flatwoods with a 7 mile virtually traffic free loop. By contrast, it’s a long drive to Fort DeSoto park, which is a 5 mile long road open to wind but relatively low traffic. All you have there is back and forth. Great for sprint races, but boring as hell for training.
- Gulf Blvd , Pass-A-Grille, etc are scenic, but have fairly high traffic IMHO. It’s far safer and closer to your hotel to go to the Suncoast Trail which is ~42 miles from the bottom to the top with NO traffic other than a few road crossings. Once north of Spring Hill, the trail has rolling hills.
- San Antonio (Dade City area) is the best for hills and serious roadies. However, it is open to traffic and there are some yahoos out there. If you don’t know the roads it’s probably not a good idea to head out there alone without a group.
- Bayshore Blvd sucks for running unless concrete is your thing or you just want to be seen. Davis Island neighborhoods are better and Flatwoods is superior if you can make it out there.
San Antonio is great for hills but local yahoos pulling trailers wider than their vehicles are a problem. Florida has a 3 foot setback rule between cars and bikes. What drivers forget is that after their pickup has passed and they cut in their trailer is still back there. A friend who is world class in her age group(Kona several times)had a severe accident there a couple of years ago. So the hill are great but bike defensively.
As I said… riding in Tampa is to be avoided. Flatwoods isn’t in the city limits. Neither is San Antonio or the Suncoast Trail. Both are good places to ride and certainly should be mentioned.
Flatwoods is 22 Miles North of downtown Tampa (55 minutes via car in Traffic, 32 minutes with no traffic - Google Maps)
Suncoast Trail is 21 Miles North West of downtown Tampa (44 minutes via car in Traffic, 26 minutes with no traffic - Google Maps)
Fort Desoto / Tierra Verde / Bayway / Pass-A-Grille is 34 miles South West of downtown Tampa (48 minutes via car in Traffic, 44 minutes with no traffic - Google Maps)
You might be closer to Flatwoods in distance, yet when is there no traffic in Tampa? Yea. Tampa = Traffic. It’s the same thing, unless your planning on going there to ride @ 3am. Google Maps currently says your roughly the same time away from all 3.
Ft. Desoto is part of a 22 mile loop that includes Tierra Verde (SR 679) south of Yacht Lane. It’s bike friendly and wide open roads. Sunshine Skyway Lane is nearby and definitely worth the effort to find for it’s 10 mile loop of uninterrupted views of the water on a protected bike path going all the way out to the fishing pier.
It all depends on what your looking for as an out of towner. Most people come to Florida and want some views of the ocean during their ride. I personally would never come to do an inland ride in Florida (if I didn’t live here) unless there simply wasn’t a place to ride where I could get occasional views of the water and breathe the fresh air from the ocean breeze. This is clearly not the case.
Inland rides in Florida during this time of year (cooler weather) can be a nice opportunity for a change of scenery, yet my perspective is from someone who lives here. Who gets the ocean rides as often as I want.
The OP is probably closest to Flying Fish Cycles where you could rent a bike there near downtown. Put the bike in a rental car and go to all 3.
But remember your half an hour from safe riding and the only thing boring about Fort Desoto is there is little traffic.
Thanks for the feedback. I live in NYC now, so indoor riding and traffic are the norm; however, traffic and non-scenic rides are not what I’m looking for if I’m in Florida for a week. I don’t really care about fitness much right now so just logging some miles and enjoying residual fitness gains will be nice. I should have a car with potential to travel while the misses is working so I think packing the bike and heading up is the way to go. Swimming outdoors also seems sweet right now so hopefully can find an outdoor pool. Thanks again!