Hills of Fun

View from the West Orange Trail

After a fun night out with some friends last night, today's ride was questionable. I woke up way late (on purpose) and was feeling slightly under the weather. But, after some breakfast and a lot of water, I got my gear together and headed out to Winter Garden to try out the West Orange Trail. The route I took out there was straight through Pine Hills - the area of Orlando that lands us on the FBI's list of most dangerous cities in America. It was that way almost the entire way out to Winter Garden and literally changed as I turned onto Plant Street, running straight through downtown.

Winter Garden is an awesome place! There are lots of restaurants and shops. The roads are brick and there is a wide median straight through the center of town: the West Orange Trail. With football on this afternoon, I ended up cutting my ride shorter than I originally planned but was still able to get a little over an hour of riding in. This trail is incredible - certainly worth the 35 minute drive. It will definitely end up being one that I will be able to build up endurance and power with due to the changes in elevation, something that is absent from the trails closer to home. Not only is the trail good to train on, there were some pretty great views along the way. The trails were wide and cracks, pumps, and holes were all marked with spray paint - something I've come to greatly appreciate!

If you're interested in checking it out, let me know! It's always nice to have company.