Spinning Wheels
By Kara Chalmers
My body registered the threat before my mind did. I slammed on the brakes before fully realizing that the dark form in the middle of the paved road wasn't a shadow, or a fallen branch. It was a five-foot alligator. And, upon hearing my bike screech to a halt, it briskly raised its body and headed straight for the water. By the time I pedaled over, it was gone.
It may be hard to believe, but the exact same thing happened about five minutes later. Five minutes after that, I saw a baby alligator in the grass just off the road. It was actually pretty cute.
I was bicycling in Myakka River State Park, one of the oldest and largest state parks in Florida. I've visited the park often since moving to the Sarasota area four years ago. Every time, I've seen 'gators – mostly in Upper Myakka Lake, moving silently through the water, just eyes and nose visible. A few times, I've seen them hanging out just under the first bridge you cross after the park's entrance. I also once saw a huge one under the fishing deck near the concessionaire. But it wasn't until I went biking that I was able to see several of these fascinating reptiles up-close – even out of the water. I'm pretty sure that had I been in a car, the alligators and other wildlife would have heard the engine and cleared out before I even got a glimpse.
That day, the backcountry dirt biking trails were pretty wet, since there had been a summer storm the day before. I stuck to the paved road, which proved to be just as wild and scenic. Besides the 'gators, I saw squirrels, yellow butterflies, bright orange cicadas and vultures. I pedaled past hammocks, grassy marshes and the lakefront.
And it was just as good of a workout. You can bike the entire seven-mile length from beginning to end and back again and get in a 14-mile ride – a lot of it in the shade and all of it flat. Or, you can do what I did – a round-trip trek from the concessionaire to the north gate, which is closed on weekdays. The ride takes you past the Birdwalk – a boardwalk path that juts out over Upper Myakka Lake – and is about seven or eight miles. For lunch, you can stop at the Clay Gully picnic area, located close to the north gate. Besides a large covered pavilion, restrooms, water fountains and a playground, the area has individual picnic tables overlooking Clay Gully. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and as I ate my sandwich I listened to the sounds of rushing water, tweeting birds and lizards leaping on palmetto branches.
Off the road at Oscar Scherer State Park
Off-Road Trekking at Oscar Scherer Oscar Scherer State Park in Osprey offers a different type of bike riding experience. There's still a ton of wildlife to be seen (I saw a rabbit, raccoon, quail, turtle doves, an osprey, vulture and loads of scrub jays, a threatened species found only in Florida), but the biking is primarily off-road, on dirt paths that wind through scrubby and pine flatwoods. It's best to bring a mountain bike.
There are nearly a dozen miles of marked trails. Choose from four distinct trails, or bike them all. The three-mile green trail, which winds through Florida scrub jay habitat, offers the best biking in the park. It begins behind the nature center. At five miles, the yellow trail is the longest, and it takes bikers through the most remote area of the park. But watch out – its sandy trails can make for some very challenging bike riding. Same goes for the one-and-a-half-mile blue trail and the two-mile red trail.
Since the bike paths are also for hiking, benches with shades are set up along the way. Bikers and hikers may also see bobcats, deer, turkey, snakes, alligators, gopher tortoises and bald eagles. A coyote has even been spotted in the park.
