Southwest Florida's newest off road system lies at the heart of the T.Mabry Carlton Reserve on the outskirts of the city of Venice. The lead trail has become known as "BoldlyGo" and in the short span of one year it has attracted the attention of countless visitors. At the parking lot is a kiosk with a map that displays this long span of singletrack snaking its way through the woods for almost 4 miles. As of now, this popular trail has been made even longer. The Sarasota County Off Road Riders (SCORR)  are the group responsible for trail building and maintenance. They created BoldlyGo and over the past couple weeks they extended it to complete a loop that is easily accessible for the public. SCORR started the new year by hiking through the brush, flagging new paths. This required traversing deep woods and fields of palmetto while picking appropriate routes. Mountain bike trails are usually narrow and often swerve back and forth giving riders the illusion of...

In southwest Florida there a dozen and a half ways to enjoy the weather and the scenery while also getting in shape. From running and swimming to triathlons and mud runs, we have almost everything. When I say almost that is because there is one sport that has only just begun to gain traction in our part of the sunshine state. That sport is off road riding, otherwise known as mountain biking. You might be asking, how can you mountain bike without mountains? Mountain bikes are built not merely for climbing and descending but more specifically for exploring. The knobby tires and plush suspension make it possible to go on journeys far from the pavement. It is only off road where you will experience the true beauty of southwest Florida's nature and see the vast array of amazing animals up close and personal. Off road riding allows you to have a real Florida adventure. Where can you go for these types of adventures? A trail building group named SCORR (Sarasota County Of...