Day 4 Friday April 30 2021 - Brooksville to Tarpon Springs

 

Todays ride will be 49.2 miles.  The complete route can be found here. We leave Brooksville and immediately connect with the Suncoast Trail. This trail parallels the The 42-mile-long Suncoast Parkway (SR 589).As part of the Suncoast Parkway project, a multi-use paved recreational trail called the Suncoast Trail was constructed parallel to the western side of the highway, and opened along with the Parkway itself in 2001. We head due south on the Suncoast Trail for around 24 miles. At mile 24.6, we take a turn westward on the Starkey Wilderness Bike Trail. This trail runs about eight (8) miles through the Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park - This regional park covers over 8,300 acres of land and is a cooperative venture between the Southwest Florida Water Management District and Pasco County Parks and Recreation. When we exit the park, we'll follow Starkey Blvd south for about 4 miles until we reach SR 54 at mile 36.5.  We then head west on SR54 for 1 mile, at which time we will snake our way through the parking lot of the Medical Center of Trinity in Trinity FL. We then meander through a series of residential streets until we connect with the The Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail (Pinellas Trail) at mile 44.2. The Pinellas Trail will take us into Tarpon Springs, where we will jump off for the last mile to the Sponge Boat Docks in downtown Tarpon Springs. Tarpon Springs has the highest percentage of Greek Americans of any city in the US.