HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. -- You'll soon be able to ride a bike from Pinellas County to the Space Coast.

  • Extension links Good Neighbor Trail to Withlacoochee State Trail
  • Part of the Coast to Coast Connector project

It's all part of the Coast to Coast Connector.

A new extension to the Good Neighbor Trail in Brooksville is the latest addition to that project.

Sunday was the third time Port Richey residents Tammy Carr and Jaana Jala rode the trail.

"It's a good training ride and it's good all around," Carr said. "You're getting a little bit of everything you got some flats you got some down hills."

Now they have 10 more miles to explore.

An extension now connects the Good Neighbor Trail, starting at the historic train depot in Brooksville to the Withlacoochee State Trail.

"Being able to ride through Croom, you're in the middle of nowhere. It is so quiet," Jala said.

"I would pay for this. We would pay to ride this," she added.

It's a project that's taken 20 years to complete. Good Neighbor Trail Co-Founder Lara Bradburn hopes it will bring more tourists to Hernando County.

"We believe that this is the focal point of revitalization," Bradburn said. "We've seen it in other communities we know it can happen here."

And it's just the first step.

Once the Coast to Coast Connector is complete, cyclists will have a total of 250 miles to explore.

That's something Carr and Jala can't wait for.

"Keep it going we want to go all the way across Florida on a trail," Carr said.

Bradburn said the next step in creating the Coast to Coast Connector in the area involves creating a trail from downtown Brooksville to the Suncoast Trail.

That's scheduled to start in 2021.