Travel writer offers guidebooks on bike trails in central Florida

When Edith Kohlbach discovered the bike trails around her Florida home, she looked for books about them but couldn’t find any. So, Kohlbach, a travel writer, decided to write her own guides to bike trails in central Florida.

“When I started bicycling here and found the wonderful trails in my area I wanted to know more about it, find new trails,” Kohlbach said. “I belong to the older generation, I like books. So I looked for books about bicycling, but was disappointed. No good navigation, no maps, no GPS points. I decided I can do this better.”

Kohlbach, who splits her time between Daytona Beach and Germany is no stranger to writing guidebooks. She has written guidebooks for Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania. Her first trip to Morocco was in 1986 and she’s lost count of how many times she’s been back.

“These guides are for people traveling with their own vehicle, therefore I provide information on the the routes with GPS point,” Kohlbach said. “The Sahara deserts has no road signs, most of the time not even roads.”

Her guidebook on bike trails in central Florida follows the same approach. She tracks her routes with Komoot and takes pictures and notes along the way. Each trail segment is documented with pictures, a map and GPS coordinates and mileage for useful landmarks such as parking, restrooms and picnic shelters. Kohlbach also points out historical, geographical and scenic information about each segment.

Kohlbach currently has two Florida guidebooks: Bike Trails in Central Florida and her latest on trails in west central Florida, which includes navigation for the Florida Coast-to-Coast route.

Kohlbach included the c2c information because she was disappointed that the other guidebooks are more focused on sightseeing rather than navigation.

“It is just not what I need,” Kohlbach wrote in the guidebook. “I want precise information about navigation, what I didn’t find there; but it is a good book for sightseeing, if you are interested in your surroundings.”

Kohlbach, who is retired isn’t a full-time writer, but instead does it as a hobby. She self-publishes her books and they can be purchased in print or electronic format from her website: http://www.bikingflorida.mobilunterwegs.eu/index.html The books are also available at bike shops around Daytona Beach.