ORLANDO SENTINEL SUBSCRIPTION DRIVERS

I make it just in time, breathless, as I scan my ticket and plop down in my seat, a sweaty mess.

I encounter a few other cyclists (and tortoises) as I speed back to DeBary, eager to make it for the 4:30 p.m. After biking about 2.5 miles from my apartment to the Sand Lake Road SunRail station and buying a $7.50 round-trip ticket, I’m on my merry way to DeBary, my two-wheeled steed stowed near my seat.Īs the afternoon drags on, I dry off and gather my belongings for the 9-mile ride back to the station. It was a sunny, warm Tuesday when I decided to test how far I could travel from Orlando without a car. Central Florida Explorer Patrick Connolly has his bike staged and ready for the train to DeBary at the Sand Lake Road SunRail station. There’s plenty of room to spread out, too.

ORLANDO SENTINEL SUBSCRIPTION DRIVERS

Maybe it’s not the trains that are the problem, but the sheer amount of traffic-stopping cars on the road - those many metal vessels filled with congestion-weary drivers who would rather be anywhere but staring at another person’s brake lights.Īs soon as I step onto the SunRail for my first ride, I feel the serenity of gilding right past traffic, away from the horn-blaring madness of I-4, my hands free to read a book or text a friend.

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve gotten held up at a railroad crossing or shuddered at the surprising blast of a train horn, I could afford a good handful of SunRail tickets.

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