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Who said that?

"I’m a good faller."

-- Teresa Thomas

Michael Lutus, an emergency room technician at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, likes to unwind on his mountain bike.

Whenever he can, he jumps in his car and drives an hour north to the Balm-Boyette Scrub Preserve. Then he jumps on his bike and spends half the day pedaling through woods, pushing up hills and plunging down 60-foot drops.

“This is heaven,” Lutus says. “A lot of people can’t believe this is here in Florida.”

The Hillsborough County park, on the site of an old phosphate mine, has been reclaimed by time. What were waste pits and slag heaps have become picturesque lakes and shaded hills.

Members of SWAMP — the SouthWest Association of Mountain bike Pedalers — have spent thousands of volunteer hours carving more than 30 miles of trails.

There are paths for everyone from experts to beginners.

Read more at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.