Southeast - Panama City Beach, FL

Hey folks. My wife and I are going to be in PCB, FL later this week for a few days visiting family. I figured we'd bring our bikes. Any sites/shops/rides/routes anyone here would recommend? thanks in advance

As you'd guess. it's pretty flat. I usually vacation in Seagrove, a little east of PCB, and ride the beach roads over to PCB and back before the family wakes up. You have to spend a little time on some 55+mph high traffic [in summer] roads, but they're really not too bad. They have wide shoulders. Business US90 and 30A are the beach roads. There are bike paths, but during the summer they are populated with dog walkers and beach bike cruisers. This time of year may be better for faster riders. I have often run across a group down there riding in the AM, but they always seem to be heading in the opposite direction. That's a good indication that there's a club around with scheduled rides.

PC beach is a little congested right on the beach, but like Bob mentioned, if you go a little west the roads are better. One of my favorite routes is 30A from Rosemary Bch to Blue Mountain Bch. If you are staying on the west side of PCB it is not far. You cross over Lake Powell and hang a left at 30A. You can park at Rosemary and head west through Seagrove, Seaside and Grayton Bch. Depending on how far you want to go you can continue west to Blue mountain Bch and auctually encounter a hill or two. Very scenic ride with little or no traffic (especially this time of year) and lots of places to stop for snaks. There is a LBS in Destin that does group rides on this route, but I can't remember the name.

There's a bike shop in Blue Mtn Beach, too, where I stopped and bought a tube one morning. Seemed to be friendly folks.

.... PCB, FL later this week ...... Any sites/shops/rides/routes anyone here would recommend?

Doesn't look like you're getting much! I've never done any riding up around the "Redneck Riveria", :D, but they appear to have a bike club with a calendar, plus a link to the right for a "Road/Tri Message Board". Assuming you're a roadie, you might want to ask the same question there.

If not, there appears to be a lot of "Dirt" on their home page. Might find something there. Here's the link:
http://www.pccycling.org/calendar.html

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Thanks, I'll check that out. I'm here (PCB) now, so we'll see. Got 3 bikes for the two of us....lol. I'm also looking for a bike shop around here that would be good to buy a chain whip + the type of wrench you'd use to snug down a rear hub lock ring.

.... also looking for a bike shop around here that would be good to buy a chain whip + the type of wrench you'd use to snug down a rear hub lock ring.

There's a couple listed on that club's home page in the left hand column as offering "club discounts", which generally means they at least know what a bicycle is! I'd try them first and do the local club a favor by mentioning that the "lead" came from their website. Never hurts! :thumb:

Just an update...no luck finding tools, but did meet some very friendly & helpful (for one thing, tightening the track lockring I needed tightened while I was in town) folks at Steve's Bike Shop in PC & PCB. I'm starting to gather that it may not be worth taking up the shelf space for lots of shops to carry a full line of tools....no big deal, there is the Internet, after all.

I'm starting to gather that it may not be worth taking up the shelf space for lots of shops to carry a full line of tools

True that. It's a different world from when I first started cycling in 1972. Back then almost every enthusiast was at least "somewhat" of a mechanic.

But the mechanisms were simpler and more universal requiring fewer specialized tools, (item A), and (B), we were raised by parents that lived thru WWII and remembered a time when it didn't matter how much money you had, you couldn't buy "it". If "it" broke, you had better be capable of fixing "it" or you were going to have to live without "it". If there's a (C) there, it would be that we were also instilled with a desire to "know how it worked".

As a society, we've lost that curiousity, and today we just throw "it" away, buy a new "it", and have a shop install "it".

yeah, I guess I have that desire to know how it works & I love the challenge of making it work & DIYing...but it is true I often take for granted that I share this with most others...which I find is false more often than not.

BTW, I did do the 30A run from Rosemary Bch west (about 10 miles there & 10 miles back - with a 50mph headwind...lol)....extremely light traffic motorized & non-motorized...and could have ridden from the house at PCB if we'd wanted (we originally thought we were going farther away to start). It was actually my first real outing trying out the fixed gear conversion I built from my old Peugeot....so I can honestly say I pedaled the whole way. I figured very-flat FL terrain would be a good place to get some easy miles in on the new bike, so I rushed to finish it up before leaving town (and brought my road bike too, just in case)...with two adults, a dog & 3 bikes packed in, we either looked like serious bike enthusiasts or a circus show family on vacation!

thanks all. Hope to be back soon & on two wheels!