jschn04 

Hi all -

I'm Jonathan Schneider and I own Road Holland, the cycling apparel company. This is not a shill so forum mod please don't delete upon seeing.

I'm looking for some riders to accompany me on a SE Florida "great ride" that we can document. I'm sure you've seen videos about great rides, docs that follow a rider, etc. I'm looking to do the same thing and would hire a video crew and arrange return transport if needed.

So 2 questions:

1. Any suggestions for a great ride? Requirements:

a. Be somewhat scenic. We take what we can get down here I know.
b. Have some local color along the way (places to stop, people to chat up, etc.).
c. Be a difficult or higher level ride (if we're going to profile something we want to make it interesting...)
d. Be a majority day ride (not just a morning one). As stated above, I'll provide transport back to the start if this is a 1 way route.
e. Start from within close striking distance of Palm Beach Gardens.

2. Is anyone interested in doing this with me? Requirements:

a. Be a roadie.
b. Be willing to be videotaped / interviewed potentially on camera for use by RH.
c. Wear some RH gear (of course...) / we will provide if you are not already owners...
c. Gotta want to have some fun. At RH, riding is about more than just getting from point A to B in a certain amount of time.

Ping me at jonathan - at - roadholland - dot - com if interested. I'll keep you updated about the response and potential timing. I'm looking to get this done in the next 3 weeks or so but have no particular date in mind.

Thanks,

Jonathan Schneider

jschn04 

No response? Did I say something wrong?

RWTD

Hi I live in south Palm Beach Co but ride up that way all the time as part of a 75 mi ride to Jupiter or 100mi ride to Hobe Sound (and back).I regularly stop at the Gardens Mall and/or Whole Foods in Palm Beach Gardens as part of my route.I also stop several times to swim (usu Jupiter and/or Palm Beach).My riding style is an all day touring style rather than a fast roadie style.I ride an 86 Miyata Six Ten and the roadies along A1A blow right by me.I have ridden most of the routes out into the wetlands from PBG as well and around Lake O many times(and several tours around the state).

The most obvious route for your purposes would be Jupiter Island up to Hobe Sound though if you were able to shuttle out to Lake O the 110 mile ride around it would give you plenty of local flavor and scenery. You could ride out to the Lake and shuttle back as well, though scenic(if you like wetlands)riding through wetlands,farmland and sugar cane may not give you the human element except for cars speeding by.

jschn04 

Thanks RWTD. I have done the PBG to Hobe Sound too many times for my liking. I love living here but that ride sure gets boring...

The Lake O deal sounds cool but then I read where part of the trail is paved and the other is hard-pack gravel. I don't really have a bike for the latter right now and I'm not banging up my Peter Mooney.

I'm looking for rides with stories. I guess one could be about people like you and me who get blown by the fast moving pelotons around here!

I appreciate the thinking - let me know if you have other ideas.

- Jonathan

RWTD

Actually,I was talking about the road around Lake O not the trail/bike path on top of the levee.I used to backpack around Lake O yearly on the trail but prefer cycling on the roads.Looking at the map,the routes would be 441 on the east side which becomes 78 at Okeechobee around to 27 past Lakeport to 98 at Southbay.Most of the time you have the feel of being out on country roads(except 27) and the scenery keeps changing from sugarcane on the south and east side to fish camps and cow fields on the north and west side.Of course you can access the levee at multiple points for views of the lake/wetlands inside the levee.Only drawback I can see is the humidity this time of year which is why I like to stay close to the ocean during summer.I think I used to post my trip reports on this forum probably the touring section you could check some of my reports about that ride(though sorry no pictures).Also, I think randonneurs regularly use that as a route otherwise you're right most rec riders stick to the levee.

jon c. 

Not sure scenic and Palm Beach Gardens go together. Scenic Florida is well north of you

(just a little friendly intrastate ribbing - sounds like fun and I'd join you if I could, but it's a bit far for me and I'm probably not fast enough to be considered a roadie.)

jschn04 

I have no issue with the ribbing. It's the truth. The only comments we have post-ride down here:

- Wow - that was long.
- Man - that was fast.
- Whew...it was hot.

So where up there could we do a cool ride? I'm willing to drive as it seems there is nothing down here.

- Jonathan

jon c. 

I've been trying to think of a really good, or interesting, or clever route and nothing really stands out. I ride eastern Leon Country and Jefferson County. I live in Leon, a mile from the county line but probably log more miles in Jefferson county as it's rural and has endless miles of nice country roads. It's a county that has no stoplights and on my usual weekend rides of 30 - 40 miles, I seldom find the need to put a foot on the ground. So IMO it's a fantastic area for riding, but I can't think of really good 'destination' ride. Thomasville, GA to the Gulf would be a nice ride, although only about a metric century. Although a loop back up to the State capital would get it to full century status if that's a goal.

All my rides are just loops from my house, but while the roads are beautiful, there's no pizzazz to that.

lucky53s

Why not go south? Not sure about difficulty, there is really nothing difficult down here other than wind. But you could definitely get some local color, eats, interesting peeps, etc once you got in Miami. If you started far enough south, you could go through Miami and at least to the upper Keys in a long day. That would get you Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Everglades, and the Keys all in one ride. It would take some research for a safe route through Miami but I'm sure it's do-able.

Jinkster

Martin Grade SR714 from west of I95 too Okeechobee is shrouded in live oaks like a tunnel for many miles..so is a section of road by sand sprit park in Stuart...but they are huge Banyan trees...these would be two stretches of road I would condiser "must films" if I were producing such a video of this area...then if you're looking for elevation changes and curves?..."Skyline Drive" in Jensen Beach.

Hope that helps and L8R, Bill.