ShenanigansFL

Hey ya'll I already posted over in the introduction thread and someone referred to me this section. I'm new to road cycling and would love to find some others to ride with near me in Jacksonville, FL. I know there are clubs around me and I joined Bicycle Etc's club but haven't done anything with them partially because I can't find their biking schedule and also because I would rather start out small and ride with a few people versus a whole group. My max distance I've ridden is roughly 31 miles so if there is anyone that is near me that would like to meet up to ride and perhaps show me the ropes I'd greatly appreciate it. Not that it probably matters but I'm 24 and just recently graduated the police academy so I'd say my fitness level is decent due to the fact they tried to killed us nearly everyday in the academy lol. I may not be up for 50+ mile rides yet but would enjoy some like-minded company and people to show me the ropes!

Thanks in advance and I hope everyone is having a great day.

RonH

It looks like their ride info is listed in the Riding and More section of the home page.
There are a few Jax folks on here who can give you more info.

ShenanigansFL

Oh awesome thanks for the info!

jaxgtr

Welcome.

Hey there....They generally gear up for their Monday night no drop ride (21 miles) once the time changes, 16-18 avg ...I think that is March now. That ride is for recovery from the weekend, newbies and people just looking to get out on Monday night. The weather dictates the winter rides and I think they do one on Wednesday and I believe that is run by Adam out of the Phillips store. There is also a fast pace 22+ on Thursday (35 miles I think) run by Sean out of Philips that runs down to Mandarin and back. All ride typically leave at 6 pm.

I ride with them quite a bit when work allows. I am hoping to start a Saturday morning ride out of the Philips location at the beginning of March when it warms up a bit as I am a team captain for a new Tour de Cure team this year. So let me know if you are interested in joining us and I can get you hooked up. You have plenty of time to train and maybe do the 65 mile route if you are doing 30 now. The tour will be having a kick off event out of Rivertown area in St. John's on the February 28. 13, 25 and 40 miles routes that leave at 8 am. The event happens May 16th.

ShenanigansFL

That sounds awesome! I'd definitely be interested thanks for the info. I'll work up to it. It's hard find a good route that is 50+ miles but I know there are some. Thanks!

jaxgtr

Sometimes you just have to make your own route. I live over near St. Luke's......eh, St. Vincent's Southside and I ride out to the Beach and back and it's a little over 60 by the time I do the whole route. What area of town do you live?

ShenanigansFL

Beach and Kernan area

jaxgtr

Oh Sweet, your golden. just ride down Beach, turn right on Penman Rd, left on Shetter to 9th Street, follow that south all the way to Jacksonville Dr cross over 3rd street, turn right on Palm Valley Road all the way down to Mickler's. Out and back should easily get you 35-ish easy. If keep going south on A1A you can add another 12 down and back by going to the Gate Station on A1A. If you stay on A1A north, there is a Gate Station at Corona I think, turn right at that light, it takes you back to Palm Valley and just reverse your trip back home.


Or you can ride down through UNF into Town Center, cut under JTB via the side walk near Sam's that will dump out between the office buildings (PHH Mortgage) and then take Gate Parkway around to Baymeadows and you can then hop across Southside and ride down AC Skinner and back...Should get you close to 30-ish based on how you do it.

jaxgtr

Oh one other ride you could do is ride north on Kernan to wonderwood across the bridges to Hanna park and back. Nice ride...and in the winter, get the benefits of catching a NE or N wind on the way home.

ShenanigansFL

Awesome idea thanks! I have a few 20-30 mile routes I ride. My favorite 30 mile is Kernan to UNF, through UNF through Town Center to gate and then turn around and take St. John's Bluff to Beach, and to Kernan and then north on Kernan to McCormick to Girvin tow Atlantic and then Hodges back to the other entrance of my neighborhood. It's a bit of a round about route and have since come up with some more direct loops involving Kernan to McCormick down Monument, etc. As a newbie I've been trying to stick to roads that are less traveled for safety reasons but I've about given up on that. I've learned to be defensive... Drivers can suck lol.

ShenanigansFL

I'm on my phone so it's hard to type a lot but read my previous post about my routes. I love including Kernan for the length and the bike path. I've made some new routes I have yet to ride including McCormick and Monument and even University.

jaxgtr

As in University Blvd??? full of crazy, nut bag drivers, University Blvd ?

FLJeepGuy

I live over in the Kernan, Girvin, McCormick area... Once you're on the McCormick/Wonderwood, you can cross towards Hanna Park, take a left on A1A and go to the Mayport Ferry. Take the ferry across the river. Once there, you can take A1A east to the ocean and then north past Talbot Island, cross to Amelia Island and keep going along A1A all the way to Fernandina. It's a really nice ride and including the ferry adds a bit of additional interest and scenery.

There are several bike paths starting on Talbot Island, and then again, there is a path that starts at the southern tip of Amelia Island at the Amelia State Park. This path is well maintained and parallels A1A almost to the Ritz Carlton after which there is a bike lane available all the way north. For another side trip, you can go into Fort Clinch State Park at the northern end of Fernandina and ride the roads there as well.

Here is a Google Maps link that shows the route. It's about 35 miles one way, but you can obviously turn around at any point.

Beach and Kernan to Fort Clinch

Another option is to check with the Performance Bicycle on Southside Blvd in the Tinseltown area. They have weekend rides as well. Here's the link to the local store info. Call them to find out dates and times for their rides as the web page only shows the Saturday morning beginners' ride. Their web page also has links to the local clubs.

Performance Bicycle of Jacksonville

ShenanigansFL

Yeah did 40 miles and part of it was University. Never again...

ShenanigansFL

Awesome!! Thanks I am definetly going to check those out

ShenanigansFL

Not to mention no bike route lanes... Sidewalks are the worse