I have had long talks with bicycle rental shops along the Galveston Texas Sea Wall. They do not allow their bikes in the sand or in the salt water. They have incredible difficulty maintaining their bikes. They routinely use Pressure washing and WD-40 for cleaning. And they also use stinky Marine Grease on just about everything. Even so the life expectancy of bike rentals there is short. About one to three years max. I would not take any of my bikes in the sand or salt water.

I went into one of the shops late one evening and asked if they had a simple road bike I could ride. The owner said he was closing up and I could ride with him down the seawall and back on a rusty UO-8 and he on an old three geared Raleigh. It was a nice ride that also involved a stop for beers on the way back. There is a real anomaly on the Galveston Sea Wall. No matter what direction you take the wind appears to always be in your face!