Kurt Erlenbach

The National Park Service resurfaced Beach Road along Playalinda Beach this month and last, resulting in 4.25 miles of brand new perfectly smooth asphalt. New asphalt, a perfectly sunny day at the beach, and a bike make for a pretty nice day. I expect this road will be hotter than anything come June, but it makes for a pretty nice January ride.

teachme

Nice, and your right; it will be Hotter than Hades this summer.

Phil85207

There is nothing like new asphalt for cycling. They just finished a favorite route of mine over Usery Pass and what a difference. Better bike lane too, its great.

BHOFM

We had a new highway done this summer, just over four miles, slight grade first
two and a slight drop on the last two. It was closed to auto traffic most of the
summer. On Sundays there were hundreds of bikes. Five lanes wide, four miles
long and no lights, no cars. Two cross roads but they had to yield.
I rode it every day for a couple months. I rode it on the last day, very slowly.....
Stopped several times to remember all the great rides. All the high fives
along the way, all the smiling faces.

eofelis 

Several years ago we were on the first day of a week long bike tour out our door. The next town, Delta, is 40 miles away. The highway between here and there is not an interstate but is divided, two lanes each direction, the 12 ft wide paved shoulder is fine to ride on. When we were 10 miles from Delta all the traffic was funneled to the eastbound lanes because they had just paved the westbound lanes. They had not striped it yet. It was just sitting empty. We scooted over to the freshly paved portion and had a beautifully smooth, traffic free ride into Delta.

A few years ago the city here built a bypass through town, a "parkway." It's about 5 miles long. The couple of months before it was officially opened to traffic I found plenty of reasons to go ride my bike on it, right down the middle of the road. It has a lot of car traffic now, but it has pretty good bike lanes and I still use it to get places sometimes.

Then they repaved Rim Rock Drive in the Colorado National Monument a couple of years ago. It's the jewel ride here.

qcpmsame 

That is a Cat 3 hurricane storm surge attractor if I ever saw one. Gulf Islands National Seashore here in Pensacola has to repave the roadways on their reservation everytime one comes nearby.

Bill

genec

I was in the south of France a few years ago just outside of Bandol. The roads there were amazing, like something out of Disneyland... all glass smooth with well trimmed edges and surrounded by the black earth of farm fields and vineyards, it was quite the experience. One thing that really struck me is how fine their asphalt was... as if it had been milled into smaller bits than what we often see in the US. This made for an incredibly smooth ride.

stapfam

Try the "D" Roads That "D" stands for Diabolical. Main roads in France are fantastic but get off the beaten track and anything can be expected. Down around the Alpes and my training run took in a hill for about 3 miles at 8%. 3rd time I tried it was later in the day and it had been recently resurfaced with smooth 4mm gravel. It was hard going up that hills and I found out why on the way down. My tyres sank into the Tar that was setting the gravel and under that was soil. The hot sun had melted the tar.

But that road by the OP looks ideal for a TT run. If it is circular it would make for a decent race circuit. Wouldn't happen over here by the sea-Especially in Sussex. Winter weather would degrade any surface so it will be potholes and cracks after 2 years.

Randy Bosma

+1 I rode over Usery Pass on 26 Oct 2011, during the repaving. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/776805 A bit unnerving since there was a long stretch with no shoulder, however it was a Thursday afternoon and traffic was light (by Chicago standards). Can't wait to try it again.

Kurt Erlenbach

I should also point out that this crossover is parking area #13, which is the nude beach. Pretty full lot for a January day.

billydonn

+1000... and it's especially nice with gentle rollers.

TomD77

It doesn't take a hurricane to take out the Ft. Pickens Road, I've seen regular storms take that out.

That's a good ride if you catch it on a calm day, sucks on those 20+ mph days.

qcpmsame 

Tom,
Roger that, Ft. Pickens and the east area wash out with a good winter storm every year. I like to ride UWF road at the University as much as I can, the hills are a nice work out. Better for me than the wind at the beach.

stonefree

I think that generally newer darker asphalt is being used more now for vehicle road surfaces, including bicycle paths, because of the addition of a polymer modifier called crumb rubber to increase performance and durability. Crumb rubber comes from used tires and other recycled used polymers. But it's basically the same old asphalt with improvements. Once the oily tar has dried initially, it shouldn't melt again in the hot sun unless certain construction standards were ignored, which does happen from time to time. I've ridden over newly oiled asphalt surfaces and had to later go home and clean off my tires with naptha, but later no problems.

AzTallRider

They also just put in bike lanes on No. Ft McDowell Road, which leads to 9-Mile Hill (Rio Verde Dr.). 9-Mile and Usury are two of THE rides in the valley, and it's great to see those areas improved, although about 2/3 of the way up 9-Mile, the bike lane vanishes and you have about 18" of shoulder :-(

Congratulations, Kurt!

John_V 

Looks like a nice ride along the beach. Is there more pavement on the other end of the resurfaced road or does it end and you have to turn around and come back? I like the ride along the Pinellas beaches but so much of it is hotels and large private residences that there aren't too many places that you actually get to see the beach.

Kurt Erlenbach

The road ends where I took these pictures. It runs for 4.25 miles along the beach, which is the part that was just resurfaced. This is part of the longest undeveloped beach on the east coast of the US. The Canaveral National Seashore runs from the north side of Kennedy Space Center north into Volusia County, maybe 15 miles of undeveloped beach. It is the most beautiful, healthiest beach on the Atlantic coast of Florida. There are hundreds of sea turtle nests, and the wildlife is spectacular. It is Florida at its best.

Pete In Az

adot is finally going to repave 89a through West Sedona this summer, and they are putting bike lanes in.

John_V 

That may be one of our "Ride Around Florida" stops when the wife retires in June. Looking for places to add to our "Ride Around America" list.