April 8, 2015
Titusville to Flagler Beach
We did not expect today's ride to be very exciting, as the route spent a good amount of time on US-1. In an effort to mitigate that shortcoming, I looked for alternate routes and saw Dixie Way as a possible alternative to US-1. It would remove about seven miles of riding on that less than desirable stretch of road and put us on some scenic backcountry terra firma. At least that was the plan!
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In the back of my mind, I was concerned we might hit dirt, but there was no way to be certain in advance, so we rolled the dice. And we lost. But it started out not so bad. We had ridden on dirt already and made decent time. So after the hard surface disappeared, I convinced Happy we would be OK and pressed on. The only real problem was the dirt became a sand road, literally, in places, several inches deep.
After about three miles, we routed back to US-1 and made the best of it. And there can be amusing nostalgia along the way:
The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful, with a short stop in Daytona Beach followed by a nice cruise up John Anderson Drive to Flagler Beach.
The Flagler Beach Bike Trail is your best choice for continuing north, but it is little better than a wide sidewalk with attendant joints every five feet. After 60 miles in the saddle, those joints are not what I want to be feeling. But going northbound, you have no choice, as there is no shoulder on Ocean Drive (of course, you can always ride with traffic). Southbound riders get about three feet.
Today's ride: 68 miles (109 km)
Total: 675 miles (1,086 km)
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