Daytona Beach to St Augustine

January 17, 2016

Today does not look promising. A major weather front moved through from the west last night, with most of it off the east coast already; however, today's forecast is still a bit worrisome:

"Mostly cloudy with isolated showers through late morning . . . then partly sunny in the afternoon. Windy. Highs in the upper 60s. West winds 20 to 25 mph becoming northwest in the afternoon. Gusts up to 40 mph. Chance of rain 20 percent."

Of course, I would be headed NNW all day, straight up the coast. So I expected some headwinds! And headwinds I got!

The view looking north from our hotel window on the 10th floor. Doesn't look so great!

It took me about 30 minutes to cover four miles. The wind was that strong! And I still had 46 miles to go!

Shortly after this picture was taken, my route had me turning left and taking the bayside of the island north. Since that would add miles and a headwind from the west (for a short distance), I decided to stay on A1A up to where the route rejoined it just south of Flagler Beach. I had not biked this section of A1A last time, so it was worth the new scenery as well.

Well, I soon learned why my route took me west. There is no shoulder or bike lane north of Ormond Beach! So I hopped over to the sidewalk and rode that for the length. Given the wind, it couldn't take longer!