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West Palm Beach riding?
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Anyone familiar with the biking environment there? I imagine you have to go west and/or north to get out of traffic. Are there rolling hills, or just flats and wind? Thanks!



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(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)
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Re: West Palm Beach riding? [Titan] [ In reply to ]
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Are there rolling hills?????


uh...no. Decidedly no.

If you want a nice safe 6.5 mile loop, self contained, with available bathroom and water at the adjacent park, PM me and I will give you directions to Mirasol. If you want to ride there this weekend, we are doing 112. 17.5 loops and you are done.
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Re: West Palm Beach riding? [Titan] [ In reply to ]
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Rolling hills? You gotta go to Central Florida for that! If you are brave enough to ride up US 1, north from the Palm Beach County line towards Stuart, there are South Florida's version of "rolling hills". A1A is a nice ride, flat and sometimes windy. Traffic is still pretty heavy right now, should settle down in a few weeks.
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Re: West Palm Beach riding? [fishymom] [ In reply to ]
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Most group rides are on A1A (along the ocean) from Boca or Lauderdale all the way up to the WPB inlet every Saturday and Sunday morning. The ride starts sharp at 7 AM on the corner of Palmetto Park RD and A1A in Boca. This is usually a fast road ride, but many Triathletes participate.

Cheers
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Re: West Palm Beach riding? [Titan] [ In reply to ]
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Are you rolling into town for a while?

Ditto the comments about A1A. Very nice ride. Flat, wind and cars. What more could you want?
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Re: West Palm Beach riding? [ajfranke] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks, everyone. No, I'm not going there for only a few days...if I go, it will be to live there for a while. I think the real estate prices could be swallowed, but, lack of good bike riding definitely gives me pause. I'm used to being able to find good hills, even mountains (although small, because they are Appalachian) to climb. I was asked to consider a job opening there in the company I work for, and it's a nice step upwards...but, dang...I was afraid it would be just flat. And crowded. At least there's Art, Monk, and, and, flat, windy, crowded roads? Well, fishymom and her budding triathlete would be a plus! How could I turn it down?

I don't know, maybe I will, maybe I won't. I'm getting old enough not to want to save the world and/or have the best job I could possibly get, then again, if you turn them down too much, they quit asking....

Thanks for the help, guys! I'll let you know...maybe if I go for a view, it will coincide with being able to go on the fast ride...maybe that will be enough to make me take the job.



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(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)
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Re: West Palm Beach riding? [Titan] [ In reply to ]
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There is good biking here. Yes, it is flat, but Clermont is hilly and 2.5 hours away. There are plenty of empty roads out west in PBC.

There is a fair amount of wind and killer heat.
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Re: West Palm Beach riding? [ajfranke] [ In reply to ]
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Art, just knowing that there ARE decent roads, and even hills that are within reach helps tremendously, not to mention knowing some people down there like those that responded. Thanks! BTW, how did you like your test ride?



Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)
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Re: West Palm Beach riding? [Titan] [ In reply to ]
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The first serious test went extremely well. I haven't repeated the tests for a variety of weather and scheduling reasons, but I figure I am hooked.

Art
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Re: West Palm Beach riding? [ajfranke] [ In reply to ]
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I figure I am hooked.


Ha! It's hard not to be! At Ze Gopha's recommendation, I spruced up the rear-end of mine to improve it's race-ready appearance since I posted a picture of it. It CAN be more than a very comfortable ride, it actually can look pretty sharp. A buddy of mine just got one with the matte-black finish, unpolished boom, matte-silver wheels. Totally different look than mine...his looks like something out of a movie where most of the action happens in an alley...sinister-looking somehow. If you do pull the trigger on it, I bet you'll be happy. Mine is set up for TT's, so I only ride my Talon when I go with the roadies, and it feels like riding a jackhammer in comparison. Maybe I'll see you down there as a neighbor in the near future....



Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)
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Re: West Palm Beach riding? [Titan] [ In reply to ]
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Titan, I live out in the west end of WPB. Specifically 441 and Lantana. Decent riding. Wide bike lanes. Go west into Wellington and wide open horse property. It is actually a good place to train for TT and tri as you can do intervals without being bothered by pesky things like stoplights and traffic. I log 6-7000 miles a year out here.
If you are going to buy, you better do it now. We bought our house in Dec 02. At that time new 5 bedrooms were going for mid to high 270s. Now the three bedrooms start in the 500s.
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Re: West Palm Beach riding? [Titan] [ In reply to ]
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Titan--Better be REAL sure you can swallow the real estate market. I couldn't afford to live in my house if I had to buy it now--and I don't do too badly--e.g. I can buy coffee at Starbucks at least once a week.


There are two bike shops in the Juno Beach/Jupiter area that have a couple of group rides a week. I haven't done them because I couldn't "hang". And then there are some long distance and very talented triathletes that do long rides, and short rides, on a regular basis. I know a few of them (again, I haven't ridden with them because I can't hang), they are very nice and I am pretty sure they would be happy to have you along as fresh meat.

Yes, Clermont is 2+ hours away, but you can make it a trip--go up Friday night and ride the Great Floridian Course, or parts of it, come back the next day. Kevin Grogan runs a Bed and Breakfast there :)
Last edited by: Monk: Mar 17, 05 19:56
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Re: West Palm Beach riding? [Landshark] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks...that's encouraging about the riding. The housing....sheesh...I know it's going to be a big change if we make the move...that may be the deal-breaker.



Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)
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Re: West Palm Beach riding? [Monk] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for the head's up re: real estate. Do you have room for Two adults (yes, I'm including me in there), a three-year old, a 43 lb. black mutt, and three bikes? I can go as high as 200.00 per month, and I'll do your bike maintenance for free. Whaddaya say? Oh, that Dan Empfield fellow isn't hanging around everywhere anymore, is he?



Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)
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Re: West Palm Beach riding? [Titan] [ In reply to ]
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ummmm..............no-lol. But if you have 55cm P3 you can store it in my garage...don't give up on the area. A lot of nice amenities.
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Re: West Palm Beach riding? [Titan] [ In reply to ]
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I don't know about riding there, but you can see Jim Norton this weekend (18-20) at the West Palm Beach Improv.

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Re: West Palm Beach riding? [Titan] [ In reply to ]
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I lived in Jupiter for a while before moving to NJ last fall. I didn't particularly like the A1A riding, as the cars and road conditions were good, but not great. There is a great loop on Jupiter Island and up unto Stuart. 35 miles out and back of excellent roads and little traffic. No hills, but usually a nice fresh breeze. The fun days are when you hit the wind coming home (south) after 5-6 hours.

As others have mentioned, several shops and clubs ride Jupiter on weekends, with a range of speeds. WPB Cycling club rides 17-19 or so, while the CycleScience ride often pulls 25-30 for an hour or two. Varying degrees of bike handling skills in the packs and frequent incidents led me to usually go it alone.

I can give you a phone number of someone who still lives there and does the Jupiter ride every weekend, just PM for info.

FWIW, if you live in S. Florida, you can probably race in a tri or a duathlon 3 out of every 4 weeks from april thru September without having to drive more than 2 hours. Don't let the housing prices scare you, as long as you buy smart, it's still way less than NJ.

BTW, TitanFlex is not an unrecognized brand in the area. I put about 6,000 miles on mine last year, virtually all in Palm Beach County. I talked Rich Nixon (local coach and Hawaii qualifier) into getting one, and he has convinced several of his athletes to get one. I told Piszkin that I wanted the TF franchise in FL.

Via con SPF
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Re: West Palm Beach riding? [Ironstevie] [ In reply to ]
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Great info. We may have a problem competing for the TF franchise, though! Is Jupiter somewhere close to Uranus...not trying to get too personal ;-)

Looks like housing prices will be the limiter. I guess I'll have to go give it a look to tell.

Thanks, everyone!



Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)
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