I will be in Destin through the weekend, and would like to get a couple of long rides and open water swims in. Anyone have suggestions on where’s the best place to ride (or know of any group rides etc)? Anyone want to join me for a ride or swim?
Any help is appreciated.
Thank you,
Dirk
Try the Yahoo group pccyling or got to Robins bikes in Destin, there is a group that usually rides out of the Bruce area up on 20 every Saturday, there is less traffic and more hills. I’m having a open water swim in Panama City Beach on Sunday if you are interested, with a 5-6 mile run afterwards.
My Mom lives there. I usually do a ride with the Emerald Coast Cyclists. I think its a Tuesday night ride on Eglin AFB. Its a fast & fun out & back. They also do a few different weekend rides. A nice group of mostly roadies of different speeds.
I’ve also done solo long rides there… over the Mid Bay Bridge, then east on Hwy 20 out to Ebro and back. I think ~80-90miles; don’t remember exactly. Hwy 20 had little to no traffic. You’ll need money for the bridge toll; I think it was like $0.25 for bikes and $2-3 for cars.
Another place to ride was 30A, a few miles east of Destin off of Hwy 98. 30A is the road that goes through Seaside. I think it was about a 15-20mile ride (out and back).
Also Dragon Sports is a tri shop over in Fort Walton Beach, they might have some recommendations.
I visited Destin two years ago and hooked up with the gang from Robin’s Bikes for about a 70 miler. Very nice experience.
Ben
Group rides are with Robin’s in Miramar Beach, Emerald Coast Cyclists (out of Niceville IIRC) and Dragon Sports in Ft. Walton Beach.
Dragon Sports has some route maps up for solo riding:
If you ride the Mid Bay Bridge, bring extra tubes. There’s a fair amount of debris in the breakdown that they aren’t good about cleaning up. Once you get north of the Bay, both 285 and 20 are popular cycling routes. 30-A is pretty, but you need to ride it early to avoid the tourista traffic.
And the prettiest ride on the coast is FINALLY OPEN AGAIN!!! Portage your bike by car west to Navarre, cross the bridge to Navarre Beach and pick up the road and bike path between there and Pensacola Beach. It’s been almost 4 years since Hurricane Dennis took out the road (and that was only a week after it had reopened after repairing damage from Hurricane Ivan) and they just got the permit for vehicle traffic again next week. Very nice 20-25 mile loop through uninhabited national park and county park land with a mix of brand new wide shoulder and bike path. And if you time it right, you get the crosswinds in your face both ways that can make a course that never goes higher than 7 feet above sea level surprisingly tough.
Note that if you’re going to ride the roads in the Ranger Camp Road area north of Ft. Walton Beach, you’re technically supposed to have an Eglin AFB rec permit if you don’t have other Department of Defense id (show up at the Jackson Guard office on Hwy 85 in Niceville, pay your $10 or so, show your driveer’s license to the clerk, and sit through a brief film on ‘Unexploded Ordinance and You’ and you’re good to go) though you can probably get away with claiming ignorance once or twice if you get pulled over by AF security and don’t have one.
We will leave at 0730 from Frank Brown Park for a three hour ride. We will head
West on Front Beach and then West on 98. This will be a moderately paced
(18-19) ride, more interested in time in saddle versus aggressive pace.
Afterwards at 1100, there is a charity BBQ, Grills Gone Wild 2 to benefit the
Miracle League.
Come and join us, the more the safer. We have 4 committed so far
Ride Sat Bruce 0730 ~90 Miles
Another ride option for Sat: SSFB Steady State Fat-Burning ride. Departing Bruce at 0730 for about 90 miles. Riding to New Hope and around Vernon in training for Tour de Ranch century.
Alan
Thanks for the responses. My trip last week was cancelled and rescheduled for this weekend. I will be looking again for a few open water swims and rides Friday, Saturday, and/or Sunday. Anyone interested?