I re-located last year to Las Olas, and regret the move. I dropped $ on a Condo, now having vested interest here. However, during the last year I am seeing things I never saw when visited. First off, it’s way to croweded - to many people, crazy traffic and hit & runs. People here seem self centered and rude at times. Seems like everyone is chasing a US Dollar at 100 MPH. That said, I am seeking your help to move again. Before I moved to Ft. Lauderdale, I was in Ponce Inlet where I just might move back … Bottom line, I’d like to ride my Orbea Ora Tri-Bike in the crunch position without any fear some illegal immigrant or 10AM drunk running me over, killing me, or crippling me for life. The last thing I want is a horrible call to my dear Mother from the ER. Some place with peace and quiet, near a good beach, minimal traffic and decent kind people that say hello, thank you, welcome and good bye.
The only area we ride, and it’s not that safe, because a Doctor was hit and killed here few weeks ago, is A1A … Las Olas Blvd east to A1A, then north. The problems is A1A from Ft. Lauderdale all the way up is considered border line dangerous, tourists, older folks and women cell phone drama queens to paying attention to the road.
I have lived in Ponte Vedra Beach for 4 years and trained for two Ironmans on the roads in the area and never felt unsafe. Ponte Vedra Blvd then down A1A or over into Nocatee. Flat but great roads with wide shoulders…
Before moving to SO. FLORIDA, I lived in Crystal River, Gainesville then later resided in between DBS ( Daytona Beach Shores ) and Ponce Inlet. I enjoyed Volusia County. I moved for job reasons, and that’s over since I was let go recently. Today, I am self employed working via Internet. However, socially was challanging because I am middle aged, not a senior citizen, and a lot of Florida and Volusia occupies large 65+ communities. Thankssssssssss
No help for you man other than to say FL is by far my least favorite state to ride in (and has had the dubious honor of #1 in the US for cycling fatalities for the last few years). Stick to the trails or drive out inland to the more remote roads. Hard to search out anything remotely “hilly” (save for the Clermont area).
Considering I was squeezed of the road and broke my clavicle last week and about in tears from the discomfort… Oh, and not sure about the time and $ I shelled out for IMFL 70.3 and can recover in time. Florida just plain sucks to be a cyclist in FL. Best of luck here !
While waiting to move, put your bike in your car, hop on 595 and head west 10 minutes to Markham Park or Weston Park. Hop on your bike and ride the various loops through Weston. A bit monotonous over time, but safe with large bike lanes, smooth roads, and relatively young, courteous drivers. East Ft. Lauderdale scares me.
Oh, and rroof is not Andrew Coggan. But neither would be insulted, they are both well respected :-). Good luck!
No place with cars is going to be completely safe. Period. If you want safety from cars when biking, find a map of the bike trails in Florida. Then pick one where you can go miles instead of yards between road crossings.
I rode the everglades route of about 15 miles and averaged 20mph there are no cars and all you have to watch out for is a tram that comes by every 20 minutes or so… http://app.strava.com/segments/1148852 go to strava and look up shark valley.
Having lived in Pensacola for 5 years I can tell you that the Panhandle is not that great either. I have ridden all over from Panama City to Mobile, AL and most of it is sketchy. I have had lots of enconters with cars and jackasses if you know what I mean. Anything near the ocean is going to be a problem. The best place I have ridden BY FAR was southern Maryland. Almost ALL of the roads had 8-9 foot shoulders and we could ride for 2 hours or more on a saturday morning without seeing a car. Nothing but gently rolling hills and farms. Beautiful area and the safest riding I have seen. Never got hassled by a driver and the roads are very clean. Can’t get over all of those big shoulders on almost every road! Better than Southern California and anywhere I have been in Florida. Gets a little chilly in the winter though! Nothing like starting a ride with water in your water bottle and finishing it with a block of ice.
If it were me, I would find a place with great mountain biking and do most of my riding off road.
Move to the Clermont area. I live in Winter Park about 35 minutes east of Clermont. The running is great in Winter Park (near Park Ave where I live), people actually slow down or stop to allow you to cross the street. Back to Clermont, I’ve been cycling there since the mid-eighties. You can ride on a lot of hilly roads with very little traffic and a pretty big tri, running and cycling scene. There are some great deals in real estate in Clermont too.
i feel your pain, i moved to SoFlo 1.5 years ago and have been disappointed by the road biking here.
until you move, here’s what i’ve found so far:
near you, 1A has a decent bike lane north and south from LA. hit it early on weekends before it gets too crowded. Federal hwy also has a decent bike lane through most of S. Broward, you can get there via the high bridge (17th, i think) and from there you can link over to john lloyd park and A1A going south into Dade - though i’ll usually ride parallel to A1A a block east or west to avoid traffic. these are all decent roads, but certainly not carefree as there are plenty of things to watch out for. some small segments where you can ride all out along these routes, but definitely not a rural ride.
if you have a bike rack for your car, key biscayne, weston, and south miami/homestead all have nice rides with less traffic that are within your reach. the weston loops were described above. key biscayne is pretty obvious (but its a pretty short ride at 18 miles per lap). further south in the south miami/homestead area many people start at coco plum circle and ride south towards black point marina and out towards “robert is here” near florida city. this is a bit of a hike from ft. lauderedale, but it’s the best “rural” type riding that i’ve found in the area. these rides should be safe enough to let you go all out in aero position.
also +1 on the MTB comment. for a state with no mountains, the mountain biking is surprisingly enjoyable here. if you want zero traffic, buy a cheap used hardtail and head out to oleta, earhart, or other parks in the area with built up trails. great cycling workout and a nice change of pace.
Having lived in Florida for a lot of years, I totally agree with most of the previous posters. Florida as a state sucks for bicycling and also for running not only because of the traffic and terrible drivers but also for the heat and terrible humidity. The only safer place in Florida to cycle might be various rail to trail converted trails where some of them runs 25-30 miles one way.
Rcope is right just go to Weston and bike it is really safe, clean and smooth roads. You can go to Weston Town Center and hop on a group ride to learn the routes in the morning before work the rides start really early.