My wife and I are going to be spending a week in Jax Beach / Ponte Vedra at the end of July and looking for some groups to ride with. Hopefully something more than just a casual ride (20+ mph). We’re bringing road bikes for this trip.
Any tri teams in the area? Would love to meet up for some swims and runs too if possible!
Thanks!!
Ponte Vedra Racing has a Facebook page, and they typically average around 21 or a little better.
Biking in Jax beach is about the worst I have ever seen. There is a group that meets at the lodge Saturday mornings. Ponte Vedra blvd is torn up with construction so cars drive opposing traffic or take up both lanes. A1A is a toss up of how many times you will have a mirror graze your helmet.
Biking in Jax beach is about the worst I have ever seen. There is a group that meets at the lodge Saturday mornings. Ponte Vedra blvd is torn up with construction so cars drive opposing traffic or take up both lanes. A1A is a toss up of how many times you will have a mirror graze your helmet.
I live in PV and have a membership at Lodge and Club so I’m always going up and down A1A or PV Blvd.
Agree. The cycling there right now is atrocious. It’s never good but I wouldn’t ride around there right now if you paid me. Jax Beach is even worse from a traffic standpoint.
I stick to riding the roads around Nocatee. I can ride for over 20 miles without using the same road twice. Bike lanes for almost all the roads and little traffic except when you need to navigate around the Town Center/Waterpark area. Not as exciting as zinging down A1A or PV Blvd where you can say “Look, there’s the ocean!” but I’m not going to get hit by a car going 65 mph trying to find a parking spot so they can go to the beach.
I would skip Jax Beach and head to the rail-to-trails around here (Baldwin Trail and St. Augustine-to-Palatka Trail). They’re waaaay safer than any of the roads around here and offer some shade. I’m partial to the Palatka Trail because it passes through some beautiful farm country.
That said, if I were to ride along the beach, I’d start at 36th Ave. South, ride south on Ponte Vedra Blvd. all the way down to Mickler Beach (about 8 miles) and then transition over to A1A. From there, head south through Guana National Reserve and turn around at Vilano Beach (I haven’t ridden that far south yet, so do some homework on that bit if you go). All in all, that route is over 23 miles one way and is about 100 yards from the beach, although a lot of it is blocked by houses and the dunes.
Thanks! I think I’ve ridden through Nocatee before. I don’t need to be on the coast as I currently live in So Cal and ride up and down PCH regularly already.
The Nocatee loop as well as the Palatka to St. Augustine trail sounds like a good option.
If you want minimal lights and not too much traffic, check out St Johns area - Longleaf pines pkwy, greenbriar, SR-13 south to 208 or 214 and you can come back the same way or hop on 16 all the way back to longleaf pines or turn down silverleaf. You can get anywhere from 25-80+ miles. Pretty decent roads as well.
Those are the roads I ride every Saturday and do usually well with traffic. I usually ride with a few people on Saturdays and we average 23-24 mph but I’ll be out of town from mid July to early August.