SE USA training trip

Funny - I was just planning the same road trip from NJ to FL. I'm shooting for a long presidents
weekend (6 day weekend - lol). I'll be going to the Lady Lake area (Ocala). I was also looking for
some nice roads in that area. I remember last year when I went down and stopped at the FL welcome
station on 95, I picked up a map for biking in FL. Looked like most of it was along the East coast
side of FL. Can't find it and I was looking online to see if I could have one sent up here to
Jersey. Just got a new Trek 5500 Project One and wanted to try it out! Just waiting for the ice to
melt on the roads. Hope someone out there has some cue sheets for FL.

greg keller said:

I'm sick of the weather up here in NJ this winter and i've got a week off from work in the middle
of february. I need to get out on the bike and get some quality miles in. I'm looking to go down
south (Southern NC to Florida) for a week and i need some ideas. I'm looking for someplace with
good roads, and decent weather. If it's 55-60 during the day that's fine. I was thinking about
Jacksonville Fl, Wilmington NC or Myrtle Beach. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Greg

--
"A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is two-tired."

greg keller said:

I'm sick of the weather up here in NJ this winter and i've got a week off from work in the middle
of february. I need to get out on the bike and get some quality miles in. I'm looking to go down
south (Southern NC to Florida) for a week and i need some ideas. I'm looking for someplace with
good roads, and decent weather. If it's 55-60 during the day that's fine. I was thinking about
Jacksonville Fl, Wilmington NC or Myrtle Beach. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I visit Myrtle Beach often, and when I'm there I ride as much as I can. Basically all there is to do
is go up and down 17 Business, or take the roads along the oceanfront through the neighborhoods. You
can do 30 fast miles without too much trouble, but gets old pretty fast. Taking 707(?) from Murril's
Inlet to Conway is doable too, although I wouldn't do it during rush hour. Not that there's so much
traffic, but SC drivers tend to be pretty sloppy, and not used to bikes on their roads.

Wilmington is neat, but I can't vouch for the riding. However, NC is a big place, with fairly mild
weather, and *lots* of great biking. And it's only a third the way to FL.

Matt O.

having lived in both florida and north carolina i may be able to help you out alittle bit.
if you are looking for some quality riding i would stay away from florida. the reason being that it is very flat and the biggest incline you are going to get will be the over passes over the roads. dont get me wrong the weather in feb. is great as are the road conditions.
riding in NC is nice too but i would look for somthing west of raliegh since everything east of it is farley flat also. Ashville area is great and some killer climbs around there.
South carolina and Georgia may be a good choice since it is further south and a little warmer. also they both have some great riding and good weather. i hope this has helped. i can provide further info if needed

GO placidly
amid the noise and haste
and remember what peace
there may be in silence
Max Ehrmann

I live in Charlotte NC and although it's great riding around here, Mid feb the weather could be bad.
I ride in West Palm Beach often and any where in Fla it's really flat BUT, the WIND is another
story. There is always a wind there. So pick a nice place temperature wise and go for it. Savanah
area is nice to ride too but it COULD get pretty cold depending on the weather patterns. If you have
to plan way ahead, go SOUTH of Daytona. If not, then check the forcast for Myrtle beach- South for
the temp/wind you want to drive to.

Bill

I live in South Florida and ride my bike along the ocean, I also travel to Central Florida to ride.
Here are some great rides, Get a map of Florida, look for Ocala and go south to Inverness, Floral
City and San Antonio, Look for the Withlacootchee Trail, 50 miles paved rails to trails, relatively
flat, however, a bit south of Inverness is San Antonio, great ridin, hills and flats, quiet country
roads. Also the state roads outside of Floral City are really good, steep hills and quiet roads.
Don't know why but this area is hilly.

Down here in South Flordia you can ride from the Sebastian Inlet all the way to Ft. Lauderdale,
traffic during the week, Sundays are real quiet, speed limits 35. If you need more info let me know.

Larry

"Mark" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Funny - I was just planning the same road trip from NJ to FL. I'm shooting for a long presidents
weekend (6 day weekend - lol). I'll be going to the Lady Lake area (Ocala). I was also looking for
some nice roads in that area. I remember last year when I went down and stopped at the FL welcome
station on 95, I picked up a map for biking in FL. Looked like most of it was along the East coast
side of FL. Can't find it and I was looking online to see if I could have one sent up here to
Jersey. Just got a new Trek 5500 Project One and wanted to try it out! Just waiting for the ice to
melt on the roads. Hope someone out there has some cue sheets for FL.

greg keller said:

I'm sick of the weather up here in NJ this winter and i've got a week off from work in the
middle of february. I need to get out on the bike and get some quality miles in. I'm looking to
go down south (Southern NC to Florida) for a week and i need some ideas. I'm looking for
someplace with good roads, and decent weather. If it's 55-60 during the day that's fine. I was
thinking about Jacksonville Fl, Wilmington NC or Myrtle Beach. Any ideas would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks.

Greg

--
"A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is two-tired."

That's funny because my dad just e-mailed me the same thing about trying the Withlacootchee State
Trail. Also another thing I always wondered about... If I ride 50 miles of flat road or 25 miles of
up hill then 25 miles of down hill...... Don't they both end up using the same amount of
power/excersize/whatever?

Lawrence Katz said:

I live in South Florida and ride my bike along the ocean, I also travel to Central Florida to
ride. Here are some great rides, Get a map of Florida, look for Ocala and go south to Inverness,
Floral City and San Antonio, Look for the Withlacootchee Trail, 50 miles paved rails to trails,
relatively flat, however, a bit south of Inverness is San Antonio, great ridin, hills and flats,
quiet country roads. Also the state roads outside of Floral City are really good, steep hills and
quiet roads. Don't know why but this area is hilly.

Down here in South Flordia you can ride from the Sebastian Inlet all the way to Ft.
Lauderdale, traffic during the week, Sundays are real quiet, speed limits 35. If you need more
info let me know.

Larry

"Mark" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Funny - I was just planning the same road trip from NJ to FL. I'm shooting for a long presidents
weekend (6 day weekend - lol). I'll be going to the Lady Lake area (Ocala). I was also looking
for some nice roads in that area. I remember last year when I went down and stopped at the FL
welcome station on 95, I picked up a map for biking in FL. Looked like most of it was along the
East coast side of FL. Can't find it and I was looking online to see if I could have one sent up
here to Jersey. Just got a new Trek 5500 Project One and wanted to try it out! Just waiting for
the ice to melt on the roads. Hope someone out there has some cue sheets for FL.

greg keller said:

I'm sick of the weather up here in NJ this winter and i've got a week off from work in the
middle of february. I need to get out on the bike and get some quality miles in. I'm looking
to go down south (Southern NC to Florida) for a week and i need some ideas. I'm looking for
someplace with good roads, and decent weather. If it's 55-60 during the day that's fine. I was
thinking about Jacksonville Fl, Wilmington NC or Myrtle Beach. Any ideas would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks.

Greg

--
"A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is two-tired."

--
"A bicycle can't stand on its own because it is two-tired."

no you will burn alot more and use alot more if you go 50 miles of up and down hills then you would if you are riding 50miles on the flats.

In article <[email hidden]>, usenet- [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

no you will burn alot more and use alot more if you go 50 miles of up and down hills then you
would if you are riding 50miles on the flats.

I would think that would depend hugely on the altitude gain during that 50 mi.

--
Dave Kerber Fight spam: remove the ns_ from the return address before replying!

REAL programmers write self-modifying code.

Thanks for the ideas, i have decided, to trek further south than planned, so i don't have to wear
booties, and gloves, or atleast not for the whole ride. I checked out a bunch of websites, picked up
a atlas of florida, and am going to make Inverness my base camp. Seems like i could get in a decent
variety of roads, so i'm not riding the same loop every day i'm there. Now with my luck i'll get
there and be riding in the rain every day. Thanks everyone for the help and i gotta go get on my
trainer so i don't break my legs when i get down to florida in 17 days. Thanks again everyone, and
mark, maybe i'll see you down there, i'll keep my eye out for a tricked out project one, i'm riding
a brand spankin new giant carbon with the new DA 10 speed stuff.

Mark <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Funny - I was just planning the same road trip from NJ to FL. I'm shooting for a long presidents
weekend (6 day weekend - lol). I'll be going to the Lady Lake area (Ocala). I was also looking for
some nice roads in that area. I remember last year when I went down and stopped at the FL welcome
station on 95, I picked up a map for biking in FL. Looked like most of it was along the East coast
side of FL. Can't find it and I was looking online to see if I could have one sent up here to
Jersey. Just got a new Trek 5500 Project One and wanted to try it out! Just waiting for the ice to
melt on the roads. Hope someone out there has some cue sheets for FL.

greg keller said:

I'm sick of the weather up here in NJ this winter and i've got a week off from work in the
middle of february. I need to get out on the bike and get some quality miles in. I'm looking to
go down south (Southern NC to Florida) for a week and i need some ideas. I'm looking for
someplace with good roads, and decent weather. If it's 55-60 during the day that's fine. I was
thinking about Jacksonville Fl, Wilmington NC or Myrtle Beach. Any ideas would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks.

Greg

Mark <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

That's funny because my dad just e-mailed me the same thing about trying the Withlacootchee State
Trail. Also another thing I always wondered about... If I ride 50 miles of flat road or 25 miles
of up hill then 25 miles of down hill...... Don't they both end up using the same amount of
power/excersize/whatever?

Most people who have ridden courses with substantial hills would probably not ask that question,
because a person's subjective perception of how hard a course is goes up with the amount of
climbing. There's no way not to know hills are harder.

It might seem, intuitively, that the downhills would let you rest enough to make up for the climbs,
but they don't. On a steep climb, the bicyclist's speed slows to about half (or less) the speed he
can ride on the flats. Watch your speedometer and you'll see this is true. Which means that if the
uphill stretch is one mile long, it takes about twice as long as one mile of flat riding. You would
have to ride down the corresponding downhill in zero seconds to keep the total riding time the same
as on a flat course of the same total length. But you will take some time to get down the hill. You
might even pedal a bit and do some work on the downhill.

Another way to look at it is to consider where your climbing energy goes. You put all that work into
lifting yourself against gravity. Then when you roll down the other side at a high speed, you
release that stored energy, but where does it go? It all gets lost as heat, some when you brake for
the turns, and some as your body plows through the air (aerobraking). You have air drag whenever you
ride, of course, but at higher descending speeds the air drag goes up enormously. Try pedaling up to
50 MPH on the flats and see what I mean. Not even the world's best sprinters can generate enough
power to do that on a single bike, without a motorized pacing vehicle to provide a draft.

If you have a downhill steep enough and straight enough to let you coast at 50 MPH, you are
dissipating gravitational energy into the air at a furious rate.

This is why a hilly course is faster if all the downhills are gradual, and straight enough not to
require any braking. You only speed up a little on a gradual downhill, so the gravitational energy
moves you a farther horizontal distance, rather than being so quickly dissipated as waste heat as
happens on a steep downhill.

Another factor adding to climbing fatigue is the nonlinearity of fatigue response. A cyclist working
at 90% of his maximum capacity will fatigue far more quickly than when he works at just 50%. If you
measure your effort with a heart rate monitor, you can see your heart rate ticking its way up on
long steep climbs, even though you downshift and slow down. On a steep uphill, it's difficult to
slow down enough to prevent your heart rate from increasing. You would have to use a tiny gear ratio
and ride so slowly you'd have difficulty staying upright. There's no practical way to avoid working
hard on a climb, except maybe to hang onto a passing car.

Basically this means grinding up a steep hill will "take a lot more" out of a cyclist than riding a
much greater distance on flat roads at a moderate pace, even if the long flat course consumes more
total calories.

I see this all the time when I lead group rides. Even less-experienced cyclists will cruise along at
a decent pace on the flats, chatting happily with each other, until I take them up one substantial
hill. After that, the ride is like a death march as they take miles of flat roads to recover enough
to resume their conversations. Total climbing is clearly a significant component of course
difficulty, especially when the climbing gets concentrated into a few long steep uphills. A course
with a lot of small rollers could have a lot of "total climbing," but it might not be much harder
than a flat course if the maximum hill amplitude is small. For a climb to "count" it must be long
enough to slow you down, force you into a low gear, and make you really feel the grade for a while.
With small rollers your momentum might take you most of the way over.

It's obvious that climbing is harder than riding on the flats. Granted, a sufficiently motivated
cyclist can ride hard on the flats by going fast, but few recreational cyclists work hard enough on
the flats to make the effort compare to hills.

The upshot is that if a cyclist is riding with the intent to gain fitness, a hilly course will be
harder without requiring the cyclist to monitor his effort as carefully. This can be a factor when
you are riding alone and don't have faster riders to pace you. You can climb a lot of hills and
insure a hard workout without having to get too meticulous about how hard you are working. Working
hard on the flats generally requires unimpeded courses, too. If you ride in an area with lots of
stop signs and traffic, maybe uphills will be the only places where you can really work hard without
smashing into something.

-- Daniel Mocsny

Quoted message said:

Larry

Larry,

What is the Route from Sebastian Inlet to Ft. Lauderdale? Is it all along A1A?

Incidentally, there are several good rail trails in the Northeast Florida area. The Gainesville
Hawthorn Trail is nice with a lot of side possibilities. The Ormond Beach Loop would be great for a
good idea of the area a little north of Daytona. The Jacksonville Baldwin trail is a nice path but
the scenery is not great. Hope this helps. Bob

Quoted message said:

--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - mailgate.orgmailgate.orgOpen ↗