To Nahunta and Back

This one was probably the longest ride that I've done in a while that has been noteworthy enough to include here on the blog. Altogether, I think I put in about three hours of seat time from start to finish. I enjoyed it quite a bit, although the wind could have cooled its jets this weekend. My neck and shoulders got quite the workout on the way up. This one gets a little rangy, but if you have a free day and some nice weather to work with I highly recommend it.

The easiest starting point that I've found for this ride is from I-295. Head around whichever way would be fastest for you to get to New Kings Rd north and get off there. This section is rather straightforward since you're still pretty close to downtown Jacksonville. There are a few gas stations to fill up at (which I would highly recommend doing if you haven't already done so) and some fast food joints if you need some sustenance. Continue going north to Callahan, but stay your course, as New Kings Rd will turn into 301/1/23. I'm most familiar with 301 so I just followed those signs. After Callahan you will hit Hilliard. I think  it was here I passed a pit BBQ joint that smelled so good that I nearly turned around to check it out. Small red building on the left that will probably be billowing delicious BBQ smoke. I'll probably head back up there at some point to try it myself.

After Hilliard comes the FL/GA state line at the St Mary's River, then Folkston. Stay diligent through here as the speed limit is rather slow and I saw a few police officers doing the all-too-cliche "let me hide behind this billboard" move. You also need to keep an eye out for the right turn needed to continue the ride as well. I missed it the first time, but hopefully you won't. I believe it was the third light at Love Rd (there is a Walgreen's type store on its northeast corner). Take your right then veer left onto Burntfoot Rd. It's pretty slow through here, but it won't be much longer until we're at the good stuff. Speed up a little bit after you're through the residential area and eventually you'll pass a correctional facility that smells terrible on your right. Shortly after your going to arrive at a fork in the road. We want to take the left fork onto River (Riverside) Rd. You can see the where the fork is better in the upper right hand corner of the zoomed in picture that I provided. The fork won't sneak up on you either unless you're totally not paying attention to what's going on. I believe there is a medium sized church sign or something marking where the fork is, and you can see it from a ways off.

After the left onto River Rd., this probably one of the funnest roads I've ridden in a while. I would have smiled more had my frown from the exceedingly chilly weather not been frozen to my face. There are plenty of curves to keep anyone busy, but the majority of them are blind so I wouldn't push my luck through any. The lack of substantial shoulder plus the not-so-great road quality will keep you on your toes as well. It road reminded me of the kind that would hurt my feet if I walked on it barefoot. Enjoy it as it will dead end back into 301. There should be a gas station in front of you at the intersection, just for a landmark's sake. Take a right and you'll get to Nahunta soon enough. There isn't a whole lot going on out there, but I had originally planned to eat at Jerry J's that's to the right off Cleveland St. Instead, Jerry J's added insult to injury with it being cold by being closed on a Sunday.... My bad I suppose, but at least the ride was good.

Getting back is quite simple. You can either take 301 all the way back down to Jacksonville or do the reverse of the ride just taken. I recommend the reverse ride since taking 301 all the way back is mind-knumbingly boring. Ask me how I know.

Google maps puts this ride as 62.3 miles as marked on the map here and will take 1 hour 24 minutes. If you choose to keep up with traffic though it will probably be closer to an hour.

A deem this ride a 4 out of 5 as it provides good scenery, plenty of places to eat, an extremely fun back-country road, and pleasant Georgia folk that get snarky with you when you don't know where the restroom is in their gas station. Look forward to another longer distance ride for the upcoming entry. Keep the shiny side up ladies and gentlemen!

The County Road 13 Ride: Updated

Hey there everyone! Life has been rather busy again (for a while now) and recreational riding has been at a minimum. I've covered a few new ones here and there, but most of the "fun" riding has been going over old rides with my fiancee' while she's on her new-to-her GS500E. So without further ado, here is the latest installation!

The County Road 13 ride is an extension of the San Jose ride. If you're coming from the north on San Jose, head down to where SR16 intersects with it. This is where we will start our ride today. Simply enough, we are going to stay on this road for the duration.

For the first part of this ride you will enjoy some nice scenery, but you will also have to deal with local traffic taking the back way to St Augustine. Traffic will split of on the rest of 16 soon enough, so you won't have to negotiate it for too long. After you go through the light where 16 and 13 meet, you can now relax and take it all in. Shortly after the light, the world famous Outback Crab Shack will be on your right. Get comfortable now, because it will be nothing but residences on either side for the rest of the ride. There are some nice curves throughout, but I can not emphasize enough how ROUGH this road is. I do not recommend speeding through this one, but rather taking it easy and pacing yourself with the speed limit. Roots and old roads are abound, so keep an eye out and enjoy the beautiful houses, tree cover, and views of the river. Our ride will end when 13 dead ends into 207. Take a left and you start heading towards the southern reaches of St Augustine. Head right and 207 will take you to to Palatka.

From point A to point B, this ride last for approximately 45 minutes and all of about 26 miles.

I'd give this one a 4 out of 5 twists of the throttle. The scenery is beautiful and the road is nice and twisty, but traffic at the beginning of the trip can be a little overwhelming.

Update: The rough portions of this road have been repaved and it is glorious. Nice and smooth throughout. Also, Outback Crab Shack is no longer there after a hurricane caused the river to rise enough to essentially destroy it. The .GPX file starts a little farther up the road at Woodpeckers BBQ. It's a perfect place to grab some grub before or after this ride. Enjoy!

Follow this link to dualsportmaps.com for the downloadable .GPX file.

The Zoo Loop: Updated

Hey there folks! Sorry for the hiatus, but things have been rather busy and extracurricular rides have been at a minimum. I have done a few, which I will add eventually, but I have mostly been doing the same ones previously written about with my fiancee' since we finally got her her own motorcycle! This particular route was one that she had put together when we were doing our first test rides of her motorcycle since it has everything from traffic, highway, and twisties. Its a decent clip and is actually quite enjoyable.

Our starting point for this ride begins where Baymeadows Rd. meets 9A (now known as 295, but it will always be considered 9A to me). No matter if you come from north or south, you will want to head away from the restaurants and towards the apartments complexes. This is a bit of a residential road, but as with any road here, traffic depends on what time you decide to pass through. Follow this nice curvy road to get yourself warmed up and in tune. There is a sharp left where Baymeadows and Gate Parkway dead end into each other. Take this particularly fun left onto Gate, then take the ramp and get onto 9A north. This is probably best section of highway in Jacksonville, so enjoy it while you can. Follow this north and you will reach the Dames Point Bridge.

After you go over the Dames Point, get off at the first exit you see, which will be Heckscher Dr/Zoo Parkway. Take a left towards the zoo for a decent ride, but keep an eye out for large trucks since the distribution centers for gas stations are on this road as well as the Jacksonville Zoo. Its a nice wiggly road that also offers some nice views here and there. Take Zoo Parkway until you run into I-95 and head south. Prepare for a not so wonderful ride down this stretch since it is the "main vein" through Jacksonville and it seems that every questionable driver likes to congregate here. Stay on 95 past downtown and over the Fuller Warren Bridge. This bridge offers some great views of the city, so if you are riding 2-up make sure your passenger has a camera handy. The highway after you get through downtown gets extremely rough, as there has been quite a bit of very bad construction going on for a while.

Get off at J. Turner Butler and take a left. Make sure you are in the rightmost turn lane since you're going to be taking a quick right onto Salisbury Rd. When I mean quick, I mean QUICK, so keep your head on a swivel. Take Salisbury down to A.C. Skinner and head left. After you pass the A.C. Skinner and Belfort intersection, the rest of this ride is probably one of the most fun rides I've done. A.C. Skinner is an excellent curvy back road, but has a few apartments along the way. Pass over Southside Blvd on A.C. Skinner and follow it through the little business district to Gate Parkway again. Head right and take this nice sweeping section all the way to 9A, then head in your respective direction home.

This ride is roughly 42 miles long and depending on traffic and how aggressive you get on the twisties, will take somewhere around an hour.

3 out of 5 for this one. The "twisties" are fun and the highway sections can be scenic, but some sections of the highway are downright terrible and full of extremely bad drivers.

Update:

Much of this route is under some sort of construction, especially the highway portions. If it gets to be too much, there are plenty of surface roads to get around the nasty parts. There is an IKEA at the starting point now, which can serve as a very obvious meeting spot if you're riding with a group. Right up the road is Sippers, one of my favorite cafes in town. That could also serve as a good meeting spot, if you're that kind of person. The worst part, in my opinion, is A.C. Skinner road. It used to be a nice wooded stretch that wound parallel to JTB. Apartments are now sprouting up all along it and it looks like there are more to come. One has to travel farther and farther to get some quiet around here lately. If you're in the mood for some offroad action, you'll be passing Imeson Park as you travel down Zoo Parkway. Click here for more information on Imeson but DO NOT try Imeson if you're on street-only bike.

- For more information on Sippers, visit their Facebook page and/or their Yelp page.

- Follow this link to download the .GPX file from dualsportmaps.com

The Georgia Loop

As I had previously mentioned, I am having to stray pretty far from Jacksonville in order to find some decent roads, and this one fits the bill rather perfectly. Whenever I would look at the map of Florida, I always wondered what was in the little nook in the northeast corner. Well, this entire ride pretty much encompasses that entire sector, and let me tell you, there is nothing out there. If for any reason that you need to get away from the world and have it be just you and your machine, this is the ride to take.

Heading west from Jacksonville, take the super exciting I-10 and take the first exit for Macclenny that you see. Follow this until you reach 121, then make a right and prepare yourself for a whole lot of nothing. This Okefenokee parkway is about as desolate a road as I have ever been on. As you can tell from the map, it is nothing but a straight shot ALL the way down to our next road. I thought that I may get lucky with a side road or something, but the most exciting thing that seemed to be along this road was a gigantic recreational mud pit as soon as you cross into Georgia. Other than that, be prepared to spend a lot of time contemplating the meaning of life along this stretch. Don't worry about missing 94, which you're going to take a left on to, because it just so happens to be the only legitimate paved road that you will come across. Take your left, and head down this nicely paced road with lush woods lining either side. The only breaks in the trees were by the occasional house and a giant timber harvesting factory that will be to the left. 94 has some gradual sweeping curves to save you from the monotony of Okefenokee as well. The next paved road that you will reach is 185, where we take another left. This road was great, as there were finally signs of civilization, since I was soon to be low on gas and there were some great views along the way. It's mostly farmland, but for some reason I found it quite nice to look at. Decent curves and some menial grades grace 185 making for a nice finish to quite a long ride. Follow this all the way down until 185 dead ends back into Okefenokee and head right, to come back home. This will lead you all the way back to the highway where you can grab a well needed bite to eat and gas up before the trek back to Jacksonville.

Not including the time it will take you to reach the starting point, this ride is a hefty 52 miles and will take roughly over an hour to complete.

Starting out, I was not going to give this ride a very high rating since Okefenokee parkway almost lulled me to sleep. After a while though i found myself enjoying it more and more because of the nearly complete solitude that this ride offers. I think I may have seen a whopping 10 cars total when I wasn't in or near a town. This gave me time to think about things that I haven't had time to think about lately and become a little more intimate with my motorcycle. I would highly recommend doing a good service or looking over of your ride before heading out on this one (as I had done), since the desolation that is so nice on this ride can also be your undoing if you were to break down.

A solid 4 out of 5 for this one. Definitely recommended.

The Hanna Park Ride

I'm not sure what my hopes were for this one, but in the back of my head I knew that I shouldn't be expecting too much. This is a good change of pace to get to the Mayport area, but I wouldn't go out of your way for this one. The destinations along the way are more interesting than the ride itself.

We will start going east from 9A on Merrill road. In all reality, you could take this road all the way down to where we will be ending, but where is the fun in that. Head down Merrill road first for a little bit after you get off the highway towards Fort Caroline road. This stretch will be your standard byway complete with regular traffic lights and idiot drivers. Take a left when you get to Fort Caroline and prepare yourself for the most enjoyable section of the ride. The first time I traveled this road, I was surprised to find that there were actually substantial hills, which added a little variation to the standard flat curves that I'm used too. Keep an eye out for Fort Caroline Park, which has a few nice walking trails right along the outlet of the St. Johns River as well as a real historic fort that you can take a look at. A little bit further down Fort Caroline on the left is Theodore Roosevelt park that has some more lengthy but excellent hiking trails that are so hilly you wont even feel like you are in Florida. After you pass the Monument road light, this where you might be able to open is up a little bit but there are a few neighborhoods and driveways to look out for. Enjoy the hills regardless. Follow this all the way down to where Merrill has turned into Mt. Pleasant road that will eventually turn into Wonderwood Dr. and head left. Here is where the fun stops, since you will take this all the way down to Hanna Park. There are a few nice views from the bridge over the start of the intra-coastal. If you do plan on actually going into Hanna Park, make sure you have a couple bucks to cover the entry fee. Look up the park's website for more detailed information. You'll find some nice hiking trails as well as beach access if that is what you're in the mood for.

A bit of a short ride at 11 miles from start to finish, it will take you about 21 minutes depending on the traffic. Depending on what time you choose to take the ride, traffic could be pretty bad since this road is a straight shot to Mayport Naval Base.

I'd have to give this ride a tough 3 twists of the throttle out of 5. The Fort Caroline loop saved it from a 2 as well as the views that the bridge offers. Nothing too exciting this time around. My next ride will reach out pretty far into the surrounding Jacksonville areas, so don't get too bored with me yet.

The Sawgrass Ride

I had high hopes for this ride. A riverside road followed by a nice winding section finished with a beach side cruise was expected, but that didn't happen. This is a ride to take if you are absolutely bored and just happen to be in the area. Wouldn't be one that I put on my list of regular cruises.

Our starting point today is shortly after you head south from JTB at Solana road. Get comfortable since you will be on this road a good portion of the ride. This is where I expected to be right alongside the intra-coastal, and in a way I was...only I was blocked by some impressively large houses. The speed limit here is decent, but there are tons of houses right off of the road. More than enough reason to take it easy to keep some of the older folk from pulling out in front of you as they leave their mansions. That is really all you're going to see here anyway, so you might as well just take your time and take a good look. I heard that there is a pretty good sea food joint by the name of Lulu's that is near the beginning of the straight section along the river. Follow Solana all the way down and follow the signs to get to Mickler's road. This is perhaps the most interesting stretch with some nice curves here and there, but again you'll have to handle blind driveways and neighborhood entrances. Basically you'll stay on this until you reach the beach and veer left. At this point you will be heading north back towards Jacksonville. On the map, this stretch looked like the promising beach side ride, but again you will be blocked by enormous houses and condos. While these are impressive to look at, they completely take away from the ride. Since there are so many and the road also runs alongside a golf course, the speed limit even gets reduced down to 15 mph for a long while. Follow this trail of unnecessary demonstrations of money until you reach Solana road again and take a left. This will take you back to 1A and another right will take you back towards JTB. If you miss Solana, don't sweat it since Ponte Vedra Blvd leads straight to 1A after a while.

If you do decide to go on this one, you're looking at 15 miles round trip with a run time of about 30 minutes depending on how aggressive you are and traffic. If you want to make it a little more interesting, try it at night. The dark can be quite enveloping in some areas.

Like a said before, I had high hopes for this one but I think this will have to be my first 1 out of 5. Boring roads with potentially good views blocked by enormous houses does not make for a good time. More posts are sure to follow, but I think my search for roads is going to have to extend more into the "surrounding areas" of Jacksonville now since I feel all leads have been exhausted now locally. Until next time, keep the shiny side up and be safe since we are well into the cold season now.