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
