ROUTE SUGGESTIONS NEEDED: Jacksonville, Florida

CJ Smith

Greetings,
I am currently in the Jacksonville, Florida area (usually for a week at a time) and when I am not busy with business I scout out safe cycling routes that will allow me to travel from Highway 301 (south of I-10) to Downtown Jacksonville.

My on-going long term plan has been to find a route that will allow me to complete a one day, vehicle supported ride to Jacksonville from Oldsmar (THINK: Tampa) . I was motivated by a guy who rode it in three days and being that endurance cycling is my thing, I figured why not at least give the one day attempt a try.

We haven't the following that the Pacific Northwest's Seattle to Portland (S.T.P.) ride does, but the distance is about the same. Think about how interesting a similar ride would be for the southeast. Well I have been thinking about it . For about a year ! Now it is time to put up or shut up .

CURRENT ROUTING:
I am looking to utilize the Suncoast and the Withlacoochee Trails en route, but also Highway 301 (Which the aforementioned three day trip was based on) and several other roads that would link me to the Jacksonville area.

The past two days (during the late afternoon rush hour - my expected arrival time) I have driven Jacksonville area roads such as Normandy Boulavard, Plymouth, Lenox Avenue, Herlong Road, Old Middleburg Road, Park Street, Riverside Avenue, McDuff... I even figured a way to ride across Plymouth THROUGH the F.C.C.J. (KENT CAMPUS) parking lot (location: Plymouth and Roosevelt) so I could get to Randall Street in order to get to Edgewood Avenue). Another option would have me skip Plymouth completely and take Lenox to Kingsbury or possibly Attleboro/Antisdale to get over to Edgewood.

All of this is in an attempt to have my ride terminate at 3315 NORTH LIBERTY ST. Jacksonville (That location is just north of Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway (U.S. 1 Alt. S.) about three blocks).

Originally, I was going to wait until the spring of 2009 to attempt this ride, but I am currently feeling fit enough to take on this challenge. To date I have 43 completed century PLUS rides for 2008 . My September monthly ride average was 106 miles and annually (2008) my average ride is 105 . I have to also mention that the weather is beginning to work with me and my support vehicle driver is about to take leave from her job, so no finer a moment may exist.

I would appreciate some help with the routing from experienced local riders. No route is written in stone, so I am completely open for suggestions .

Best Regards,
CJ Smith

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"Being 40 just means that I have twice the appreciation for life that I did at 20." - CJ Smith