Southern Tier 2017 Thread

[wjorns]

Suggestions on transport from Jacksonville to St Augustine?  Any recommendations on mode and bike shop to ship bike to in St Augustine?
Thx,
Will

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[wjorns]

Twin Lakes Fishing & Camp in Hawthorne is probably your best bet. The campground closest to the route has closed down. Twin Lakes is 70-80 miles west of St. Augustine depending on which route you take.

Thx Ty.  Are you familiar with the area?  Did you do a Google search?

Thx again,

Will

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[John Nettles]

Personally, I would just ride from Jacksonville along the coast.  It is only a 1 day ride.  Best, John

[ZiZohn]

I know that going from Ajax to St. Augustine there are people that advertise shuttle service. You can probably Google one for the opposite way. But one of our guys rode it. Took one day. There is a bike shop close to the end that broke our bikes down and shipped them home. We stayed at the Pirate Hostel and only had to walk about a mile back from the bike shop. But don't remember the name. Sorry.

[Cycle_w/MS]

Currently in Bradenton, FL area and will be starting the Southern Tier this month.  Looking at heading up between January 25th - 28th range.  As for transportation, I was debating on cycling the 220 miles to the starting point or just renting a suv.  After checking with Expedia, an SUV is only $49 and I can drop it off at the St. Augustine air terminal.  It looks like that would only put me north of starting point by a few miles.

[MrBent]

Just drove the section between Apache Junct. and the summit of 60 to the east.  That's some nasty riding in there.  It wouldn't be so bad going east-west because you'd be headed downhill and get through it quickly.  I saw one guy pushing his loaded bike uphill headed east.  Did not envy him.  Watch out for that bit for sure--high traffic, trucks, many places with no shoulder.  Ugh.  Might want to check into riding around the north side of the Superstitions, but that will have it's own challenges for sure.

Best of luck!  I'm feeling the need for another long tour.  Haven't been on one since 2012.

Scott

[JHamelman]

Just drove the section between Apache Junct. and the summit of 60 to the east.  That's some nasty riding in there.  It wouldn't be so bad going east-west because you'd be headed downhill and get through it quickly.  I saw one guy pushing his loaded bike uphill headed east.  Did not envy him.  Watch out for that bit for sure--high traffic, trucks, many places with no shoulder.  Ugh.  Might want to check into riding around the north side of the Superstitions, but that will have it's own challenges for sure.

Best of luck!  I'm feeling the need for another long tour.  Haven't been on one since 2012.

Scott

This section of US 60 is part of why we did a major reroute on the Southern Tier in late 2015: Major Route Change: Southern Tier in AZ and NM.

Jennifer

[MrBent]

Thanks, Jennifer.  Good news.

Scott

[Ty0604]

Twin Lakes Fishing & Camp in Hawthorne is probably your best bet. The campground closest to the route has closed down. Twin Lakes is 70-80 miles west of St. Augustine depending on which route you take.

Thx Ty.  Are you familiar with the area?  Did you do a Google search?

Thx again,

Will

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

Basic general knowledge of the area. Friends who go to school at UF in Gainesville. Been a few times.

[Ty0604]

Just drove the section between Apache Junct. and the summit of 60 to the east.  That's some nasty riding in there.  It wouldn't be so bad going east-west because you'd be headed downhill and get through it quickly.  I saw one guy pushing his loaded bike uphill headed east.  Did not envy him.  Watch out for that bit for sure--high traffic, trucks, many places with no shoulder.  Ugh.  Might want to check into riding around the north side of the Superstitions, but that will have it's own challenges for sure.

Best of luck!  I'm feeling the need for another long tour.  Haven't been on one since 2012.

Scott

This section of US 60 is part of why we did a major reroute on the Southern Tier in late 2015: Major Route Change: Southern Tier in AZ and NM.

Jennifer

Hey Jennifer. I purchased my maps back in October. Is that change on the newest version of the maps or noted clearly in the printed notes that came along with them? They're already in San Diego so can't take a look. Or should I print off what you linked? Thanks!

[MrBent]

I did a Google street view of some sections of this Hwy 60 workaround, and it looks pretty good, especially the Bee Line Highway--divided road and good looking shoulders.

[Ty0604]

Disregard Jennifer. I viewed the link and saw where it said it was on the new maps.

[Ty0604]

I did a Google street view of some sections of this Hwy 60 workaround, and it looks pretty good, especially the Bee Line Highway--divided road and good looking shoulders.

Good to know!

[ian123running]

All,

Southern Tier West to East starting n San Diego at the end of Feb 2017

We are an Brit / USA couple living in UK and we love to cycle tour.  Time for a longer challenge.....so we bought the Adventure Cycling map set and no turning back now.  This was mainly inspired last year when we met quite a few people in Glacier and Yellowstone NPs etc doing the northern routes - they all had the Adventure Cycling maps and made us realise there is cycle touring beyond Europe.

We are planning to cycle the Southern Tier route west to east, starting in San Diego in  late February - we've not yet booked flights but will update on this thread.

We will be on our tandem and camping where possible.  We use a trailer and try to keep the weight down but suspect this time we'll need to carry more supplies than usual.    We will not be doing the daily mileage that some of you manage but hope to get across in 10 weeks or so.

More to follow including some questions but just thought we'd introduce ourselves in case there are others staring at a similar time.

Jimbo maybe we'll see you and your group ?  March 1st is right in our window!

Thanks,  Ian and Jeannine

[MrBent]

Fantastic, Ian and Jeanine!  Keep us posted.  Lots of great info and experience on this forum.

Best of luck.  Sounds like a perfect time to start the tour.

Scott