Any good riding on FL Atlantic coast

[1moreroad]

I've got some buddies who want to do a lap of Florida and they've invited me to join. This will complete their 4 corners riding (AK, Baja Mexico, Nova Scotia, Florida Keys).

We're thinking about the week of March 12 to 19. The loop I have is about 2500 miles. We can comfortably do 400-500 mile days and push 600+ if we have to, so I think 7 days should be enough with stops.

We plan to meet in Montgomery, AL, head to St. Augustine then down to the Keys. 

@fddriver2, @builderbob, @britelitebob and anyone else:

Is there any fun route down the Atlantic Coast? Is there anywhere we should absolutely avoid (thinking we use interstates to detour around Miami)? Is there a particularly good place to stay in Key West or should we stay on one of the other Keys and just visit Key West?

Is there any good route on the west coast or the panhandle we have to see? We will definitely stop at Weeki Wachee Spring for the mermaid show (#2 priority after Hemingway's house).  Is there any good street riding around Apalachicola?

[tktplz]

All I know about riding Florida is... I had a chance to buy a place from a friend who's aunt passed and the place was in coco beach just below Daytona. Went to check it out. Florida is the opposite of North Carolina's 11 miles and 318 curves. I have heard the Keys are a good time. March should be pretty good on temps and humidity. With flat straight roads you should be able to cover a good bit of ground everyday. I don't think there are any technical roads in Florida, women in bikinis, Check!!!!

[roadrash83]

You'll die of boredom and your tires will end up flat in the center. Don't say I didn't warn you😥 

[angrygirafe]

Maybe look for roads under construction so you can weave through the cones?

[fddriver2]

2,500 in 7 days is pretty optimistic. Doable but it doesn't sound like much fun.... 🤷‍♂️

You will be doing Interstates. A word about Interstates here in Florida. They suck. Straight, flat and near any large city full of the worst drivers anywhere in the lower 48, in SOFLA it's Mad Max Fury road.

With the tight schedule, if I were you I would pick stuff you might want to see in any projected overnight stop. Here in FL. it's more about the destinations not the roads.

Here is a good resource for things that might interest you. With maps

 Florida Travel Guide: Maps, Towns, Day Trips, Culture, History (florida-backroads-travel.com)

 

Some of my favorites are St. Augustine.  Plenty of historical stuff there. Some of my favorite places there are. The Reef restaurant, Aunt Kate's and Cap's on the water out on Vilano Beach. Downtown, A1A ale works and towards the beach Sunset Grill.

 A1A  St. Augustine to Daytona.

From my area, Ft. Lauderdale Chrome Ave to the Keys. Some places to eat in the Northern end of the Keys, Alabama Jack's, Lorelei Cabana bar, Lazy Days restaurant and Gilberts. I haven't been to Key West in Years.

In West Florida Sanibel island has Doc Ford's Rum Bar. Tampa has more strip bars than anyplace I been, but traffic is brutal.

In Northwest Fl. Cedar Key and Apalachicola cool funky little towns worth a look. IMO  

If you end up in Ft. Lauderdale and need some help, advice or just to meet up let me know. 

 

[Mattf]

Not one good road...

[sabre85]

11 curves in 318 miles, and the highest hill is an overpass

 

[1moreroad]

20 hours ago, fddriver2 said:

2,500 in 7 days is pretty optimistic. Doable but it doesn't sound like much fun....

Thanks for all of the advice.  The restaurants are especially important suggestions.  We can extend the trip up to 9 days.

[fddriver2]

3 hours ago, 1moreroad said:

Thanks for all of the advice.  The restaurants are especially important suggestions.  We can extend the trip up to 9 days.

I wasn't trying to be a downer. Just trying to be realistic.

If you play with google maps St. Augustine to Ft. Lauderdale is a fuzz over 4 hours with no stops going down I95. (traffic dependent) If you use the "avoid highways" option it kicks out to around 7 hours.

With what I know about the secondary roads down the coast I'd bet it's a lot more than that. 😀

[tktplz]

On 11/10/2021 at 6:40 PM, roadrash83 said:

You'll die of boredom and your tires will end up flat in the center. Don't say I didn't warn you😥 

I was trying to tell them this without bursting their bubble....but oh well. A little late for that, LOL!

[jcarruth]

Moved from TN to FL for five years. 1993-1998.  Moved back in 1998.  Street riding in FL sucks! Off road, probably different.

[texscottyd]

[PhotoAl]

Best roads are going to be from Montgomery to the Florida border 🙂  We go down to Sarasota at least once a year. Have ridden my bike down there several times.  LOL I did 600 miles in one day on both a CBR600RR and a ZX6R 636.  By comparison the Tracer 900 GT is a luxury barge.  I would recommend going thru Columbus then down towards Albany GA and over the Tifton GA.  South of Fort Benning there are more curves than you will see in all of Florida.  Not really a fun twisty road but was intertaining when I went thru at night in the middle of a very incense thunderstorm.  Leaned to the left going around a right turn!  Usually on the way back I go thru Americus GA which is an interesting southern town.  I75 is pretty much a grind with lots of traffic and massive differences in speeds. My older son went to UF for his PhD.  Archer Road in Gainesville is a college town but has lots of food choices including a pretty good BBQ place and another place that was more of a breakfast and maybe lunch place.  All I've ever gotten there was breakfast.  Police like to look for speeders and can range from no enforcement to a lot.  They don't seem to be too bad on bikers.  I never had any trouble, one time topped a rise on a bridge and one was sitting in the median.  I was "only" 15 over but he didn't blink.

Last trip out west I covered 6,400 miles in 18 days!  Had a couple of shorter days but only one "rest" day.  Had 3 nights in Red Lodge Montana but wound up going to Yellowstone both days so lots of riding and longer days.  Toward the end it got to be a grind I would get up pack my stuff up eat a bite of breakfast ride until 5 or 6 PM arrive at my location, pitch my tent look for dinner and after dinner relax before going to sleep.  From Rawlings to Lincoln Nebraska it was all I80!  Normally I take secondary roads but there were none that paralleled the interstate.  Most of my trips have been 5,200 to 5,500 so and 15 or 16 days.  

Being with friends and probably staying in hotels. Friends keep things interesting and not having to pack up a tent and everything every day makes it easier.  Planning fun places to stop along the way helps great it up.

We want a detailed trip report when its over 🙂