Today I rode the longest distance I've done on the cruiser I borrowed from my parents' neighbor: 52 miles. Given that it's designed to make the rider feel as if he or she is sitting on a sofa chair while the boardwalk goes clack-clack-clack under the tires, I feel good about the ride.
The bike I rode is certainly nothing like these, which I saw parked in front of a convenience store near the Old City:
At least, I got to St. Augustine faster than Ponce de Leon did when he was looking for the Fountain of Youth.
And I will say that even though I wrecked the original rear wheel, the bike is sturdy if flexy.
If it had been about fifteen years ago, I would have tried to ride the bike across the moat just below the castle. After all, there's no water in the moat and no water=no alligators.
There is a dedicated bike lane for much of the length of A-1A. One way in which drivers--even the transplanted ones--here differ from the ones in New York is that they don't use the bike lanes to pass or double-park.
Plus, the beaches, inlets, dunes and ocean are beautiful. Here is a view from the bridge over the Matanzas Inlet:
Check out this formation on a nearby beach:
St. Augustine, in addition to the tourist traps one would expect, has some interesting establishments. At least, the spirit behind them is not what you'd find in New York:
A Giggling Gator? I'm having a hard time picturing it. However, I have to love a place with a sign that says "Open when we get here\ Closed when we leave."
