Northeast Florida Cycle Weekend - Amelia Island and the Jacksonville-Baldwin Rails-to-Trails Ride-

There were 5 of us that convened at Little Talbot Island State Park which is just north of the mouth of the St. Johns River in the upper corner of Duval County. Little Talbot State Park has these features: nicely wooded and shaded campsites on the west side of A1A, miles of pristine beach and trails, hungry mosquitoes, dusty access roads, convenience to great seafood, and great local road bike riding on A1A. The original plan was to base this ride out of Ft. Clinch State Park, but that park is booked months in advance, so it would not be possible to hold a group event from there unless sites were purchased ahead of time. But Little Talbot fit the bill none the less. Four of us arrived early enough on Friday to take in a local seafood with a great view of the St. Johns, its ship traffic and the A1A ferry boat; but most importantly, the food was el primo.

Saturday morning Carol, Joan L., Buck, Joan H., and Clark loaded our bikes on our cars to drive to Amelia Island (Little Talbot is south of the Nassau Sound by about 3 miles); thus we still had a ways to get to our destination. The parking was strategically positioned to try to give us about a 30 mile trek on about 2/3rds of the length of the island. We ended up at Burney Park at American Beach which was perfect. Our first few miles was on the Amelia Island Parkway where the ritzy addresses can be found along a well shaded tree lined drive. Then we eventually had to get onto Fletcher Ave which is A1A. Somewhat fortune for us, there was a triathlon taking place and A1A not only had speeding cyclist, but had policemen positioned at every major intersection waving them, as well as us impostors through the signals. But about 2 miles of Fletcher, the traffic was too intense, too urban, so we shifted over a block to 1st avenue for a quieter and more relaxed ride. We took it north as far as we could, still ending up on A1A for about 1 more mile until we reach Ft. Clinch State Park.

The group of us hung together pretty good and the back streets were better for conversation and less worrisome about being run over by a car or more than likely, a speeding cyclist. Cathy did not camp at Little Talbot, but had made earlier arrangements to stay at Ft. Clinch, so we met her at the gate in a timely fashion. That made 6 of us for part of the day. Once we entered into Ft. Clinch State Park, the urban world was left behind and a forested winding path was our riding for a good portion of the trip. We stopped at the first overlook at the slough that gave you a view of the lighthouse and the east side of Fernandina town. Now the Triathlon had taken over the park too, but this time it was the running phase. There were runners in various stages of agony plodding along. For the two and a half miles under wonderful shade, we rode to the parking lot of the fort. With plans to return to the fort this evening, we did not enter into the fort area. Then we moseyed on out to the Amelia River and looked out over the St. Mary's inlet and over to Cumberland Island. We watched a group of sail boats making maneuvers as though they were practicing, we took our time here. After that, we made our lunch stop at an unused camp site close to the restrooms in the Amelia campground. We talked and goofed off until we realize our time was slipping away. We were being fooled about the intensity of th sun that awaited us later since we remained protected in the heavily tree campground.

Right out of the Amelia camping area is a spur road that takes you to Old Fernandina, but the gate is typically locked and the road not used, thus making it a dead end during normal operating times. But since the triathlon was taking place, the gate was open so the 5 of us skinnied right through out onto the road to the public boat ramp. We rode up to the pavilion at the ramp and caught another short glimpse of the Amelia River and the looming paper plant between us and the town center. Upon our return, we slipped through the open gates again to re-enter Ft. Clinch. We made our way out to the beach road and stopped at the fishing pier. Carol, Joan, Buck and Clark watched schools of mullet by the thousands through the clarity of the calm Atlantic. Joan H. and Cathy hung back at the parking lot.

Ft. Clinch has miles of road, most of it in awesome oak hammock canopy. We made our way back out the entrance of the park and took the short and fast jaunt into the town center of Fernandina Beach on Atlantic Ave. We cruised through the old town center, which is about 7 blocks, then across the railroad tracks to the public parking on the Amelia River. We stopped again in front of the old brick train station, now their chamber of commerce center. It was getting late so we decided to cut some of the north end of town off the trip which was not a big deal since we had already gotten to the public boat ramps. We pedaled through the north neighborhoods of town were we encountered some good hills. Cathy left us when we went south of Atlantic Ave. At this point, it was already past 2:00 and we had about 8 or 9 miles to get back to the parking lot. We made a dash down Citrona Dr heading south. We had exhausted all of our scenic spots, it was just a furry to get back to American Beach.

It was a really hot day in the sun for October, even though we had started out in comfortable temps. But the 3:00 sun was beating us. It was a challenge to make our way back to the parking. The trip ended up being 32.5 miles and took us about 5 hours. But seeing and visiting is one of the major objectives of this cycle ride. Speed and distance are for other types of cyclling events - like the triathlon folks in their death march of physical agony.

We all sought a cool-down in the showers back at the campground and bit of time to rest before dinner. Our community dinner worked out well - too much food as usual. But quite a variety of goodies. We kept the mosquitoes a bay under Buck's screened canopy. I personally pigged-out after a busy and long ride.

Four of us hopped in the car and drove back up to Ft. Clinch State Park for their evening candlelight re-enactment that they put on. With period attire, an elderly Sergeant shows up in the crowd of about 30 of us looking for recruits. It was very well done. We were led into the fort at night by way of candle light and silhouette. A drum and fife played on the parapet. There were about 7 various stations in the fort to visit for some factual role playing and answering of 19th century questions. The physicians quarters was the most interesting. The four of us gave it high marks for good entertainment to top off a fine day. We all hit the sack upon immediate arrival at close to 9:30.

The weekend continues on Sunday with a drive over to the Jacksonville-Baldwin rails-to-trails ride.

Hosted by: Clark Getz