The Bee-17s will
ride from the Earl Powers Park, Saturday, April 7th
to Melrose for a trip
of 42.3 miles.
The Route: Will start
from Earl Powers Park and ride east on SR20 (Hawthorne Road) to
SE 60th Terrace, where we will turn south and cross over to the
Hawthorne Trail and ride it east to Grove Park (SE 156th
Terrace) and then return to Hawthorne Road and ride it east until
we get to SE 171st Street, which we will take north as it jogs west to
become SE 163rd Street and continues to CR 1474, which we will take east
until it become Price Road and "Ts" into Hwy21 just south of Melrose, which we
will take north into Melrose and the rest stop. We will resume going west
on CR26 to CR234, which we will take south through Windsor, then turn west
onto SR20 (Hawthorne Road) and take it west back to Earl Powers Park.
Anyone who "rides to the ride" can return to the Trail at SE 60th
Terrace and ride back directly into Gainesville from there on the downtown
connector trail (which goes back through/by UF and along Archer Road all
the way to SW 34th street) instead of returning to Earl Powers
Park.
The Time: Meet
at 8:45AM, ride
at 9:00AM,
Saturday, April 7th. Expect a full ride time of ~3:30
hours including the rest stop in Melrose.
The Ride: This is
a relatively easy ride of
~42.3 miles, of mostly
flat roads with a few minor hills. Expect ride speeds of 15-19
mph with a target pedaling speed of 17 mph and an average
speed of 16-17 mph. This is a
no-drop friendly ride for riders in reasonable physical condition; we will
soft pedal as necessary to keep the core of the group together because
riders on this ride are expected to be able to ride at the stated group
speed; nevertheless we will wait for everyone to regroup at
each major turn and after fun sprints, if necessary to prevent
drops. Helmets
are required.
The Rest Stop: Will
be in Melrose at
approximately 23 miles at a convenience store/gas station with
restrooms.
The Start Point:
Earl Powers Park is located on
the east side of town on the north side of Hawthorne Road (SR 20),
which has bike lanes continuously from the east side of town; look for the
brown standard park sign just outside the primary populated area east of town,
several miles east of Waldo Road. It can also be accessed by bicycle by
riding the Hawthorne Rail Trail approximately 4 miles east from Boulware
Springs, over the "hills and hummocks", until you get to the "SE 60th
Terrace" sign on the trail, where you can cross directly from the
Trail to Hawthorne Road and ride a few hundred feet west back towards town
to reach the Park. There is no fee to enter and park at Earl Powers
Park; we usually meet near the restrooms close to the entrance to the park.
The Ride Aids: Route
maps will be available at the start of the ride; if you want a preview map of
the ride or a Garmin .tcx file, email Ed at the address below; anyone
on my mail list is sent a map in the Ride Report for the previous
ride. General information about the Bee-17s is now available in the
"Riding Groups" page at the GCC web
site.
Weather: In the event
of questionable weather as we near ride time, a GO or cancellation notice
will be posted on the list server approximately 1 hour or
sooner before posted ride meeting time; if you don't see anything by
then, the ride is most likely a GO; if you still have concerns or useful
specific information about bad weather along the ride route,
please give me a call.
Note: The Bee-17s are
now an official GCC riding group. Anyone wishing to "join" the group as a
regular member can do so from their own Members Area page. Non-group
GCC members continue to be welcomed to join us on any posted ride they
feel like riding without having to formally "join" the
group.