While I didn’t get to go biking this past weekend, I was looking through some photos from this past summer and found this photo. It reminded me of another “variety” of cycling: riding at the beach.
Above: my brother and I riding on the beach
Dustin tells me that every time he heads down to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina he brings his mountain bike and rides around in the sand. I guess this would work, provided that you ride down on the harder sand near the water. You can’t get too close to the water with a mountain bike, because the salt water would get in the bike and it would be a mess. So, that’s one approach to biking at the beach.
Another approach is the one pictured above. We rented these bikes, which were designed specifically for riding on the beach. They are really low to the ground and are pretty durable. These ones had two wheels, but I have seen bikes with three wheels. On the bikes we rode, you hold handles on the sides of your seat and you steer by leaning to the left or to the right. I guess you vaguely see it in the photo above. We had a good time on the bikes, and I thought they were pretty interesting.
Next time you go to the beach, this is something you can do.
This ride was an interesting twist on a ride that Dustin, Al, and I have done dozens of times. Instead of picking up the Tobacco Trail a few miles from my house and riding to the Durham Bulls Ballpark downtown, and then riding back, one of my friends came up with an alternate route.
Above: the Tobacco Trail at the Juliette Drive intersection
We started near the old South Square mall, and took the Martin Luther King Jr. parkway south until we reached Dixon Road, where we turned left. We continued straight onto Chapel Hill Road for a few miles until we reached Morehead Avenue, at which point we turned right. We took Morehead straight for 4 or 5 miles until we reached the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. Then, we were able to pick up the American Tobacco Trail.
We rode the Tobacco Trail for several miles, but instead of riding it to the end, we decided to try the Riddle Road spur, which I had not done before. This was a dead end, so we turned around and rode back to the main trail. We took the Tobacco Trail to Juliette Drive, where we turned right, and made another right on Cook, and this took us back to the MLK parkway. A
map of the route that was made by my friend is available if you want to have a look.
The weather was really nice. It was sunny with a few clouds, and there was a slight breeze. I enjoyed this ride. I liked riding down Morehead; it was relatively flat for a few miles, and then when we got closer to downtown there was a downhill section. I think the ride came out to around 15 or 16 miles. It was definitely a nice twist on a ride that I have ridden many times.
