Riding the beach in Cocoa Beach

I have been riding my bicycle routinely since I started living in Cocoa Beach in August of 2012.  One of the things you will discover immediately in Cocoa Beach and Cape Canaveral is how dangerous it is to ride your bike along Route A1A.  There are several reasons, some obvious some not so much.  The first and foremost is not so obvious, the sidewalks are generous and in general well maintained but not clearly marked as heavily traveled paths and often obscured by bushes, trees and general vegetation.  As a car driver it can be difficult to discern that you are blocking walkers and bikers in many cases.  The second reason is more obvious, the average age of Cocoa Beach residents is 55.7 years old according to the 2010 Census.  That means more than half the residents are over the age of 70 and frankly their driving skills are terrible.  Add the third factor of a large influx of tourists who are unfamiliar with the area and in some kind of insane hurry to go everywhere and many of them intoxicated or on drugs and you get an unhealthy mix of danger for walkers and cyclists.

So, enough said, biking can be dangerous along A1A.  The best bike route on the island is Ridgewood Drive  which runs parallel to Route A1A from Route 520 for approximately 5 miles.  The speed limit is 25 MPH and there are generous hike/bike lanes and drivers are generally very conscious or walkers, runners and bikers, not to mention a number of skateboarders.  The problem is getting there, I have to travel for about 2 miles to get to that road along the dangerous and unattractive A1A section.

One day I had a brainstorm, could I ride on the beach and avoid the noisy and dangerous section of my ride.  I was in Cape Canaveral and just turned up one of the streets and walked my bike from the ramp to the hard pan portion of the beach.  I was glad to see a couple other bikers so I gave it a shot.  As long as I stayed on the hardpan near where the waves would roll in I was able to ride smoothly.

My first ride was very successful, I made it all the way to RT 520 and jumped back on the road.  This past weekend I went much further, all the way to Patrick Air Force Base.  Check out the attached video.  When the beach is firm, it is similar in speed to riding on the road.

Video is here


Paul Speese

Glass Bank Irony-truth is funnier than fiction

I was riding my bike the other day and as I was riding behind the eyesore in Cocoa Beach known as the Glass Bank and saw a derelict boat parked in the parking lot.  My eye went to the name of the boat and I nearly fell off my bike as I burst out laughing.  Take a look. If you can't read it, the name of the boat is "Side by Side".  The derelict boat side by side with the derelict bank building-perfect Cocoa Beach story.

NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft 747 back at Patrick Air Force Base

I was driving to swim early last Friday morning when I was surprised to see the NASA 747 parked at Patrick Air Force Base.  During the summer of 2012, the specially modified 747 was a frequent site at Patrick AFB during the time when the last Shuttles were being ferried to their final resting spots in museums.  Since that time I had read in news reports that both the 747's were going to be retired to air museums in California and Texas.  Since that time I have seen one or both of them at Patrick AFB on several occasions in addition to last week.  Maybe there is a new mission and they decided not to park them in the air museums.  One observation is how vulnerable to terrorist or any type of attack these planes are when parked at Patrick.  This photo was taken from my bike just off the A1A road that runs past the base.

Patrick AFB doesn't have much flight activity on a regular basis.  There are some Florida Air National Guard troop carriers stationed there and a couple of old P3's as well.  Every couple of weeks, some old Fighter Jets show up on the weekends, I will try and get a shot of them next time I see them.

Paul Speese