Sunday, May 31, 2009

Palm Bay and Malabar Bike Ride Field Trip

In the previous post about the Malabar Scrub Sanctuary field trip, I mentioned there was a network of bike trails connecting the Sanctuary and Malabar Road with Turkey Creek Sanctuary on Port Malabar Boulevard. Friend Wayne got busy, researched the route, learned of more Palm Bay bike trails, took a "recon" trip over the route, and then led his biking group on a 10-1/2 Parks bike ride. AND he wrote up a report AND provided photos, for which I am everlastingly grateful, particularly since I don't ride a bicycle. (I'm also grateful to the bikers for letting Wayne take their picture at every park - good sports, all! Take a look at how trim and fit these guys are. They bicycle three times a week, about 20 miles round trip. As you'll see from the photos in the slideshow, they are indeed a testament to the benefits of bicycle riding.)

The Friends of Turkey Creek organization has done a wonderful job on a lot of things - signage, web site, maps - if you live in the area, give some thought to volunteering with them.

Meanwhile, I met with Barbara Meyer, Brevard County Bicycle Pedestrian & Trails Coordinator for the Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization (TPO), who provided me with a wealth of information about Brevard's current and planned bike trails. There will be more on that later, but first, here's Wayne's report:

On Thursday, May 28, I led seven members of our beachside cycling group on a tour of 10-1/2 parks in the Malabar/Palm Bay area. The Turkey Creek 7-Park Trail mapped out by the Friends of Turkey Creek formed the core of our bike ride. I added three more parks: Malabar Community Park, Malabar Scrub Sanctuary, and the Cameron Wilderness Preserve. The final stop on our tour was the Mountain Bike Trail area off Briar Creek Blvd, on the east side of Turkey Creek. I assumed that this area was part of the Turkey Creek Sanctuary, which had already been counted, so I counted this stop as only "half a park." The parks in sequence were: (Editor's note - be sure to view the slideshow in the right-hand column - click on it to bring up full screen size. Wayne annotated the photos by Park, in order. Gotta love an orderly mind!)

1. Malabar Community Park
2. Malabar Scrub Sanctuary
3. Cameron Wilderness Preserve
4. Turkey Creek Sanctuary
5. Knecht Park
6. Winding Lake Park
7. Ais Trail Park
8. Pollak Park
9. Stearns Point Park
10. Castaways Point Park
10.5. Mountain Bike Trail area east of Turkey Creek (on return ride)

We began at 7:30 a.m. in the Malabar Community Park parking lot, adjacent to the entrance to the Malabar Scrub Sanctuary. We took the concrete road through Malabar Scrub to the north end, which terminates on the Boundary Canal Trail. Going west on the Canal Trail, we passed by Cameron Wilderness Preserve, which we did not enter because the trail was too sandy for our hybrid bikes. From there we rode west on Port Malabar Blvd to Turkey Creek Sanctuary, where we paused for a group photo by the sanctuary sign. From there on, we followed the Turkey Creek 7-Park Trail route, including a brief pause at the historic St. Joseph Catholic Church, and ending at Castaways Point Park.

After Castaways Point Park, we headed a short distance north along US 1 and crossed over to Orange Blossom Trail and Hessy Ave, which brought us back to Lichty St and then through Winding Lake Park to Glenham Dr. From there we rode north to the partially under- construction bike path on the south side of Palm Bay Rd to ChekMarc's restaurant, where we had a hearty breakfast.

After breakfast, we took Clearmont St south to a bike path that ends on Port Malabar Blvd. On the way back to the Boundary Canal Trail, we investigated the mountain bike trails on the west side of Briar Creek Blvd. The Friends of Turkey Creek recently installed a picnic pavilion there on a small bluff overlooking Turkey Creek. Finally, we rode the Boundary Canal Trail back to Malabar Scrub and our cars.

The bikers all enjoyed the tour. They even patiently posed for group photos at each park. Most of them did not know of the existence of these parks, so it was an educational experience for them, which was my intent.
Just the Facts
10-1/2 Parks Trail Bike Ride
"Big Picture" Location: South Brevard, Mainland, Palm Bay, Malabar

Distance: 15.5 miles roundtrip; 9 miles from start to Castaways Point Park

Time: About 3 hours including breakfast; 1-1/2 hours to Castaways Point Park (we stopped a lot).

Level of Difficulty: Easy

Equipment: Road or hybrid bikes are suitable since almost the entire trail is paved (with a couple of short stretches of gravel)

Other trail users: We met 3 bikers and two roller bladers, both on the Boundary Canal Trail; otherwise, we had the trail to ourselves.

Links:
Friends of Turkey Creek
Malabar and Palm Bay Area Trail Properties

1 comment:

  1. This is really a great article i love to read this kind of trips and journeys.

    ReplyDelete

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