King’s Road Coast to Coast: Yankeetown, Florida to Flagler Beach, Florida – 200 Miles!

king's road coast to coast
Greetings from Yankeetown, Florida!

This article / video is sponsored by The Pro’s Closet – Use coupon code GRAVELCYCLIST121 until January 31, 2022, to receive free shipping on your bike order!

king's road coast to coast
Optional Wheel Dipping to begin our Journey

“The Journey is the Prize”, Karlos Bernart, founder of https://singletracksamurai.com

Single Track Samurai, the host for this year’s King’s Road Coast to Coast. Along with Karlos, the course design was ably assisted by Mr Graham Partain, local Gainesvilleite and purveyor of dodgy roads and more.

king's road coast to coast
Mr Graham Partain, route designer extraordinaire

“SSP (SingleTrack Samurai Productions) is a group comprised of adventure cycling enthusiasts who advocate, create, and promote unique and fun ultra-cycling events in the Southeast.”

king's road coast to coast
Rollout Time!

King’s Road Coast to Coast

“The King’s road is a mostly gravel route that connects the West Coast of Florida to the east coast using some of the best original Florida roads to complete the task. It gets the name of the King’s road cause it utilizes part of the Old Bellamy Highway and the original Kings Brick road that was constructed to connect St Augustine to the Florida Interior. The route was a collaboration between Graham Partain and Karlos Bernart and showcases all the different varieties of Florida Gravel. Join the fun and experience this route in all its splendor.”

In this video, JOM of the Gravel Cyclist crew rides the King’s Road Coast to Coast for the first time. Points of interest from JOM’s experience:

  1. Planning: 0. Along with his mate Todd, JOM decided to ride the event six days prior.
  2. Training: 0. Wing it like usual 🙂
  3. Preparation: Bugger all. In JOM’s case, ride a new review bike with 25 shake-out miles on it, mount some 43mm Panaracer Gravelking SK tyres, slap on some bags, a second computer, spare battery, and load the bike with as much grub as you can carry, and a vest. The bike has to look somewhat svelte, so overloading is to be avoided.
  4. Have a ton of fun. This happened, and for most of the ride, JOM rode with a Gainesville-area mini-peloton, consisting of friends Todd, Amy (National MTB Champ in 2021!!!), Kristy, and Lincoln. Amy and Kristy were first-timers to the 200-mile club, whilst Lincoln’s effort was his first 200 miler on mixed surfaces. Chapeau!
king's road coast to coast
Todd, one of the Gainesville posse
king's road coast to coast
Amy, Kristy, & Lincoln, more Gainesville posse

During our journey, our group and everyone else along for the ride passed through or near the towns of:

  • Yankeetown
  • Inglis
  • Gainesville
  • Melrose
  • Palatka
  • Flagler Beach
king's road coast to coast
Plenty of riders took on this challenge
king's road coast to coast
Chris, fellow bush basher from Orlando
king's road coast to coast
Fellow adventurer Neil, we’ve attended many of the same events
king's road coast to coast
Just 300k’s to ride, d’oh!
king's road coast to coast
A Water Crossing or Two
king's road coast to coast
Doug of Gainesville, 200 miles on Single Speed
king's road coast to coast
Welcome to Hawthorne, Florida
king's road coast to coast
JOM’s steed, the FiftyOne Bikes Assassin
king's road coast to coast
KickStart, the drink of Champions 🙂
king's road coast to coast
The Ghost Brick Highway, at night time
king's road coast to coast
Knackered. The End!

Additional Photos

Important: Please Credit Gravel Cyclist if you use any of these photos.

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