It does have the feel of an interstate but it’s really just a local state road with big ideas-- one day connecting New Smyrna Beach all the way to the Volusia County seat at Deland. The good news is you can enjoy the same smooth ride on broad marked shoulders of a brand new stretch as the one you’re just coming off. Only here it’s divided 4-lane and no one’s in anyone’s way. Bad news is you’re now travelling on a 65-mph speedway and the passing (light) traffic is really opening up. So crank up the music and plan to strap in for a short five-mile speedrun of your own east to I-95.

As mentioned previously you’re sure to notice running alongside you on the other side of the drainage ditch a grass track that's ten feet wide, elevated & graded --and somehow incomprehensibly idle. It does make you wonder: holding out for nothing more than a layer of pavement to become our first off-road leg for Bike to Beach?

Meantime, if you despair of all that whizzing there’s a small two-lane road just north and running parallel into New Smyrna Beach. Stay on SR-415 instead of turning right onto SR-44 and take your first right turn onto CR-4118. Bike Florida/Odessy 2001 used this road to good advantage on its westbound NSB-Deland leg. It’s a quieter ride but as with all detours you’ll pay for it in extra miles at the other end particularly if you’re continuing on south to the National Seashore.