Day 5

Day #5: Key Largo to Cutler Ridge (50.2 miles - not a typo)

This morning started off great.  We were coming off of a nice relaxing day off, and there was a good bike path along the road.  About 4 miles in though, my dad told me to stop.  I thought he was going to take a picture of me or something, but instead he told me he had a flat tire. 

We pulled over into a shady area and got to work.  Everything was going pretty well; we took the wheel off, took the tire off, found the sharp pieces embedded in the tire which had punctured the inner tube, etc. But then, when we unfolded a new inner tube to replace the flat one, my dad realized that it wasn’t the right size.  We checked the other spare ones, but they were all either too small or too big.  This forced us to use the patch kit on the inner tube with a hole in it, but it was scary because if that didn’t work there was really nothing else we could do.  Luckily, the patch worked, and held up through the rest of what turned out to be a long day.  We hope to get the right size inner tubes tomorrow.

Once we went about 5 more miles, we stopped at a gas station with a Circle K convenience store.  We knew this would be the last place for about 16 miles so we wanted to fill our water bottles.  The Circle K’s advertise their Polar Pop.  It’s basically a soda machine with lots of options, and any size costs 79 cents.  So I got a large cup (44 fl oz) and filled it with ice and powerade.  Then me and my dad filled up 2 water bottles from that, and still had some left over.  79 cents really went a long way!

After that we had a pretty long stretch on the intercostal highway, before we started to see signs of civilization like Cracker Barrel and Krispy Kreme. 

We decided we were going to stop for donuts in 1.5 miles, but then we realized that our maps had us turning a little bit before the Krispy Kreme’s.  So we followed the map, turned, I guess thinking we’d hit more places, and ended up in the middle of nowhere. Having just watched The Field of Dreams, it kind of felt like we were in Iowa.

We were not lost, but we were definitely off the beaten path.  Looking back on it, it was beautiful.  However, we were not in the right mindset to appreciate it.  We were hot, there was no shade on this path, the only thing we could see were palm tree nurseries, and we were like 10 miles away from civilization. 

Those 10 miles were painful.  Luckily towards the end some nice bikers told us about a restaurant in the area (still totally the middle of nowhere) so we had somewhere to sit and relax for a while.  The bad news was that even though we had already gone 45 miles (already pushing it) there wasn’t a hotel for 5 more miles.  So, while I thought maybe one of these days we would try and do 40 miles instead of 30, today we ended up doing over 50. 

I really appreciated the pool today, and my bed at the La Quinta Inn feels like heaven.  If I am able to move in the morning, we hope to make it to the Holy Land – Miami Beach, because we aren’t too far (only like 25 miles- I guess that’s nothing compared to today).

Thanks for coming along for the ride!

Day 4

Day #4: Islamorada-Key Largo (17.8 miles)

I never thought I’d say “Oh, it’s only 18 miles”.  However when deciding where to stay for the weekend, that’s exactly what I said.  We “only” biked 18 miles today, so we could spend the weekend in Key Largo. 

Unfortunately though, it was not the nicest ride.  For a large portion, there were sidewalks.  However, most of the sidewalks said “sidewalk closed.”  We rode on them anyway because there was no shoulder to go on.  I would consider this my first experience with mountain biking.  It was flat, of course, but these sidewalks were clearly closed for a reason.  They were extremely bumpy and rocky.  It was painful. 

However, as I said, the ride was only 18 miles, so it wasn’t that bad. 

After reaching our hotel we were able to walk (needed a break from biking) to a waffle house.  I’ve been hearing about waffle house nonstop for the past 3 years, so I definitely had to try it.  I can’t say I appreciate it as much as my dad and brother, but it was pretty good.

Back at the hotel we did some much needed laundry, and then wanted to go to the supermarket to get some food for tonight and tomorrow.  We called a taxi to take us there, and were very surprised when a stretch Cadillac (circa 1970’s) pulled up to the hotel.  Sure, during the day we are pedaling in 90 degree heat with everything we own on the back of our bikes.  But when we go to the supermarket, only the best will do. 

On the way back, we were picked up by a minivan, which had 370,000 miles on it.  That’s pretty impressive!

We look forward to relaxing tomorrow, by the pool and marina.  Have a great weekend!

Thanks for coming along for the ride!

Day 3

Day #3: Marathon-Islamorada (34.3 miles, 88 degrees)

We left Marathon, Florida this morning close to 8 am, and headed north on the Overseas Highway.  We stopped to get some Gatorade at a gas station.  Someone who could obviously tell we were really hot and sweaty, suggested to my dad that we go to the beer room in the back.  My dad laughed and thanked the guy, thinking he was suggesting that we go drink a beer, even though it was probably around 9 am.  When we walked towards the back of the store though, we saw that there was a walk in fridge, strictly for beer.  The man was right, it was a great way to cool off. 

We continued on our way, stopping every couple of miles for water and to enjoy the view.  

While I’m not sure who was the first person to say “we’ll cross that bridge when we get there”, that has been the theme while biking in The Keys.  We went over a ton of small bridges today.  

Most were pretty flat, but at one point we were approaching a bridge which looked like a really big hill.  

Then we noticed a bike path across the street, possibly leading to an older bridge on the side which is now only open to bikes (like many of the other bridges).  I was really praying for that bridge to work out, because I was tired and hot and did not want to go up a steep incline.  I sent my dad to scout it out, and the good news was that there was an old pedestrian bridge on the side of the newer steep bridge.  Unfortunately though, that bridge ended halfway to the other side.  So unless we wanted to swim half way, we needed to go up the hill, but it really wasn’t as bad as it looked.

We decided we were going to stay somewhere in Islamorada for the night.  Although it’s a beautiful place we decided we could never live here since we can’t pronounce that name (Islamorada) the same way twice.    A little while after seeing the first sign for Islamorada, we realized that although we were drinking a lot, all we had eaten for the day was some Oreos and a bag of chips (Lays Lattice Cut Aged Cheddar & Black Pepper Chips),

These are so good!

and we were really hungry.  Luckily, about a mile away was Midway Café.  We made it halfway to Miami! Located at the midway point between Key West and Miami (80 mile marker), this place was really amazing.  Of course, I had just been biking in 88 degree weather for thirty something miles.  I probably would’ve thought anything was good.  However, this place really was an exceptional café and bakery.  They had really good chocolate chip cookies, and they heated them up so the chocolate chips were all melty.  What more could you want?

While we were sitting enjoying the Midway Café, we found ourselves a hotel for the night.  We biked a few more miles, checked in, went to the beach and pool, and relaxed.  Looking back, most of our day was spent on bike paths along the water, with an occasional bridge sprinkled in. 

Were looking forward to a short ride tomorrow (its so painful to move) so we can spend the weekend in Key Largo – not a bad place to hang out.

Thanks for coming along for the ride!

Day 2

Day #2: Sugarloaf Key- Marathon 33.6 miles (89 degrees, feels like 102)

We started our day at 8am, which is apparently considered late. It was really hot and we had to stop frequently for water. 

We hadn't really eaten breakfast, so we had some protein bars on one of our breaks. Then, shortly after we began moving again on one of the bike paths, we saw a handwritten sign saying "Coffee, Expresso, Bakery." 

Obviously, we had to turn and see what it was.  The good Lord was clearly answering our prayers -a flat beautiful bike path complete with coffee and freshly baked pastries. Down a little dirt path, was Sugarloaf Food Company. This place was a hidden gem- great air conditioning, and amazing brownies and cookies.  After a nice break there, we continued on our way. 

Holy Cannoli!

(makin new friends)

We passed over a lot of little bridges. For some there were bike lanes, and on others we had to ride on the shoulder. We took a nice stop at a Shell station for some Powerade and chips, knowing that in a few miles we'd be hitting the 7 mile bridge. 

(getting ready for the 7 mile bridge)

We didn't really know what to expect from the 7 mile bridge, aside from the fact that it's 7 miles. My dad had heard that the bridge was shaped like a mountain  so I was expecting about 3 and a half miles of gradual uphill, and 3 and a half miles down. However, as we got closer to the bridge and could see it in the distance, we could tell that the bridge looked pretty flat, except for one really big hill right in the middle. 

The closer we got to the bridge, the more nervous I got, and the stronger the headwinds got, making it harder to move forward. When we were almost at the bridge there was a road closed sign on the shoulder, which is not something you like to see, but luckily we were able to go around it. 

On our side, there were cars at a standstill, which made me wonder  about the traffic on the bridge. However, a police officer informed us that the bridge was closed to cars for a few minutes so someone could take pictures for a catalog. For the first mile, it was just us on the road which was nice. When the cars were allowed back on the bridge it was fine, only a little scary when big trucks went by. 

Around the third mile of the bridge we hit the hill, which was definitely not pleasant, especially with the headwinds, but not as bad as I had worried it would be. Thankfully, right after the 7 mile bridge we hit Marathon, Florida where we would be staying for the night.  We sat at a beachside restaurant for a few hours, tried a Key West Beer, before biking a few more miles to our hotel for the night. 

We had pretty low expectations for the Banana Bay resort, mostly because it had like 50 excellent tripadivsir reviews, and around 80 terrible. Once again, we were pleasantly surprised. There's a huge pool, wifi, and a clean, air conditioned room. We have no complaints. 

While traveling on a bike you see a lot of strange things on the roads. Some of the strange things we both noticed today was a metal fork, one sneaker, a fishing net, a pizza crust, a dead crab and many iguanas running out of our way.

Congratulations to our friends Jordana and Ari on their engagement.  Holy Cannoli this is really great news!

Get well soon to our great friend Dovi. We look forward to weed whacking and eating ice cream together soon!

Thanks for riding with us!!!