Day 28: Saturday, October 19, 2013

61 miles from Marathon, FL to Key West FL. The sky was beautiful with the full moon and light pink tinges when we left.  We could see a huge storm in the distance as we pedaled south.  The rain started as we were going across seven-mile bridge, but we missed the bulk of it.  After that, the skies cleared we had smooth sailing.  We reached the southern-most marker in Key West and had to wait in line for about 30 minutes for a photo opportunity.  Having ridden over 1100 miles to get there, we didn’t mind. We’ve had a great trip and thank you all for sharing it with us.

Rainbow following storm on seven-mile bridge

Day 27: Friday, October 18, 2013

Chilling at the Key Largo Visitor Center

74 miles from Florida City to MM 59.5, Grassy Key in Marathon, FL.  We had a near perfect ride today.  Most of it was on a dedicated walking/bicycling trail.  The trail is in various states of condition ranging from completely torn up to brand new.  The new portion was beautiful and was even being cleaned by a huge blower when we bicycled on it. Once the trail is finished in the areas of construction, it will be fabulous. We have to cross 32 bridges to get to Key West.  I am not sure how many we crossed today, but two of them had dedicated bike lanes.  It was a pleasure to bicycle across them.  We started by bicycling through Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge.  We didn’t see any crocodiles but saw several large lizards. We haven’t been able to get a picture of them because they move way too fast.  We expect to get to Key West tomorrow.

The Travelodge we stayed at had this cute mural

The biggest hill we have seen in FL! Bridge going over Card Sound

 

Wouldn't it be nice if all bridges had dedicated bicycle lanes?

Day 26: Thursday, October 17, 2013

63 miles from Dania Beach, FL to Florida City, FL.  We got an early start today because we knew it would be hot.  We ended up bicycling through Miami during rush hour so we were concentrating pretty hard on the road and not able to really see the sights around us.  We stopped to eat and realized it was only 10:30 but the small place we chose was open.  We had beef arepas and I had 2 eggs with mine.  I didn’t even need to eat my PB&J today.  Our waiter, George, was a friendly young Columbian who likes to bicycle.  We had a fun time speaking with him and he took a great photo of us.  We rode through miles and miles of palm tree farms and around Homestead-Miami Speedway, a huge facility.   We passed 1000 miles today!

Sunrise as we started our ride

Yachts in the front yard!