When invited to a wedding in Key West I immediately knew the best way to get there… by bike! It would take at least a week and a half to pull the full ride, having a job and modern day obligations, that is hard to fit in. So I phoned my bud Andy and we came up with a better hybrid idea… fly to Miami, meet at the airport, assemble our bikes in the parking lot, and ride south through the keys.
Andy chose to travel lightly via backpack.
This is it.
Packed lightly… wedding attire, spare t-shirt, toothbrush, cell charger, sunglasses, and the clothes on my back. Those “touring” bikes with giant bags hanging off every tube for short trips in populated areas are the cycling equivalent to a giant Winnebago towing an SUV on the way to the campground.
Locals had some pretty leisurely rides, I would to if I lived in paradise… wait, I do.
The views were amazing, at times it felt like we were in the middle of the ocean stranded on an island… that would be nice. At one point Andy is changing a flat a couple miles out on a bridge, we both look over the rail and a massive green sea turtle crests out of the water, looks at us for a moment, then crested back into the depths. There was no shortage of motivation for the ride.
If you have been to and partied in Key West, you already know it is completely insane. If you haven’t been, you should fix that.
-Besides the distractions of the excessive tourism, the keys are simply put… beautiful. Enjoy the view, wherever you might be.
