Five of us rode from Key Largo to Key West in February.
If you’re talking about a serious touring-type ride, the ride TO Key West was enjoyable (the operative word is FEBRUARY).
If you want to do serious riding, Key West isn’t where you want to be. If you want to putz around on a rented cruiser or a beater bike to keep from having to find a parking spot in a tiny town that is in total gridlock, then Key West is your spot. Bikes, mopeds and other small transportation vehicles are readily available. (The bikes even come with D-cell flashlights strapped to the handlebars for night riding. Probably to give the drunks something to aim at.) It’s a tourist town/Bourbon Street wannabe.
There is ample shoulder, bike lane or bike path the whole 106 miles, except for a few hundred yards at Bahia Honda. Even though the shoulder is fairly narrow and traffic is running 45 to 65 mph, I never had a close brush. There is enough utility biking in the keys that the local motorists are very bike-aware. A car would pull out onto the bike lane to get on the road, see us, then back up to clear the way. Most of the time they’d give us a friendly wave or a greeting.
We encountered our first certifiable a-hole in 106 miles about 100 yards into Key West: a Hummer full of college kids who deliberately pulled out to block the bike lane just as I approached them.
My Keys advice in June would follow your N’awlins advice: find a cool spot and hunker down. It was a hot ride in FEBRUARY. It would be a killer in the summertime. I had a couple of friends who rode it in July. Took ‘em four days with all the stops they made to jump in the water to cool off.
In 1980, I spent a month in Key West as a photographer covering the Cuban Boatlift. Like I’ve posted before, the sun in Key West is exactly twice as bright as it is in West Palm Beach, FL. By light meter reading, the sun in West Palm Beach is twice as bright as the sun in southern Ohio. Use your sunblock accordingly.
If you want more details about the Keys ride, lemme know. (By the way, the beaches in Key West ain’t all that great.)
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5 responses so far ↓
1 Tina
// Oct 23, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Your page was referred to me by Adventure Cycling on questions I had related to riding Key West to Key Largo. She said you rode in 2001. We want to do this in Feb 2010. Since you rode in 2001 I was wondering if anything has changed (for the worst). Is is it still a nice ride with mostly bike paths? We have gotten some mixed reviews on other websites.
2 Ken Steinhoff
// Oct 23, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Tina,
Key Largo to Key West is on my list of places to revisit, hopefully before 2010. I’ve been waiting for the temperatures to get reasonable.
When we rode it, there were a few segments with separate bike paths, which are nice because they isolate you from the constant roar of traffic. Since then, I’ve been told that more have been added.
The whole route from Key Largo to Key West has good shoulders, except for a short stretch that is easily sprinted.
It’s not my favorite ride, but it’s one that everyone should do just to say they did it.
I’ll probably start about 20 miles or so south of Key Largo when I do it next time. I wanted to get in a century on that first ride, but the area around Key Largo is like riding through strip malls with all the ugliness.
Seven Mile Bridge and some of the others are well worth the ride.
Keep in touch. I’ll try try to get you an update.
3 Andy
// Dec 15, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Bourbon street wannabe?!
There’s no place on earth like Key West… just get off Duval St.
4 Bradley Rouse
// Feb 15, 2010 at 1:16 am
Tina,
My father, brother and I are doing the ride in Feb. for the second year…Leaving on Wed…..have a great adventure!
5 Ken Steinhoff
// Feb 15, 2010 at 2:07 pm
I was planing on doing a Keys Ride update this year, but I’m not sure I’m going to be able to sneak it in before it gets too hot.
I’d love to post a ride report and some pictures from your trip if you want to send me something.
Have a good ride – take lots of sunscreen.
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