Day 7: Knights Key to Key West

February 9, 2015

"The afternoons are getting awfully hot. Let's leave early, so we can cycle when it's cooler", said Dodie. "OK, what time is it now? 9 p.m. ? So, let's get up at 4:00 a.m. for 7 hours of sleep."

This simple idea and arithmetic calculation led to more excitement than we had been counting on in this simple circle of Vacationland. Four factors that were not in the original discussion entered, to make the situation livelier. First off, at 4:00 a.m. it was raining. (So much for my bragging yesterday that in this climate we could just sleep under a tree). And, as time passed, the rain got heavier. Next, it was dark (we could have predicted that!). And we were perched just at the start of the the Seven Mile Bridge. Like all bridges, it is narrow, and offers no where to hide if you need shelter, or are just generally terrified. Finally, night is when the big rigs seem to choose as the time to barrel down to Key West.

So pretty soon here we were out in the middle of the water on the Seven Mile, with pouring rain and giant trucks pounding by in the dark. Just another day in paradise, they say down here.

Eventually this little test of guts and concentration came to an end, and we "washed up" at a Winn Dixie, where we celebrated with a donut. It might even have been a Krispy Kreme, but I can't say. Dodie handed it to me and I inhaled it much like an Aspirin. While I was sitting outside the Winn Dixie a lady came up, with the Usual Questions. She was very concerned about safety for our ride, and I foolishly mentioned the night ride just completed. This freaked the lady out and she was busy berating me when Dodie came along. I was glad that Dodie then led the lady away, explaining all along that we are actually more visible with our flashing lights in the dark, that traffic is less at night, and so forth.

That Winn Dixie was on Big Pine Key, which is the home of the endangered Key Deer. They are little. The shoulder height of Key deer is between 24-32 inches. Does weigh 45 to 65 pounds while bucks weigh 55 to 80. We didn't see one, which is strange because a sign said that 163 got killed (presumably on the road) last year.

Much of the road is fenced, but still lots of deer get killed

The road from our point of view was quite fine, with an available shoulder or bike path always somewhere to be found. There was a frustrating aspect, though, as the dedicated bike path both appeared and disappeared, and switched sides of the road without notice. So often we would be travelling on the paved shoulder and would suddenly see the bike path over on the other side.

Lots of very nice bikeways, but signage and continuity is lacking.

The bike path development also varied in quality, but sometimes it was wide and luxurious, and at a fair distance from the highway. It was on one of these sections, on Summerland Key, that we came upon one of our favourite things. It was trail side signage inviting cyclists over to a bakery. The bakery was called the Sugarloaf Food Company and it featured above all actual quality product! For example, we found a raisin/walnut bread that was dense and chewy. They also had Key Lime pie, Their version looked different from the ones we have commonly seen and this would have been a good time for some research. Unfortunately, the price was now $6.50 per piece and we passed again.

We love to see businesses catring to and benefitting from cyclists

Dodie often accuses me of riding with my head down. She questions how I can see anything that way. Well yes, I may miss some birds flying by, but I do see stuff nonetheless. Usually it is trinkets by the roadside. For example, I used to pick up all BIC lighters, until Dodie convinced me that they never ever work (That's why they got thrown to the road). Still, I do like cell phones and mp3 players. They too never work, but I always hope I will find a good battery or SD card.

So it was that today I picked up an iPhone. To my delight it was not smashed, and in fact was still working. You just can't win, though. There was no battery or SD card in this for me. First of all, Apple is too lame to allow SD cards in their devices. But more to the point, with the phone working, I could uncover who its owner was. So I phoned the owner's Mom in Georgia, from the Contacts. We have arranged a rendez-vous with Dad, in Islamorada, when we pass back through in three or four days. Oh well.

As we approached Key West, we were entertained by low flying fighter jets out of the Naval Air Station. They were repeatedly taking off and landing, with a satisfying screaming of engines. I guess that would be less satisfying if we lived here and listened to them day after day!

We had a much easier time finding Leo's Campground this time than we had had a year ago. For one thing, it was not dark. And for another, we are much more experienced with the GPS. One surprise was that we were again greeted by Michel and Gaetane, the couple from Quebec City that we had met here a year ago. Like us, they are again here as part of a circuit of Florida, though they are using a minivan.

Our campsite is again by the small waterway. Unlike last year, we are not looking for gators in it. Now we know where and when we will see the gators.

Tomorrow we will nip in to downtown for a quick spin (and maybe look for that bakery we thought we saw last time). After that, incredibly, we will slog back up the chain of keys, that we just slogged down. How Crazyguy is that?

Our spot by the water at Leo's in Key West

Michel and Gaetane remembered us from last year.

Today's ride: 71 km (44 miles)
Total: 300 km (186 miles)

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