# Riding in the keys???



## audibletruth (Nov 29, 2006)

Going to Islamorada in Feb for a week and want to bring my bike. I can put it on the plane for $80. Maybe UPS??? Anyway, just wanted to see if anyone who has been cycling there before could give me some advice. Not sure what riding the bridges will be like and also the wind?!? Thanks for all the info, Nick.


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## triple b (Jan 11, 2006)

*Riding in Islamorada*

I hope your insurance is paid up. I don't recommend riding on route 1, the best I remember there are no shoulders and the traffic is brutal.
Leave the bike home and spend some time in the Tiki Hut. The Rum drinks will tear you up.
There is also Big Dick and the Extenders bar up the street.

It's been a couple of years since I have been, I don't think things have changed much.

ENJOY!


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## BizkitShooter (Dec 26, 2005)

I lived in Key West for four years back in the 80's. Riding a bike there for any other reason than to get from one bar to another 50 feet away is too dangerous to consider. For all intents and purposes there is only one road, US 1, and it is solid cars all the time and there is no shoulder. If you get off US 1 into one of the Keys, then you will find some quiet streets. But all you will need there is a single speed cruiser to get from one bar to the next. 

If you are looking for some stuff to do, you can go scuba diving but be sure to take plenty of beer. Then there is bar hopping. There seems to be a bar for every man, woman and child on the island so you could drink one beer at a bar then move to the next bar doing this all day, every day for a week and never make it more than 100 yards from your hotel. Then there is hanging out on the beach with some beers. If you get tired of solid ground you can always go out on a boat with some beers and do some fishing and ya know having some beers. 

I loved Key West, what I remember of it anyway.


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## cyclinrookie (Mar 20, 2006)

*Keys SUCK for riding*

I live here in Miami and go down to the Keys all the time. I have never even considered riding the keys. Too many cars and drunk drivers. The shoulders are narrow and full of debris (glass, trash, and rocks). I always hear about rides they have down there but never have participated.

Unfortunately, they closed down the world reknowned Tiki Bar. They are going to start building condominiums on that land.  No more rum runners and Memorial Day Weekend debaucharies in the sand bar.


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## zosocane (Aug 29, 2004)

I live in MIami. The only decent road bike riding in the "Keys" is Card Sound Road, which technically isn't even the Keys -- basically north of Key Largo. Ditto what everyone else has written -- there's one road (U.S. 1), and the congestion of cars is a mess. Don't bother bringing your bike unless you can ride the Card Sound area.


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## ibhim (Oct 28, 2002)

I am from Orlando and saw in State brochure format the Key West Heritage Trail. Here is the link to the same info: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/gwt/state/keystrail/default.htm

I was all excited as a ride over that water would be phenominal. Unfortunately, looks like the excitement is pre-mature per the post by those in Miami. Appears to be more of a pipedream than a trail. Even the .pdf map on that link shows most as "projected" rather than finished.

Haven driven US 1 would be VERY hesitant to bike that stretch. 

Out of curiosity, when finished are they making bike lanes on US 1, or are they converting the rail line that ran parallel to US 1?


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