The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

Parrotheads In Margaritaville

January 19th to January 27th

Ride Director: George Raney
Ride Co-Director: Jim Kervick
Report by: Bob Simon

22 Parrotheads joined ride Leaders George and Jim for a bicycle tour of the Florida Keys.  A few of the riders had done the ride before, but for most of us it was the first time riding in the Keys. Once you get out of the Miami area, the ride is pretty much a straight shot down Highway 1 to Key West.  We rode 50 miles per day, taking 3 days to get from Miami to Key West, and 3 days to get back to Miami. We had a day off in Key West exploring the sights.

For much of the route there are 2 paths that cyclists can use, the shoulder of highway 1 or a separate bike path.  Highway 1 has been repaired since hurricane Irma, but the separate bike path still has some damage, and parts of it are either closed or non-existent. A few times when riding on the separate bike path it would unexpectedly end.  The ride is almost absolutely flat except that some of the bridges have a high part to allow larger boats to go underneath.

Riding from Miami to Key West, the Miami stoplights and the morning rain slowed us down getting out of the Miami area.  After that the wind was behind us all 3 days, so we made record time on those days. 

On the way back to Miami we had a combination of strong headwinds and cross winds. That made riding a challenge, and the cross winds made some of the bridge crossings a white knuckle experience.  The winds seemed much stronger up on the bridges. In addition we had rain and cold weather on the last day of riding.

Our flat tire king was Steve Lower with a total of 6 flats.  Our highest scoring flat tire couple was Art Lindeman and Sue Perin with 3 flats each.   Jerry Hefele got a flat at the worst location, at the top of the 7 mile bridge.

Along the ride we saw Iguanas, several kinds of birds and some great mailboxes (Dolphin, Manatee, Flamingo etc).  A few of the cyclists spotted some crocodiles near Alabama Jacks, the iconic bar and grill where many of us stopped for lunch.  Some people spent time at nature centers and preserves along the way.  The hotels in the Keys were quite nice. 

Each night at happy hour, Jim would tell us a parrot joke, except for the last night when it was up to us to tell the parrot jokes.  Most of the jokes from the group were non-parrot jokes with a few words added or changed to make them parrot jokes.  There were prizes given for the best jokes.  On some of the evenings George wore his kilt to the happy hour and then out to dinner.

We really enjoyed all the people on the trip.  Everyone was friendly and willing to help out lending a tube or a tire or help with a repair. It was a great group of people and we all felt like we had made lots of new friends.