The Springers at the End of the Biking Road

Joan's View

Today was our last day of biking and it turned out to be 
quite a day. We left our hotel and within 3 miles we were on the 7 mile bridge. Nothing but bridge in front and behind us. Tony was in heaven, but I only let him stop once on the bridge to take pictures. No stopping is allowed on the bridge, but thankfully the sheriff that passed us did not slow down. Traffic was moving swiftly on the bridge while Tony expertly navigated the various debris littering the bike lane. This is a good time to mention that we did not have 1 flat on the entire trip!

We continued on through what seemed like dozens of more smaller bridges all with beautiful views of bright shades of blue and green water. We took a mini side trip about 8 miles to see if we could spot some Key Deer (the small endangered deer of the Keys) and stopped at Blue Hole for a look at the wildlife there. Soon after we took a break for lunch in Big Pine. Tony had a fascinating chat with a girl who approached him while he was waiting outside the visitor center in a shopping center.  She asked if we had been outside of Mount Sinai hospital in Miami on Friday. Unbelievable, but, yes, we did ride through there and she was taking her Mom to the hospital and stopped to let us pass. She had recognized out bike. She was excited to go home and tell her Mom.

Back on the road, we went over bridge after bridge connecting the islands of the Keys. About 3 miles from the Springers on a 4 lane divided section of Route 1, like an interstate, there was road construction and the bike lane disappeared. We got off the bike and crossed to the other side of the road. We crossed back again looking for a lane, then crossed again until we found a narrow bike path. 











As the path continued on the bridge, it got too narrow, actually a sidewalk, for our bike so we had to walk it over the mile plus bridge . At the other side the bike path turned and went under the highway and back up the other side.  It was a relief to see the bike path pickup again so that we could ride on it.  




Another mile or so and we made our last bike stop of the trip at the Springers. Lynne, Steve, Stephanie, Jordan and his dog, Loomis, were there by the pool to greet us.








The Springers kindly welcomed us with a great room, a great meal (Tony even liked Lynne's brussel sprouts) and took us to Sloppy Joe's, the bar where Jordan works on Duval St. Jordan was a classmate of our daughter, Cara, and since we haven't seen him in a long time, it was good to see him in action although his arm is temporarily in a sling. The Springers then took us to Captain Tony's.



FYI, we had been to Key West years ago and did mile marker 0 and Margaritaville so those stops aren't on this trip in case you are wondering.

Tony's Side Notes

Yes, the seven mile bridge was so cool to ride your bike across. I added a couple of additional pictures for some of my geeky friends. There aren't that many of them, but who cares. The bridge along the side that you see was the old Rt 1 bridge and I was thinking it might be cooler to take that one. But when we got to the point where the picture below shows where they made a break for boats to get through, we would of had to turn back after 3.5 miles in. 

I think that is too cool to go this far without a flat tire and for you all out there that followed the TonyChasingWade blog, we had 22 flats. Once again it must have been Wade's bad luck and not me. Just thought I would mention that.

What a coincidence that when I was waiting on Joan in some random shopping center off the beaten path, some 150 miles from Miami, that a random person would come up and tell me she saw us in Miami. I thought she was just coming up to tell me how good I look in spandex, I hear that all the time. Seriously, that tandem provided for many conversations with people coming up to us to just talk about it and ask questions. Definitely something many people thought was interesting. Well, it is late and time for bed.

An Easy Sunday Ride

Tony's View

The day started out by visiting with Mike and Davida Eley. Joan thought that since we got up early we should try to see one more time if they were home. We knocked on their door a couple of times and no answer. Then as I was heading to the carport to take a picture of their Harley to text to Craig and ask if that was going to be his inheritance, Mike came down the stairs and asked who we were. Lucky for us he claimed Craig. We had a great time visiting for an hour or so. The funny thing is if you closed your eyes you would swear you were talking to Craig. 
We headed out from there and a few miles down the road we saw this giant lobster, so we had to stop and take a picture. I noticed that they had Cuban coffee and at one of the stops the other day, a lady told me before I leave the area I had to try some. Cuban coffee is an expresso with lots of sugar, I was ready to pedal after one. If that wasn't enough sugar I threw in a piece of key lime pie. Don't worry we worked it off.

From there we headed to another tourist trap that was interesting. It was called Hungry Tarpon at Robbie's. You go there and buy fish to feed to these big Tarpon fish. We just watched others feed the Tarpon, but there were some really big fish. We took pictures of the pelicans that were standing around begging for fish. One of them really liked Joan and wanted to get a picture with her. The other picture was so cute. The kids had fish to feed the tarpon fish but the pelicans hung around like dogs begging for food. The kids didn't know what to do. 

After leaving there we were cruising along and went over a bridge 2.4 miles long. Yea, I know only an engineer would measure the length of a bridge. I think it is just preparation for our seven mile bridge ride tomorrow. Joan was glad that it had a 4 foot shoulder for us to ride on. 
From here we went to one of the best beaches in the Keys according to Mike and Davida Eley, Sombrero Beach. This was something we didn't know, that the beaches aren't very good on the Keys. We spent time there talking to two older guys about the area. Next, we headed to our hotel called the Black Fin, a reasonably priced hotel for the Keys. The picture is one from the hotel marina showing what it looked like at sunset. Stats for the day: 46.5 miles at 15.9mph. We had a 10mph tailwind. It was nice. Ride time 2 hours and 55 minutes and 4 hours 15 minutes. Spent a lot of time just visiting and checking things out today. It was fun.

Joan's Side Note

I got a roller coaster ride today coming into Marathon!  We rode for a long stretch on a smooth bike path through this thick mangrove type region until we got closer to Marathon and the nature filled path ended. The street didn't have much room for bikes so Tony used the so-called remaining bike route which is more like a wide sidewalk. The bike route frequently goes up to the bike path and down where there is a street or driveway, but added to that are the white bumpy lines at each entrance along with the raised crossing dots. I even put my arms up over an extreme up and down section.  I'm thinking the front seat of the tandem gets the real thrill of the ride just like a roller coaster!

All Sunshine Saturday to Islamorada

Joan's View

We followed the stop and go bike path from yesterday along the dedicated bus road for about 12 more miles this morning.  On Route 1 we, along with what seemed like all of the rest of the travelers, stopped for one last potty break at the last gas station before there is nothing for miles but highway along the Everglades National Park.  About 20 miles in, eagle eye Tony spotted our first alligator or crocodile of the trip so we stopped the bike to get a picture of it through the fence.  Of course, cars started pulling over as well because they knew we had seen something.

In Key Largo, we took a lunch break at Evelyns and once again were able to eat outside near the bike. Tony had a cowboy burger that he had to smash down in order to bite from it.

Tony also found another rest spot since we are officially in the Keys    
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After another stretch of highway and bridges, we arrived in Islamorada and found our hotel, the Conch On Inn Hotel. It is a small family owned place and the owners kindly showed us the manatees in the inlet around their back patio.  We took tons of pictures and I even reach down to touch one.  

                                           
We tore ourselves away from the manatees to get cleaned up and walk to nearby mass at San Pedro Church. Outside the church they had a walking rosary made from landscape stones.
Dinner tonight was at Marker 88 per Craig Eley's recommendation. We had to walk about 1-1/2 miles the other direction to get there so Tony was giving Craig a hard time via text whether it was really worth it, but thanks Craig, because I loved my Alligator Reef salad! (no alligators were harmed in making it). In addition, it was a beautiful walk back to the room and stars galore were visible.

Tony's Side Notes

Today was wild life day. It was so cool to see the manatees. There were eight of them in the hotel's little bay. Before church we went to Craig Eley's Dad's house, but we found this sign on his front door. It says "Welcome Friends, Relatives by Appointment." I guess since we know Craig we are considered relatives not friends. Therefore his Dad wasn't home. His place was pretty cool, though. Craig also told us that across from our motel hidden behind all the trees, Jimmy Johnson, the ex Cowboys coach lives there. 

When we were cruising on Rt. 1 we were going 17 to 19mph. We went 51 miles, averaging 15.8mph. Good stats day.

Mastering the Miami Maze

Tony's View

Today was a very interesting day. We rode 57 miles, averaging 13.8mph, ride time 4 hours and 6 minutes, with stopped time of 3 hours and 31 minutes. We had so much stopped time because of the many traffic lights, no real rest time. It was a lot of stopping and starting which got tiring. We started out leaving Fort Lauderdale weaving through their roads trying to avoid major roads. After that, we ended up in Hollywood Beach and rode on the boardwalk for over two miles, weaving in and out of people, but it is one of the coolest boardwalks we have ever seen. One of the places was called "Nicks" so we had to stop and get a picture. We then headed into Miami and the traffic was very busy. There were very few bike lanes, so in the heavy traffic we had to own the lane. Owning means driving in the middle of the outside lane so traffic can't pass. When going through the Miami Beach area there were high rises on both sides. It was cool to see, but very intense. After this we spent 2 miles plus on interstate 295 with cars passing us over 70mph. This made Joan very nervous with them zipping by. We were now in some shady Miami areas so we just kept moving. We eventually, after working our way through the street maze, ended up on a bike path for the last 25 miles. This bike path followed under their Metrorail train which is elevated on a bridge. We have a picture of this we will share it along with a few other pictures when wifi is better, notice the wifi is better at next place.

After following and weaving through this bike path we came across our lunch destination, called "Cara Jo."  It was an excellent place just opening as you can see in the picture.

(Note the "Nick & Cara" theme in today's blog) After a while the Metrorail turned into a dedicated roadway for the bus route, and the bike path followed it on the side. We finally got to our destination in Cutler Bay at the LaQuinta Inn. Dinner was good tonight at a Peruvian restaurant.  

We will get back on the bike path for a few more miles tomorrow. It is called the Miami Dade bike path.

Joan's Side Note

Definitely a wild ride today. As far as those darn bridges go, we went over our first all concrete draw bridge and it had a dedicated bike path! Nice!

Tony did an amazing job navigating through the hectic streets of Miami Beach and Miami especially considering his Garmin with the preplanned route sort of went haywire. I'm especially grateful for the drivers that stopped to let us cross at certain points of the trip today. It was a more mentally taxing than physically tiring day just because we had to constantly be aware of the traffic moving in all different directions around us. I'm thankful to be at today's destination!

It's a Throwback Thursday for Tony in Fort Lauderdale 

Joan's View

Fort Lauderdale is a rest day and I so took advantage of it and slept in! Tony did a nice job again of finding us an apartment style room for the stop here in Fort Lauderdale. Once we got moving, we began the day with maintenance. I stayed at the nearby laundry mat while Tony walked to Publix for food. I gotta say the attendant at the laundry mat was really nice and loaned me quarters until Tony got back since I didn't have any small bills for the change machine. Oops. Tony had to wait on a draw bridge though to get to Publix.  

We then walked a mile or so along the beach.  It's a little cooler today, but the water is remarkable warmer here.  Today's photos are all about are beach time.

FYI - Tony's thumb injury was pre-bike trip.

A few spring breakers were around, but I'm sure more will be arriving in the coming weeks. We walked back along the boardwalk and even went into a few shops (Tony's limit). Tony was here for spring break in 1984 and on our walk back, he thinks he saw the hotel that he and his college buddies stayed at in 1984. It looked 32+ years old too, but is that amazing?  

Back at the room, Tony cleaned and oiled the bike. We took one more trip to the beach with the comfy beach chairs provided and Tony did some body surfing. We ate a nice dinner in the room of stuffed scallops for Tony and a fillet for me. Tony finished rerouting the Garmin for one of the upcoming days because he realized that we would have been on a gravel road otherwise.

Stayed tuned tomorrow for where the wind blows us!

Tony's Side Notes

When I walked over the draw bridge to go get groceries for us, there were several yachts that were enormous. I took a picture of one of them. One was named "Incentive." Maybe something like that would be a good "incentive" by Choice One to me. However, you all know that won't work for me so it wouldn't help in keeping me out of the office.

By the way, if you are reading this blog and not checking out Choice One's Facebook page, you are missing how they are abusing me while I am gone. Check it out to see how mean they are to me. https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=choice%20one%20engineering

This is the picture of the hotel I am guessing we stayed at for Spring Break some 32 years ago. I went with Ron Fairbanks, Brian Zombie Stutz, Chris Bauserman, Todd Gregory, and Dave Mangas. Might have been more but that is all I can remember, with Ron's help. We all stayed in one room and told the motel that we had 2 in the room to save money. Four of us had to sneak in every time we went to the room. There was the gate right by the main office (see picture). They had a gate in the back you could open from the inside to sneak in. Funny thing about it now is that they probably knew better and we were too young to realize it. The good ole days. 

Going by Miami Beach tomorrow, I am wondering if it is as glamorous as people claim.

Ride to Spring Break 1984 Location

Tony's View

Well, today was the last day for a while that the wind will be coming from the south. It was coming at us at 24mph with gusts of 35mph. We started out very early this morning at 6:45am to try to get a good start on the day. It seem to pay off for us since we got in and avoided the thunderstorms. We went 57 miles averaging 11.1mph. Not bad with the wind we had. I think the fairing or windshield was beneficial in cutting through the wind. I stayed well hydrated and fed today which really didn't make the ride too bad. We went through many beach cities along the way today, making it entertaining.

When we went to cross a 2 lane draw bridge, there was this sign shown in the picture to the right saying bicycles may use full lane. We did use the full lane going around 8 mph and amazingly the cars behind us were reasonable. The picture to the left is the restaurant we went to for lunch. It was nice that we could sit outside and watch the tandem. It was a bar and grill called Kahuna.  They had about fifteen different types of tacos, none that were typical. We were very happy with this choice. When we arrived in Fort Lauderdale, we saw several motels that could of been where my friends and I stayed in 1984. It was beat up back then, so who knows if it is still here. Our motel is very nice again, really more like an apartment. We jumped in the pool as soon as we got here.  It was cold for me, so that means it was freezing for Joan. Looking forward to a day off, even if the prevailing winds tomorrow will be from the north which would be at our back.

After eating dinner at another Mexican restaurant, we stopped at Yo Mama's ice cream.  I got a dip of strawberry. Ken is definitely right, ice cream is better than pop tarts.

Joan's Side Notes

My stats are:  We rode over 7 bridges today, 3 were drawbridges of which Tony walked the bike on one.  In addition, only 1 of the 7 bridges had a bike lane.  Freaky!
I also did a small psychology study today.  There were lots of walkers and runners out in the morning hours as we pedaled through Palm Beach so to pass the time while we battled the wind, I decided to see how many people I could get to respond when I said, "Good Morning."  I am pleased to announce that it was probably around a 90% positive response. Marla (who is studying for a psychology minor and works in the psych lab at UF), you would be proud of me!

Another Windy Day on Route A1A 

Joan's View

We both slept sound last night thanks to the workout from Mr. "HeadWind".  Tony, being the morning person that he is anyway, decided that we should leave even earlier today so as to beat the heavy winds.  It actually paid off!  

The gusts picked up though and we did some serious pedaling.  We had some nice scenery on the route though.  Tony's route took us on some stunning side streets.  More Florida mansions, of course, but we ended up on one street that was a tunnel of Banyan trees called Bent Banyan.  It was like out of a fairy tale!  We ended up on 2 other streets that were similar, but this one was the supreme.  

We had to take more breaks than usual today and found some direction on one of our breaks.

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Another beach park break had this inviting trail that led to the beach.  It had flowers and plants with a great smell as well, reminding us of Hawaii.  >>>

Tony was concentrating on pedaling so much that, at one point, he pushed himself close to exhaustion.  We stopped again, but this time at the closest Diner to refuel.  

I learned much on this trip, and especially today that the civil engineers that designed bridges don't always have bicyclists in mind.  The interlocking metal part on drawbridges is extremely slippery for bikes.  We walked the bike on the one bridge where the sign said to walk bikes but rode over the others.  Tony says as we are approaching the metal part of the drawbridge, "Don't move" so I quit pedaling and try to sit entirely still.  Also, some civil engineers (not Choice One Engineering, I'm sure) provide absolutely no room for the bikes to ride on so we are riding in a car lane and sometimes on 4 lane bridges.  I am saying my prayers then.

One of the highlights today was a stop at Kite Beach where the kite boarders or kite surfers were

gathered and playing.  Probably 20 of them at a time were on the surf.  We got to talk to some of them as they were leaving and hosing off their equipment.  They introduced us to James McGrath, this teen guy who is one of the top ranked kite surfers in the nation.  Here is a you tube video on him if you want to see him in action:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul0nbfEfAk8.

Fun day, hard day, great day to be in Juno Beach!

Tony's Side Notes

Yes, today was windier than yesterday with 18mph winds. Bad news is tomorrow's forecast for wind is coming from the south at 25mph. Oh no! Stats for today are: 51.5 miles, ride time 4 hours and 4 minutes, rest time 2 hours and 37 minutes (yes this time is going up, tomorrow I suspect more rest time), average speed 12.65mph (better than we thought).

They had complimentary Pop Tarts at the last hotel and I went for them for a sugar rush when I was exhausted. I had to take a picture for Megan at work because I give her such a hard time when she is eating them. When we were watching the kite boarders, I had to text pictures to Ben VanTreese because when I see crazy things, I think of him. Yes, that is something he said he plans to do. It was cool how they handled the high waves and actually flew 30 feet or so in the air. Well, we are getting up even earlier tomorrow to get a head start because of the wind going into Fort Lauderdale. Oh yea, did I mention that there are threats of thunderstorms tomorrow?

Windy way to Fort Pierce

Tony's View

55 miles into 15mph winds with a humid 80 degrees explains the day. It wore me out.  We had to stop several times for me to rest.  I was sweating like crazy. The stats for the day go like this: 4 hours of riding and 2 hours of resting, averaging 13.5mph.  It sure was fun though. Exhaustion is a good thing when it is over.  It just takes some rest to get over it.

Well, the day started out with me going through the small arch at the hotel from our 2 days stay. 

We rode through some neighborhoods for about five miles then made a turn onto A1A.  Garmin then displayed the next turn in 42.5 miles. Pretty much the whole distance had a bike path off the road to the right and also a bike lane on the road. We went back and forth between the two. Mostly private complexes the whole distance with few commercial establishments.


We stopped at a State Park called Sebastian Inlet.
Joan found a Tide Pool to wade in, and it would of been a good place to chill out all day. I was just relaxing on the picnic table while watching Joan in the Tide Pool. You can see our tandem in the background.








When we were relaxing at the state park we got to watch 4 pelicans fly and dive into the water for fish. They would come up with a fish and swallow it. It was fun to watch them go one after another.

We finally found one restaurant called Johnny D's, along the long stretch of 1A1, and I was starving. They had gelato ice cream. Yea! It was nice that they also had outside seating.  We could watch the bike again while eating.

We stopped for a break in the shade about 4 miles from the end because I was exhausted. I sat down and the buzzards started flying around us as you can see in the picture. They were betting that I wouldn't make it.  The way I felt at that time, I was betting with them. After sitting there awhile I got up and looked around and found this old survey marker. I pointed at it just in case some of you surveyors at Choice One don't know what one looks like. When we finally got to the hotel, I jumped in the cool pool and it brought my body temperature down, it was very relieving. We ate at Dave's Diner tonight, and it kind of reminded me of a Waffle House. I even had pancakes for dinner. The hotel is called Dock Side, and our room is like an apartment again.  Very convenient for parking the tandem inside. Tomorrow's forecast is hot and winding, and, yes, head winds. Good calorie burn day.

Joan's Side Note

Ugh.  Wind. 

Sunday - A Day of Rest

Joan's View

It's Sunday and we are definitely resting!  

However, we did walk a pleasant 2 miles to mass at Holy Name of Jesus Church this morning.  After an uplifting mass, we walked to the nearby Winn-Dixie and picked out food to cook today at our pseudo-apartment on the beach and carried it back the 2 miles to our scenic room.  We did some minor maintenance like laundry, and cleaning and oiling the bike.  Most of all we did some welcome lounging.  We also got some fun photos.  For example, for those of you that think Tony bleeds in Choice One purple and green, I can definitely share with you that he heals in purple and green (see yesterday's post for the actual injury)!  Maybe, Choice One band-aids will be next year's Christmas gift?

Anyway, we spent a great deal of time outside our door overlooking the ocean reading, lounging, etc.

I also got this great shot of a coconut halo around Tony outside our door!

It's another great night of sounds of rolling ocean waves to soothe us to sleep.  

Tomorrow.....We Ride!

Tony's Side Notes

The day started out good for me with a miracle morning routine by the ocean watching the sunrise. For all you are doing the miracle morning, you don't have to imagine you are at the ocean listening to waves because you actually are. Check out my picture of the sunrise. I always thought I walked around with a halo, but not a coconut halo. Today was a good day and looking forward to riding with a newly oiled tandem.

The Ride to the First Rest Day

Tony's View

We lost our Sherpa, Cindy, (as Joe Motz referred to her in one of the comments) along with our Sweeper, Tom, last night after dinner. Thanks Tom and Cindy.  It sure was fun to get together. Therefore, we had to ride loaded with all our bags again today. It definitely makes a difference. To make Joe Motz happy, we took a picture in the parking lot of our Bed and Breakfast with the tandem loaded. The owner was nice enough to come out and take our picture.

Here is a picture out in front of the Casa Coquina del Mar Bed and Breakfast. It is so nice to walk around in shorts with your morning coffee. The breakfast was awesome.  We had a lot of fruit and, yes, other things too. The picture below with the horse and the knight was outside of our room. We saw the big birds along the way, and they had two little ones with them. We didn't want to get too close because we weren't to sure how protective they would be, and I was scared.

 The ride today was pretty, and we had some really nice views, maybe the best views yet. We stopped for lunch at The Fresh Market. Joan got sushi and a plum, and then I went in and got some shredded crab and an orange. The food was great and eating outside in their patio was convenient to be able to keep an eye on the tandem. The orange was as good as advertised, Florida oranges.

 We were rolling along a very busy highway, and we ran across the WADE Christian Academy, so we stopped and got a picture to show our kids we were thinking of them.










The hotel we are at today and tomorrow is really neat. Our door opens up to the ocean and the room is more like an apartment, huge and very nice. We walked the beach for a couple of miles and went out to eat at a local Tavern. On the way back we took the sidewalk back along A1A and it was being repair. There was a 2x2 sticking up on one of the forms and I had my sandals on and stub my toe.  It hurt like crazy and started bleeding. Go figure, I would get hurt walking on a sidewalk.



The picture above is right outside our room.  The view is great. Actually, the picture to the right is one I decided to take to show you what it looks like while I am writing this blog. Full moon, ocean waves, doesn't get much better than that. Looking forward to our day off and hanging out around here. Church is only 1.5-mile walk, which we are heading to first thing in the morning, so good night.










Joan's Side Note

A little warmer, a little farther south today as we arrived in Indialantic.  I rode without a jacket today for the first time.  Walking along the ocean, we got our toes in the sand for the first time on the trip.  Lots of washed-up Portuguese man o' wars on the beach here so I googled them to get a little better understanding of those interesting little bubble creatures.