Marathon to Key West 50 miles - 220 cum

Ready to Ride!

Well we made it to Key West. We had a little bit of a rough start. We got up and packed and then rode about 1 mile or so towards Key West for breakfast. After we finished breakfast, Keith remembered our water bottles so it was back to the motel to get them. Again we got under way.

Old 7 mile bridge

The first three miles were through Marathon and then we started across the seven mile bridge. As we approched the bridge, we down to the old bridge and talked to a volunteer who was collecting signatures for a petition to stop the Transportation Department from closing the old bridge. Now, it is open for about a mile or so to Pigeon Key where the bridge superintendent use to have his home. I have been out there before and it is an interesting place to visit. We signed the petition and started across. Again the wind was at our backs so we made pretty good time going across. The view from the bridge is pretty impressive.
The day seemed more hot and humid than previous days and we were sweating pretty good. We stopped a little restaurant for some liquids and a snack. The waitress was quite acharacter. She said she used to ride her bike the 31 miles from there to Key West in about 45 minutes! I wish I could have been there when she did that!

New 7 mile bridge - old bridge on left

The bike paths were torn up for a water pipe project along the way from this point on. Sometimes they were brand new with nice pavement, other times they were rough. The paths were not marked very well yet. They also switched back and forth several times. It definitely kept us on our toes.

We finally made it to Key West around 3:00PM and checked into the La-Te-Da hotel. We quickly took showers and met at the outdoor bar where the Margaritas were excellent and enjoyed out first moments in paradise!
We went down to see the sunset at Mallory Square but the clouds had rolled in so no sunset.
Today, saturday, we are going to explore Key West. There is a festival going with supposedly outstanding food, we are going to give it a try!

Some of the scenery

Boat at Sunset