Long Key to Sugar Loaf Key. Day 4.

Posted on February 22, 2015 by anthonycaferro

First off, what in the hell is a sugar loaf. Sounds likes a type of bowel movement.

Plowed through some keys today. Woke up and zombie rode 16 miles to a paradise known as Stouts Restaurant in Marathon Florida. This greasy spoon heaven brought me back to life with 5 cups of coffee, a frittata, grits and toast. They had the best sign in the bathroom but i didn’t get a photo. Something like “this sign is in case we were stupid enough to hire someone who was stupid enough to need a sign to remind them to wash their hands before returning to work”. Genius.

After that I called my lawyer and then rode over the famous 7 mile bridge. No really. I’m having issues with a tenant so I had to take time out of my vacation to talk to a blood sucking bar passing legal circumventeer. It’s not related to the trip at all but it sounded cool so I typed it into the blog. But this 7 mile bridge? FANTASTIC. đź’Ż. Why people aren’t being forced out of their cars to experience this bridge on bicycle is beyond me, but it’s going down on the top 3 bike rides thus far in my 38 years on earth. Breathtaking to say the least.

After that we headed into Bahia Honda State Park. Supposedly one of the best in Florida but I have to say that they were the first not to help a couple bicyclists out with a campsite. Shame on them! We paid the $5 entry anyway and considered stealthing (it’s now a cool term I guess. See my post “Remote Sleeping” for how I feel on that), but instead filled up water, charged phones and hung out for a bit. Lots of kids making sand castles while their parent drank wine coolers and bragged about real estate deals. Not my scene.

Instead we booked a KOA 18 miles up, hit the grocery store to get some peanut butter and cruised out. Tailwind still in effect we popped over a couple more bridges and caught out first flat (Kara’s bike, not mine. My tevlar tires are the bee knees… Just saying). A couple greasy hands later and we rolled into “the southernmost KOA”. This was not your typical situation. All night hot tub, live band, full bar, and enough milfs eyefucking me that I had to order three whiskeys. I retreated to the hot tub and then again to my tent to call it a night. All while this Kentucky bred Jimmy Buffet wannabee kept the campground partying. I can still hear them in the background. God bless 50 somethings and their Key West fountain of youth mentality. They turn up when I’m turning down.

Tomorrow it’s Key West proper. From the conversations I’ve had, I should expect a total 180 from when I last visited almost 20 years ago.

Mileage today: 51
Mechanical incidents: 1 (superstition is bullshit).

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Largo to Long Key. Day 3.

Posted on February 21, 2015 by anthonycaferro

That title rhymes!

Butt cheeks still sore. Great ride though. Got a late start due to an early morning headache. Grabbed another Cubano sandwich (yay for no longer being a vegetarian!) and cafe con leche at a super authentic Cuban spot along the way. Mostly separated bike path today. Got to Layton, Florida which is a city with zero anything, other than a gas station. No restaurant, no bar, no grocery store.

Dipped into Long Key State Park and got the last primitive campsite available! Paid for one $8 shower and took three, also snagged some electricity from what was one of three campsites that apparently was reserved but yet unoccupied. Thanks! The primitive sites were pretty awesome, wooden board deck with a shelter and a picnic table. Not very primitive to say the least. Chatted it up with an Austrian couple as well as a couple on a tandem bike tour. They seemed to be waiting for the wind to die; it’s been pretty hardcore out of the north and east – 25 mph. So that’s been great for us, but they were heading out, so no bueno.

Since we had little choice, it was a peanut butter and banana burrito dinner. The real fail though, is that I didn’t bring my jet boil French press, so no coffee in the morning and after charging my phone, the nearest cafe is something like 15 miles south. More no bueno.

Total mileage: 36.
Mechanical incidents: still 0. (Knocks on wood)

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Homestead to Largo. Day 2.

Posted on February 20, 2015 by anthonycaferro

Yes. My butt cheeks are still sore. Probably at least for another day. Just in case you were wondering.

Today’s ride was short but sweet. Woke up, drank some coffee, made some oatmeal, drank more coffee. Went back to tent to warmup, ended up sleeping a couple more hours, probably because of the wimpy dogs howling throughout the night because of the “cold”. Felt good tho. Got back in the saddle, hit the grocery store then a straight shot down highway 1. Nice shoulder the whole way. No crocodile or alligator sightings though.

Key Largo is a strange place. And I’m trying like hell not to let that Beach Boys song get stuck in my head. After phone calls all told us there was no place to camp, we decided we would stealth for the night. Beforehand though, a trip to John Pennecamp State Park was in order. Glass bottom boat ride. Of course the entrance gate ranger told us that the boats were cancelled and there was still “no room to camp.” Shortly after we turned back a lady came running and screaming at me (yeah, that happens all the time). Turns out the guy at the gate was a volunteer who really didn’t know the job protocol (being a career firefighter, I’m leaving THAT ONE alone!) and she explained they try to accommodate cyclists. Yes! $20 later and we had a spot far and away from all of the RVs. This score was soon celebrated with steak and beer at the nearby Hobo’s Cafe. Another great day in the books.

Mileage for the day: 38.

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