Bar Harbor to Key West Wrap up!

Today, I was able to sleep in! I didn't get up until after 8:00AM! I went down to breakfast at 9:00AM or so. It was included with our hotel. It was maybe one of the best breakfasts on the trip. Bob and I rode our bikes to the Pack & Ship to ship the bikes home. Bob wanted to keep the bikes until the afternoon and then ship them but I have pedaled enough on this trip. We took a cab back to the hotel and met Dean. We walked down to old town Key West and had a nice lunch on the waterfront. Dean then left to go back to his hotel to pick up his rental car and head home. I went shopping to find some clothes to wear home. Bob and I met at 5:00PM for a drink and then dinner.We ate at the hotel and it was one our better meals. We had a drink to cap off our day and then retired for the evening. The ride is done and it is now time to go back to the real world. In my case it is back to leaf raking and fall clothing. I don't know how I can adjust to long pants again. I have only worn shorts for the past two months!!

To wrap up this blog, I have to acknowledge a few things. When I first started to think about this trip, I thought I would like doing the entire trip solo. I said that if people wanted to come along, that would be great but if they didn't, I would be fine. I was wrong.

I did the first week by myself from Bar Harbor to Poughkeepsie New York. It was fun, and I enjoyed myself but the trip really got great when folks joined up with me.

Meiri McClelland joined me in Pougheepsie and rode to Richmond VA. She was great! She likes to stop and do things. We both enjoy a stop at Starbucks when we can find one. Meiri doesn't quit, she will ride no matter what the condition are and will not complain. She is a biker!!

John Boyle rode with me and Meiri from Easton PA to Peach Bottom PA. John also allowed us to stay at his house in Reading for a day so we could visit with Carole Smith. John is a dedicated biker. He also never quits and will ride not matter what. He is also the kind of guy who will do anything for you.

Rick Boyle, John's brother, rode with us from Reading PA to Peach Bottom Pa. Rick is a great g.uy and fun to ride with.

Jack Thomas hosted us in Peach Bottom. We enjoyed our little stay in Deliverance country!!

Dave Moore rode with Meiri and me from Peach Bottom PA to Alexandria VA. Dave is a very strong rider and has a great memory. He rode this route before with America by Bicycle and was able to lead us through the Rock Creek park bicycle path. We probably would have been hopelessly lost without his insight.

Bob Lang rode with me from Richmond Va to Key West. Bob is a fantastic rider. He is 75 years old and I have a hard time keeping up with him. He kept me on track for the second half of the trip. Bob was kind enough to bring me coffee in the morning!

Margaret Boyle was a tremendous hostess in Reading and also sagged my trailer and gear from Easton Pa to Peach Bottom PA. I really enjoyed not having to pull my trailer for two days.

Carol Moore also sagged my trailer and gear from Owings Mill to Alexandria VA again giving me a day without having to drag my trailer. That was an especially long day so I really appreciated it.

Amy Lang hosted us for two days in Richmond and I really appreciated the gluten free meals she prepared for me.

Dean Fesette joined us in Boynton Beach. He is another great cyclist and a great guy to be with. I enjoyed his companionship and I feel like I have known him forever. He and Raye hosted us for a night and it again was special.

I know that I would have completed the trip if I had to do it by myself but I also know that all of these people made the ride special and I am glad they all became involved.

I Want to thank my wife Phyllis who has supported me in this endevor. Without her support, I would not have been able to leave for 6 weeks riding around the countryside while she sat at home. I know it is hard to pick up the slack while I am pursuing a hobby!

I also want to acknowledge the readers of this blog. Knowing that you folks are reading and enjoying it gave me the desire to maintain it and to not skip any days. Once in a while, I would be tired but knowing you all were expecting an update kept me going. I know that I will enjoy re-reading this blog in the future and I will partially owe the fact that it exists to you guys who were reading and encouraging me. Thanks to everyone who has been involved in one way or another.

Norbert Leo Fey

Marathon to Key West 55 miles - Cum 2,411 miles

Well I made it! Bar Harbor Maine to Key West Florida. It seems unreal. I can understand why people can hardly believe it when I tell them because I hardly believe it myself, I am glad I took pictures to prove it!
We went to breakfast at the IHOP about a mile north of where we were staying. It was good because we went against the wind. The wind was out of the North at about 10 to 15mph. We had to work to get to breakfast.
After breakfast, Dean and Bob decided that I should lead the way since it was my last day and it was my ride! We started down the road to the 7 mile bridge. we made pretty good time to the bridge but once we were on the bridge it was a blast. The wind was blowing behind us and we were able to reach 18 to 20 mph without a lot of effort. Once we got to the top of the bridge, it was 22 to 24 mph down to the end of the bridge, it was a lot of fun!!!
We were sailing along and we decided that we would have an early snack and have lunch in Key West since we were doing so good. It really was a treat to have the last day be a day with the wind behind our backs blowing at 10 to 15 mph!!!
After we ate, I was out in front by a few hundred yards and I thought I saw Bob and Dean behind me. I stopped on a bridge to take a picture and realize that they were not in sight. I went to the end of the bridge and waited for a few minutes but still no sign of them. Then I heard an ambulance and it went b y with a police car behind it and I thought, was there and accident? I thought that no, an ambulance couldn't have made it to them in such a short time but I decided that I should head back. I had spare parts and thought maybe they broke down. I turned around and thought that I am glad we are not northbound and have to go against this wind. I went about a mile or so and then I saw them coming so I turned around and waited. It turned out that Dean had a flat on his front tire which he had just said that he never had a flat on his front tire.
We continued on into Key West and took our pictures at the end of Route 1 which I have been on for a lot of this trip starting in Maine and ending up in Key West.
Bob and I checked into the hotel and Dean checked into his hotel and we went to Sloppy Joe's for a drink. They had a family of kids playing there who are the best Blue Grass that I have heard in a great while. We had dinner and then went back to the hotel.
My adventure is over but we are already talking about next years trip.
I will have another update tomorrow to kind of wrap up the trip.

Key Largo to Marathon FL 53 miles - Cum 2,356 miles

Dean, Bob and I got up to another bright sunny day. We had breakfast at the Holiday Inn next door, loaded up our bikes and headed down south. We didn’t make very good progress for the first hour because the bike trail was in pretty bad shape. After an hour or so we stopped at a McDonalds for coffee. After that, the pace picked up a bit. Biking through the Keys is just watching one beautiful vista after the other. The Atlantic Ocean is on one side of you and the Gulf of Mexico is on the other. Sometimes you can see both waters at the same time. Fishermen of all ages line the old bridges and shorelines. I haven’t actually seen anyone catch a fish but I am sure they might catch them once in a while or they wouldn ‘t keep doing it. I saw someone who had pitched a fairly large tent on a bridge. It was probably to keep kids out of the sun while Mom and Pop fished.We decided to have lunch at Tom’s restaurant at Duck Key. It was a bit of a push to get there and we would only be 10 miles or so from Marathon but I had lunch there before and it was very good, We finally arrived only to find out that it was only open now for dinner. A girl at the store told us about a restaurant called the Wreck was only a few miles down the road and it was good. We headed down the road with Bob and I thinking it was going to be over 5 miles and Dean thinking it would be under 5 miles. It turned out to be about 4 miles. We went in and got an outside table and we all ordered fish. It was super fresh and very good. Inside we heard a football fan cheering very loudly and thought that he was pretty rude. Then he got up and walked by me and I saw that he had on a Hines Ward Steeler Jersey. Of course I then thought what a sportsman he was to cheer his team on in Florida! We arrived in Marathon about 3:30 and found a very nice motel. It had everything we wanted including a pool and a guest laundry. We put our swim suits on and went to relax by the pool while our laundry was getting done. It was a very nice couple of hours. We got dressed and decided to walk to dinner. The place we chose was about 2 miles away and Dean said why don’t we get a cab? We saw a cab in the shopping center and talked to the driver. He said the restaurant closed three weeks ago. We were very glad that we didn’t walk there only to find that out. The cab driver recommended a restaurant down by the seven mile bridge which we will cross tomorrow so we asked how much? He said 5 dollars. What a deal, 5 dollars for three of us to go about 6 miles. We had a drink and watched the sunset and then had an excellent dinner. We called our cabbie and he showed up in 5 minutes and rode us back for another 5 dollars.Tomorrow is the last day of my ride. It will be like the final day of the Tour de France. No pressure, just a beautiful ride into a beautiful city. I am having mixed feelings about my last day. On one hand, I am losing track of time. The days have started running together so that I don’t know what day of the week it is or how many days we have been riding together or what! It all feels like one big long day. That probably means it is time to stop riding and go home to reality again, but first, On to Key West!!

Coral Gables to Key Largo, FL 72 miles - Cum 2,303 miles

I am in the zone! I think I have been here for a week or so but today it really hit me hard. The zone is where you feel like there is nothing but the bike and the highway. I am starting to lose my connections to anything else. It just seems so natural to get up and get on the bike each morning and ride 50, 60, 70, 80 miles, it doesn't matter how many, just ride!!! I guess it is a good thing that the ride will be over soon so I can get back to reality.

We stayed at a really nice hotel last night in Coral Gables. The staff was exceptional, we really hated to leave, but leave we did. We started out looking for a breakfast diner but eventually found a Starbucks that filled the bill. We were going to ride Rte1 figuring it would be light traffic because it was a Saturday but wrong! We went back to the Banyan Cycling route which was along Cutler road and a bike trail. It was fun and the huge Banyan trees made it look like something out of the Lord of the Rings! We continued on the route to Florida City, or at least the route we thought would go to Florida City. We took a road which dead ended at Homestead Air Force base. When we turned around to go back we were on a four lane highway with no traffic that went no where. Only Florida could afford something like this. A biker named Jim came along and we talked with him for awhile and he gave us some good directions.

We eventually went by the Speedway and to Route 1. We had been debating if we should go on Rte 1 or take the old Card Sound road. The traffic on Rte 1 solve that problem so we went 7 more miles and took the Card Sound road.

Bob and I spotted a couple of alligators in the canal along the road, if we saw two, how many must be lurking out of sight?

We stopped at Alabama Jack's just before the bridge which officially takes you into the Keys for a celebratory drink. They were playing some really good country and western music. I started to feel like the trip is almost over. The keys are the beginning of the end of the trip.

We continued through the Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge to Key Largo. We found a hotel to stay in which is next to the Holiday Inn and the African Queen boat which was featured in the movie Key Largo. We went to dinner at an outdoor restaurant and had a great time talking to all of the folks there. We met a couple from Youngstown Ohio who are vacationing here. Had a great dinner and started to relax.

You can tell I have been on the road a lot by the strange tan lines on my forehead. I bought a new helmet this year with large vents. I didn't think about the sun when I bought it!

Tomorrow is an easy day, 50 mile into Marathon.

Boynton Beach to Coral Gables 79 miles - Cum 2,231 miles

Today, we rode with our new riding buddy, Dean Fesette. He lives in Boynton Beach and we stayed at his house last night. We left Dean's house around 8:00AM and then rode to breakfast.
We had a very good breakfast at a diner close to Rte A1A. There corn beef hash is the best! After breakfast, we rode on up to Rte A1A and headed south. We started to pass all of the famous beaches that we have all heard about all of our lives! It was bright and sunny with a nice breeze behind us so we were making very good time with little effort. In quick order, we passed Delray beach and then Boca Roton. We stopped for coffee at a little coffee shop right on the beach. For some reason, all of the high school kids were out of school and hanging out at the beach. Pretty nice way for kids to grow up..
We continued to ride south and eventually got to the Fort Lauderdale area. We had to leave Ocean Blvd (Rte A1A) and circle around the airport, we passed a Starbucks and Bob insisted that we go in for a Frappachino. Of course, he got no argument from me. We sat around for a little while and then proceeded to head towards the airport. Somehow we took a wrong turn and wound up going into the Port Everglades Terminal. The guard wouldn't let us go in so we turned around but then we went through the shipping container x-ray machine. All of sudden the gates dropped and a armed to the teeth guard stepped out of the office and stopped us. He said we should have not gone through the x-ray machine but he was smiling when he said it and gave us directions to get us back on route.
We made it around the airport and headed back out to Route A1A. As we crossed the inland waterway, we spotted a nice outdoor bar and restaurant right on the waterway so we stopped for lunch. Again, it was too nice to leave so it was around 2:30 when we left with 30 miles to go. We again headed south down Rte A1A through more legendary Florida beach towns. We passed Hollywood, Golden Beach, Surfside and Miami Beach. We turned west and headed across the causeway into Miami. We got to Miami around 5:00PM. Dean called the hotel Coral Gables to get directions. He said the desk clerk, Dave, said it was about 8 miles. When he found out we were on bikes, he didn't think we could make it. Dean told him we had already ridden 70 miles today and another 8 would not be a problem. He also told him that I had ridden down from Bar Harbor Maine and Bob from Richmond so 8 miles were of no consequence. We made it to the hotel around 6:00PM mainly because the heavy traffic held us up but it was a very easy 79 miles today. The hotel was built in the 1920's and is very quaint! It has an old fashioned lobby with a hand operated elevator. The rooms have been updated but they still have old feel to them. There are antiques in the room and around the hallways and lobby.

Tomorrow we will be in Key Largo! Only three more days to go for this journey

Staurt FL to Boynton Beach FL 69 miles - Cum 2,152 miles

Today we woke to a cloudy sky. We have been in sunshine for so long, we didn't think it would ever end. We had a very good breakfast in the Hampton Inn and headed out. We weren't 15 minutes into the ride and I was soaking wet. The humidity must have been 115%. It began to rain, not very hard but enough to get the roads wet and to cover my glasses so that it was difficult to see but it was warm and sort of pleasant because of the high humidity.
The road we were on didn't have much of a shoulder but we noticed a new sidewalk that was paralleling the state park so we moved over to it. It was funded by the stimulus funding. I will have to thank President Obama the next time I see him.
We again were following Rte A1A so soon we arrived at Juniper Beach. We started talking about our trip with a couple of cyclists who as usual were pretty impressed with our ride. Then one of the bikers mentioned that Tiger Woods was building his new house down the road. He told me the address and described the property. He also said that a number of celebrities had homes in Juniper Beach. He mentioned Greg Norman, Nick Price among others. He also said that it was hard to see most of the houses because they are built back from the road. Bob and I left and started down the road. It seemed like every other property was having landscaping done. It must be the time. The houses that we could see were spectacular. Eventually we came to the property that was Tiger Woods'. He is building a House along the river and a beach house on the ocean side, he bought all the property from the river to the ocean for supposedly 45 million dollars. The place was wall to wall contractors. I was able to get a picture of the new driveway. Don't forget that you saw it here first!!!!
We had lunch at a nice restaurant on the water. There was a lighthouse that looked operational but we couldn't tell for sure.
We continued to ride down to Boynton Beach again passing unbelievable houses in the Palm Beach area. Some of them were being refurbushed and most looked like they were not being lived in at the moment. I guess the rich spend their Octobers somewhere else.
We were passing through some Highway construction and all of sudden I got a flat tire on my front wheel. I dug out a sliver of metal that had cut the tire and punctured the tube. I put a boot in the tire and a new tube. I will get my spare tire out of the luggage to keep handy but I don't want to put a new tire on with so few miles left. We will see how it goes.
We met Dean who is going to ride with us starting tomorrow and who is putting us for the night. He led us to his very nice house and along with Rae, fed us a great dinner.
Only 4 days of riding left and about 250 miles. That sounds like nothing at this point!!!

Melbourne Beach to Stuart FL 74 miles - Cum 2083 miles

You surely have heard of a cheeseburger in Paradise, well today was a bicycle in Paradise. Bob and I left Melbourne Beach, actually it was Indiatlantic Beach around 8:00Am and immediately headed for breakfast. We really liked the place we stayed in last night. It was right on the beach and had a little patio with tables and chairs where one can sit and enjoy the sunrise which Bob did while I slept in! We enjoyed breakfast at a little place just down the road and then headed south!
After we got out of the Melbourne Beach traffic and got on the two lane, the traffic died down and we could just enjoy the ride. We were again headed south in brilliant sunshine with no clouds in the sky and a wind out of the east from the ocean. It doesn't get much better than this for a biker. We were cruising!!!!
We were crossing the bridge at Sebastion State Park and of course I stopped at the top to take some pretty spectacular pictures even if I have to say so myself! As we were there, a Deputy Sheriff pulled up alongside. He rolled the window down and called to me. I bent down to listen and he said that he didn't have a problem with what we were doing but we needed to ride safe. He said, that the people around here drive like idiots! I have been complaining to Bob for days about how I think Florida drivers are the worst. I don't think he agrees with me but now I think if a Deputy Sheriff says it, it has to be true!!
We continued on just enjoying our ride. It was about 11:30 when we got to Vero Beach and decided to have lunch. We found a restaurant right on the beach and sat outside so we could enjoy all of the ambiance! We were in no hurry to leave but realized that we had to go! We mounted up and started back down to Rte A1A when we spotted another long distance rider. His name was Harry and he was going from Northern Virginia to Key West. We talked for a little while and found out that we are on pretty much the same schedule. He said he was going to have a bite to eat and then he would be heading to Stuart as well.
We went on down the road and after a half hour or so, I noticed a rider coming up fast behind us and of course it was Harry. He is a much faster rider than Bob and I. He caught up to us and then he and I rode together for awhile telling each other the stories of the trip. He retired in July after 30 years service in the government and now he was starting to do some long distance riding. All of a sudden he said he was going to ride on as he didn't want to burden us with his woes. He said that his wife had called him that morning to tell him that she was leaving him. Needless to say, Bob and I were shocked. Now we will probably dread getting a call from our wives fearing the bad news. We did decide that if they were going to dump us they probably would have did it at the beginning of the trip, not wait until the end!
We changed our route again from the Adventure Cycling maps and stayed on the Mainland side instead of going back over to A1A. We rode on the old Dixie Highway which paralleled the river instead of the ocean. The breeze was still from the East but not quite as cool. The road was pleasant. The traffic was light and going fairly slow. The entire 17 miles was lined with palm trees and some pretty neat homes. Some of them were pretty old. The whole area seems to have a timeless feel. I was struck by the fact that I didn't see anybody out and about. Maybe everybody is working during the day but it still seemed strange.
We made it into the hotel about 4:30. The clerk was impressed with our journey and especially my strange tan lines on my forehead!!!
Tomorrow, we are headed for Boynton Beach. Only 5 more days of riding!! I am not sure I am ready to stop!!!