Yesterday I went on my longest ride to date – from Naples all the way along the Florida keys and back. That’s a whopping 540 miles.
One of the best parts was the journey east through the Everglades – the road cuts straight through alligator infested swamps – I was also fairly alarmed to see the “Puma crossing” signs! The trip home later was more nerve wracking – firstly it was dark so COLD, but also because riding past Miami meant navigating the insanely bad Miami drivers (was quite aware that if I did survive being knocked off, something from the swamps would probably finish me off. No harm done though we all survived unscathed).
This was my first trip to the keys – and I wasn’t sure what to expect. The keys area series of small islands off the south of Florida linked by road bridges. They are right in between the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico so as you travel along the road you have a different ocean on either side. The only thing is, from the road you can pretty much only see the road, the front doors of the resort hotels and the Tshirt and flipflop shops.
In between the islands you get tantalising views of the sea on each side – that turquoise colour with swirling lighter and darker colours. The most impressive view was from the 7 mile bridge.
There are two things you need to know about the 7 mile bridge. 1) it’s a bridge…