Day 7 – Fort Lauderdale Beach to Florida City

Posted by Brian on March 5, 2020
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Today’s route out of Fort Lauderdale Beach and through Miami was very complicated, so Tim and I decided not to try to use the Adventure Cycling Association maps and instead we used google maps biking directions for a little more than half of the ride, and then again at the very end. Whenever we use my phone for the directions, I really can’t use it to take photos. Once we got out of downtown Miami and onto a bike trail that was constructed beneath the Miami Metro Line (and called the M Path), I stopped using my phone for directions. However, I only took this one photo:

Here is Tim on the M Path, with the Metro Line elevated to his left. We did the last 30 miles of today’s ride on the M Path and the South Dade bike path, which connected to the M Path once the Metro Line ended.

The two trails, the M Path and the South Dade bike path, were safe, but there were numerous intersections, which tended to slow us down a bit. We left our hotel in Fort Lauderdale at about 8:30 AM and made it to Florida City at about 4:15 PM. We stopped three times for brief rests and to eat. It was about 65 miles in the heat and humidity – it got close to 90 degrees today, and the humidity was probably close to 90%. So it was definitely a difficult ride today.

Tomorrow we ride to Marathon on Duck Key, which is about 67 miles. I am hoping we do not have another head wind tomorrow.

Day 7. Fort Lauderdale Beach to Florida City. Our ride thru Downtown Miami

Posted by Tim on March 5, 2020
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Our send off photo. We couldn’t decide whether to follow the Advantage Cycling route or Google Bike route.. We chose the latter, so we avoided Miami Beach.
We crossed over the inter coastal on this bridge which is not a drawbridge.
Our first rest stop. We are in North Miami about to get on a short bike trail. Up to this point we were on a mix of artery roads and residential streets which was the norm until we had to pass thru Downtown Miami.
This was the first bike trail that lasted less than 5 miles. It was in North Miami.
A rest stop in Downtown Miami. I was nervous with all the cars, no bike lane and almost every driver on their cell phones. Even the scooter riders were on their cell phones. I couldn’t.wait to get thru Miami, but it was also a thriving, vibrant area with a lot of construction going on. Not what I was expecting.
This was the bike trail that comes out of Miami and goes to Homestead/Florida City. It runs under the Metro which is elevated it’s entire length. We were on it for over 27 miles, at least 18 were under the Metro. The shade it provided was one of the best features.
Our final rest stop today. We decided to stop at a bus stop since we had a place to sit in the shade. When the Metro ended, the bike path was along the busway, a dedicated two lane road exclusively for buses.
Brian did all the navigating today. This was our final stop to check on directions to tonight’s hotel. Almost there. A long day because of having to traverse the city of Miami but wind was not a factor. Tomorrow we reach and start down the Keys. The winds are supposed to be coming out of the North. And we are going south!!!

Day 5 Vero Beach to Jupiter. The Wind Keeps A Coming.

Posted by Tim on March 5, 2020
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Day 5 Sendoff Photo.

First Rest Stop along Rt. 1. It’s always a banana.


Spring Training Game in Jupiter. Cardinals vs. Astros. Some Yankees fans were brutal chanting ‘cheaters’ every time an Astro player or coach was near them. I guess that is what the Astros will be in for this season.


View from my room in Jupiter. Lovely setting.


Day 6. Jupiter to Fort Lauderdale Beach.

Posted by Tim on March 5, 2020
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Morning Sendoff. We are ready for another day in the saddle. Getting butt callouses.



Rode thru some run down areas of Palm Beach. This was our first stop at a closed former gas station at a major intersection.


Another rest stop. Since we were in metropolitan areas, the library was literally our rest stop.



It was so hot today, we ran out of fluids and had to stop and replenish Gatorade and water as we passed a Walgreens.. We were on Rt 1 for most of the day.until the last 10 miles when we got to A1A.



In order to cross over to Fort Lauderdale Beach, you have to cross over the inter coastal waterway. This is a draw bridge in the up position to let a couple boats pass.


End of the day and I am settled in my room. You can’t see it in the picture but the ocean is way off in the distance. Lots are freighters are visible on the ocean. There is a pool on the other side of the hedge that was delightful.



This was one of the hotels across the street from our little two story hotel. IOur hotel was a nice little hotel with a pool and garden area outside the rooms.
We finished the day with a visit and dinner with Arlene Sullivan in Deerfield Beach.

Day 6 – Jupiter to Fort Lauderdale

Posted by Brian on March 4, 2020
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This was the hottest day on the bike yet and even though the ride was only 62 miles, I ran out of fluids again. This time we stopped at a Walgreens right on U.S. 1 South and I purchased 3 bottles of water and 1 bottle of Gatorade. Today we mainly used U.S. 1 South, but we also used U.S. 5 South for a stretch, which was nice since there was very little traffic on U.S. 5 and we were somewhat shielded from the wind. Here are today’s photos.

One of our stops today was at Boynton Beach, where I propped up my bike against a trash can, right along U.S. 1 South.

We finally got off of U.S. 1 South and were headed to A1A in Fort Lauderdale by around 1:45 p.m., when the drawbridge was opening for boat traffic.
We had a nice happy hour in the courtyard of the Elita Hotel in Fort Lauderdale.

We finished the day by having dinner with Arlene Sullivan, a cousin who lives in Deerfield Beach.

We have a ride of about 64 miles to Florida City, our last place on the mainland before heading to the Florida Keys. Hopefully it will be our last day of riding into the wind.

Day 5 – Vero Beach to Jupiter

Posted by Brian on March 3, 2020
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Today’s ride was 55 miles and, while we had a head wind, it wasn’t too much of an issue until the last 5-6 miles, when naturally it was uphill also! But overall, it was a good day of riding and it was the first time we were actually hot while riding. Here are today’s photos.

We stopped after 20 miles into the ride just south of Fort Pierce, FL. At this point the winds were probably 10 mph in our face.
Here is Tim eating one of Nancy’s excellent sandwiches at our second and last stop, somewhere around Stuart, FL. This was 40 miles into the ride.
It’s always nice when you can see the sign for the hotel at the end of the ride. It’s a very nice place and is only about 5 or 6 years old.
We made it to a Grapefruit League baseball game of the Cardinals versus the Astros. We only saw the game from the 6th to the 9th inning, but still had a very nice time at the Card’s spring training ballpark in Jupiter.
Tim, Beth and Brian relaxing at the Cards versus Astros game.
I had a turkey dinner tonight at MaCarthy’s Pub in Jupiter. It was delicious! Plus blueberry pie for desert!

We have a 66 mile ride to Fort Lauderdale tomorrow and the winds are again predicted to be in our face. We’re going to try to get away even earlier tomorrow morning.

Day 4 Titusville to Vera Beach. A Challenging Day.

Posted by Tim on March 2, 2020
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Obligatory picture. Beth took and no finger in the picture, even though Nancy says her finger is special.
First stop of the day after 15 miles. We were along Rt 1 Not very scenic rest stop.
This is what a 19 mile head wind today looks like. It was a challenging day
We met these two guys from Atlanta who were biking from Orlando to Key West. They are camping. We hope to see them on the road again since they will end in Key West on Saturday also.
It was a challenging day battling the 19 mile per hour headwinds this afternoon. We didn’t get in until after 5 PM. This was my view from the balcony of my room on the 5th floor of our hotel in Vero Beach. Vero Beach is a place I would like to come back to.

Day 4: Titusville to Vero Beach

Posted by Brian on March 2, 2020
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What a tough day! Tim and I left before 8:30 AM and did not make it to Vero Beach until after 5:30 PM. We rode 78 miles into a 19 mph wind for most of the day. It was definitely one of our most difficult rides. Well, anyway, here are the photos I took on the ride today.

The scenery on U.S. 1 was not much to look at, but the sky was expressive. However, we did not have any rain today.
Tim eats a yogurt every day. Here he is eating his yogurt on our first stop of the day, 15 miles into the ride.
Tim at our 2nd stop of the day before Melbourne, FL.
This is the bridge on Florida 404, which links SR A1A with U.S. 1 near Rockledge, FL. This was our 2nd stop of the ride, after about 30 miles. Shortly after that, Tim got 2 flat tires.
This is typical of the scenery by the side of U.S. 1, on the way to Vero Beach.
Flags at the Landing Site of Ponce de Leon, on A1A. Unfortunately, we were headed into the wind, and not with it.

When I was a kid walking to school in the morning with Mark, whenever it was really windy, I would wish for a glass half dome to come down over Drexel Hill and block out all of the wind. That’s what I was wishing for today. It would have made today’s ride much easier.

Tomorrow’s ride is about 55 miles, and the winds are predicted to be 17 mph, in our faces again. So we’re going to try to leave early, since the winds pick up in velocity as the day progresses.

Day 3: Ormond to Titusville

Posted by Brian on March 1, 2020
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Tim and I got an early start this morning, leaving at around 8:15 a.m., and riding through the southern end of Ormond Beach into Daytona Beach. Shortly into Daytona Beach, we left A1A and went over a bridge and onto U.S. 1 South. We stayed on U.S. 1 for most of the ride today. Believe it or not, there were some grades we had to climb. I wouldn’t call them hills per se, but the entire ride was not flat, the way it was our first two days. Here are some of the photos I took today.

Tim is pulling out a map on our first stop at New Smyrna Beach, FL, 15 miles into the ride.
A fisherman in an orange boat in the waterway we crossed in New Smyrna Beach.
Another fisherman in the New Smyrna Beach waterway. There were about a half dozen fisherman in this waterway early on Sunday morning.
We got a chance to sit down on our 3rd and last stop, which was in Mims, FL. Here Tim is enjoying his 2nd of Nancy’s excellent sandwiches. We were about 15 miles away from Titusville and our hotel.
Nancy took this photo of me relaxing at the pool at the Hampton Inn, Titusville. I took a nice nap after coming back into our hotel room.
Dinner tonight was Dominoes pizza, one plain and one pepperoni.

Tomorrow we bike to Vero Beach, which will be almost an 80 mile ride. Tim thinks we’re going to have a head wind – I really hope not!

Day 3. Ormond Beach to Titusville

Posted by Tim on March 1, 2020
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Riding across country with Brian and Mark, a few years back, we all concluded Florida had the best roads by far. That observation continues. Most roads we’ve been on so far have been wonderful. We encountered some bumpy roads today that were better than most roads up north. We also road on some sidewalks thru one stretch where the shoulder got narrow and bumpy. We also were on the East Coast Greenway (Maine to Florida) for a short distance today. We saw more bikers on that trail, which was parallel to Rt. 1, than we saw all 60 of our miles today.

First of our stops today. This is along Rt 1. Most of our ride today was on Rt. 1

Our final stop today. We had a nice smooth log to sit on and lean our bikes against. US 1 is about 100 yards down this side road.


Tomorrow is the toughest ride of this trip simply because of its length. The winds will be out of the south so no help there. Lots of sleep planned tonight.