7-mile Bridge Ride


Another sparkly sunrise at the Big Pine Key.  


Shortly after coffee, we debated whether to ride the 7-mile bridge and decided to drive up the road about 40 miles and meander back to camp with the idea that we would explore and perhaps shuttle back to camp.  As it turned out, we explored, had a great lunch and all ended up riding the 7-mile bridge back to camp.  A 42-mile ride was had by all.


A good part of the ride was on the heritage trail with some road sections.  The town of Marathon's wide sidewalk was kept us off the street, but driveways and street entrances about every 50 feet kept us on our toes.



The bridges that were open sported many fishermen successfully bringing their catch to their ice chests.


Flora and Fauna abounded.
The seven-mile bridge had a 5 ft shoulder and traffic was well behaved.  Our biggest hill of the day allows ships to glide underneath.


The Heritage Trail bridge looked passable from our highway vantage point.

Oops, that gap looks large!

Many of the Heritage Trail bridges are closed to everyone.  And a closer look confirmed why that is.
Call your congressman and senators and request support for Biden's infrastructure plan!  We need safer passage for bikes and peds!!

As we got close to our camp at The Big Pine Key, our five mascot Pelicans traveling to Canada patiently awaited our continuation north.

Comments

  1. Steve LangeApril 11, 2021 at 12:18 PM

    Excellent photos!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Juergen AApril 11, 2021 at 1:15 PM

    It looks like a lot of fun! Thank you for letting us partake in your adventure virtually!

    ReplyDelete
  3. TXGalOnTheGoApril 11, 2021 at 3:17 PM

    “Google Account”??!!
    What the bloody ....
    Sue here.
    Invasive, nasty green iguana there. Impressive looking, but so destructive to native reptiles and birds. Sad.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownApril 11, 2021 at 3:42 PM

    Super pictures and discussion ===>>> Fantastic Leo and co-riders !!! from Teri and John, Austin

    ReplyDelete
  5. pam SchwarzApril 11, 2021 at 7:53 PM

    Beautiful day

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dan KochApril 12, 2021 at 4:48 AM

    I like the jerseys... it'll be interesting to see if you all have enough matching jerseys to continue for the entire trip. That gap in the bridge didn't look so daunting... couldn't you guys just bunny hop over that? Logistics, logistics... where is Barb Munk when you need her??? (Tell Sandy that I would love to make comments on her blog posts, but still can't figure out how to do it... probably just my tech incompetence.) Keep the posts coming... they go great with my morning coffee.

    ReplyDelete
  7. DanielleApril 12, 2021 at 9:36 PM

    I enjoyed the pictures, especially the bridge. I am writing Joe to let him know about that infrastructure problem you mention, make sure it's included in his plan.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Connecticut and Colchester

Image
  After our adventures at Jim Thorpe, we left Pennsylvania for Connecticut via New York City.  We crossed over the Hudson on the George Washington Bridge, a bridge I have crossed on my bike during the two "Escape NYC" rides I rode before Covid. Later in the day, we arrived at the Nelson Family Campground at a lovely spot next to their lake in East Hampton, CT. The next morning we rode the AirLine State park trail, with the first stop being at the Chandlers Ice Cream shop a short ways from our campground.  Fortunately, we arrived before the store opened and were saved from an early energy rush.  When we returned from our ride later in the day, they were open, and we enhanced our recovery from our ride.  :>) At the start of our ride, a cranberry bog supported many lily pads at this time of year.  Soon we are riding through the "Bishop's Cut," where the rocks were most difficult to cut during railroad installation being over 200 million years old, some of the ol
Read more

Lubec, ME.

Image
From Bass Harbor, we headed up the coast of Maine to Lubec, right on the Canadian border.   We camped right next to Johnson Bay part of the Quoddy Narrows, a river that rises and falls with the tides. Of course, we had to ride to the border and to the top of the bridge to step to the Canadian side. Campobello lighthouse and island on the Canadian side were Franklin Roosevelt's summering place.  He spent many of his summers here growing up.  At 39 years old, he contracted polio here and was not able to walk again.  Campobello was turned into an international park in 1962. Soon we were looking riding around town taking in their Lubec resident's artwork and taking advantage of an open ice cream parlor. The clouds were telling us that rain may be coming but we had to ride to the Quoddy Lighthouse.  It surely was not going to rain on us! On our ride to the Quoddy Lighthouse, Beth eyed a porcupine who decided he needed to move on when we took an interest. A farm gate from the depths
Read more

Leaving Austin headed to the East...Lake Charles 1st night

Image
  Today Beth, Randy, Sandy, and I left Austin on our way to the Florida Keys to begin our East Coast Greenway bicycle ride to Calais, Maine.  Sue's Mademoiselle Grenouille (Gi-Gi for short) was already on her bicycle wished us happy travels. Here are the four of us, Sandy, Leo, Randy, and Beth, celebrating the survival care kit we received from Teresa...yum!! We are enjoying Sue's salmon and tortellini soup.  Sandy is snapping these pics while Sue and Leo, Beth, and Randy await the moment for Sandy to join us for dinner.  Gettin' close to Louisana...crawfish in Beaumont. Sandy celebrating the arrival at the fuel stop for the magic sleds. The results of my successful Easter egg hunt! Home sweet home at Lake Charles, La
Read more