Originally Posted by
BearPatrol
A lot of good advice so far.
As far as bugs go, we will probably try everything we can to keep the little buggers away.
Going to try this:
http://www.tothewoods.net/HammockCam...free.html#Chem
As well as high concentrated deet, and setting up camp before they get bad.
Going to try to Avoid 41... well most of 41 (at least west coast, last time I was in FL I remember traffic sucking from around Fort Myers to Naples).
I'm an art major so I'm kinda thinking checking out Clyde Butcher's place along 41 might be worth it as well. Plus my main touring buddy is about as stupid as I am... So far we have a good amount of space in our panniers to add (hopefully) plenty of bug repellent/mosquito coils n such.
We are going to play it by ear most of the time. If the no-see-ums and traffic are really bothering us we will probably just steer clear of 41 and head across Alligator Alley then south (avoiding Krome Ave/997) to 1 through the keys.
Back up we are planing to stick to A1A. As far as I can tell it is a pretty popular route for cyclists touring FL.
A bit cautious with the whole Miami urban area. How are cyclists treated around that part? Any good roads other than A1A? Going to couch surf through here, but any good hammocking locations just in case?
Still haven't decided on a route back to our car from Kennedy Space Port
If you come across on the Alley, Flamingo and Hiatus roads are about as good as you will get going south. They have decent shoulders, and even sidewalks/bikepaths for a lot of their lengths. Mostly semi-rural, at least until you get to the Dade-Broward counties line. After that it goes into residential that might be a little sketchy. Or, you can go to A1A, then south, but this would be quite a bit out of the way if your destination is the Keys. A1A does have a designated bike lane for most of it's length,
but cyclists get very little respect from autos. On another thread, I recently posted
a half dozen hit-and-run newspaper articles in the Miami area. I would definitely wear a helmet. If you go this route, A1A ends at South Beach, then you have to figure out how to get to Florida City. This I can't help you with, other than to say that US1 is always
congested, has very narrow lanes, and has little or no shoulder.
If you take 41 over, once you get across, you are only 20 miles from Florida City. And you are west and south of all the congestion of Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. That would save you a lot of time, and cut out long stretch of high-stress riding. Besides, you will probably be taking A1A when you head back north anyway, so it's not like your going to miss anything.