Key west Bike route??
 

I currenlty live in Indiana and next year around spring I'm thinking of moving to key west. Around here I don't see many bikes. I always am having to deal with bad driver or people you just dont care about anyone not even themsevles on the road. Anyways Im wondering if anyone can tell me what the routes are like what the temps are like and if there is a lot of drivers that are like indiana drivers. I'm hoping that there is more trails and I would be car free down there as well so I woud be riding a lot. To work, school to get food. I'm not going to make up my mind until I'm sure that I will like it down there. I have a fear of the weather as well but I'm sure Ill get over it. Thank you for reading Ride on.

I've been there in the summer and winter, and it's nice year round, except when the hurricanes hit, of course. Lots of tourists and pretty darn crowded. Key West is a small over-developed island connected by a highway to the mainland, so riding is somewhat limited. Great place to poke around on a bike, but after a short while, you'll run out of new places to ride.

Key West is easy to navigate by bike, but I agree with Alan that it's a small island. When you run out of land, there's a massive beautiful ocean to explore, you certainly won't get bored. There are tons of tourists year round, and many of them rent bikes & scooters, so you'll have plenty of two-wheeled company. Watch out for the drunks, the chickens, and you'll be fine if you can afford the absurd rent.

You can ride the entire chain of islands to the mainland, it's a popular tour route.

Wow it's 100 miles exactly from Key West to Key Largo (main land). I had no idea the archipelago stretched out that far.

Also looks like there is some kind of MUP bridge running alongside the Hwy 1 bridge(s). Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail I think?

Wait, so you're waiting until after the Indiana winter to move to Key West:)

just kidding, agree with all of the above, Key West is hot, muggy, crowded & beautiful. Certainly navigable by bike, but not many options for long distance riding. I don't remember the MUP along Highway 1, but it's possible it's newer, or I just didn't notice it last time down there.

Florida Keys Overseas Heritage Trail: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/gwt/state/keystrail/

Looks pretty sweet.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eastcoa...ay/4200202784/

There are many miles of nice bike path along the keys, BUT they are far from finished construction and you'll be forced to ride on traffic lanes for much of it.
At least that was my experience two years ago. The ride is well worth it regardless.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/2797683...n/photostream/
This pic (and the one before and after) are from here: http://goo.gl/maps/iXDyR

whoops. wrong map link. that pic was from here: http://goo.gl/maps/b3ZYV

omg you're right! What is up with all the breaks in the bridges?? It's like they built almost all of it but then left gaps in several different spots just to tease you. That's crazy.

That link shows the "trail" ending in the middle of the old Seven Mile Bridge, with no way to get to the other side. Looks like a work in progress.

The new bridge is higher, so the old bridge was cut to allow larger boats through.

alan is correct. I am on the old bridge. the new roadway (which is what you'd have to cross if you were headed to the mainland) is up above to the right/east
The old bridge has some great history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_Railroad
I was very excited to explore some of it by bike- the only way. :-)

Looks like this document shows some projected schedules of planned projects - some of which could be connectors for those bridges.

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/gwt/state...%204-17-12.pdf

My experience was that the NEW highway was being retrofit for bike friendliness. Not that the old Flagler was being reconnected.
As alan explained, many of those open sections are boat channels. The old bridge is not all that far above the water. You can look over the edge and see fishy critters down below.
It was very very fun and a little creepy biking out there. I highly recommend it.

little O/T but I'm planning on riding some of the Route 30A trail between Miramar Beach and Panama City up in the panhandle here in just a couple of weeks. Can't wait!

Don't take this the wrong way OK? It sounds like you are moving to KW and never been there. KW is pretty different from most anywhere else. I think you might want to go down there first and see if you'd be happy to live there. Its a very interesting and beautiful place, but it also is pretty expensive and crowded. Many (most?) people that live there have 2 or 3 jobs. The weather is pretty mild most of the time, but it can get steamy. You might want to go over to http://iokw.yuku.com/ and introduce yourself and ask some questions there. They can be a pretty helpful bunch.

As far as bicycling, the island is only 7.4 square miles. The bicycle and moped are the prefered mode of transporation by the locals. The most common bike you will see is the single speed coaster brake beach cruiser (many with high rise bars and towing capacity!) If I had a car in KW, it would be parked 99.999% of the time because of crowded streets and awful parking. I would only use to get to the mainland when I need to.

http://bicyclesfirstkeywest.wordpres...conch-cruiser/

You can get a sense of how much of the Overseas Greenway has been completed from this map: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/gwt/state...s/fkohtmap.pdf
For the 100 miles I rode, I pretty much stayed on the highway since the Greenway trail was maddeningly inconsistent

drjava is right on- 99% of the bikes you'll see on the island are SS cruisers. Eaton bikes was the only "real" bike shop I could find in town. They were stoked when I told them how many miles I'd put on their Kona Jake rental.

And watch your bike when you aren't on it. They are stolen with regularity. In fact some of the "locals" treat any bike as if it was their own.

Great advise thanks everyone. But right now I think the pros of staying in Indiana are better then the pros of keywest. It was said that it is expensive to live there and I'm not one who like to pay a lot for something I can get cheaper somewhere else. I got to much going for me now to just move. Its a same tho beacuse I would love to move back to wisconsin but the job market isn't really that great unless you feel like bounceing around from seasonal job to seasonal job. Thanks again.