Key West Ride

Wockman

Montgomery AL to Key West FL - 1812 miles


A while back I was thinking… Even though I had grown up in Florida I had never ridden down to Key West or through the Everglades, so I planned out a route and packed up the bike and headed south.



Day 1 Montgomery AL to Osprey FL (Oscar Scherer State Park) ~530 miles

Here is my bike, all packed up and ready to go, the November weather did not disappoint me it was in the upper 30s with a slight drizzle. I bundled up and set the heated grips on high.
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The majority of the first days ride was uneventful, I stuck to secondary roads and stopped only for gas and to refill the camelback. One diversion was a quick ride down the Ozello Trail in Crystal River.
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Oscar Scherer is a small picturesque state park, it was very clean and quiet. Time didn’t permit it on this trip but I would have liked to spend more time there to take in the sights.
My campsite.
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Day 2 Osprey FL to Big Pine Key FL (Bahia Honda State Park) ~420 miles

Day two, I was packed and on the road as the sun rose. I rode the Tamiami Trail along the southwest side of the state to the Everglades. Traffic was light, weather was warm and sunny, the scenery was amazing, albeit swampy.

This gas station had two attendants, I tried to tip them but they said to just put it on the bill...
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I love that the figure in the picture is missing a hand...
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Wait, what did that sign say?
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Long line at the post office.
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The Tamiami Trail, traffic was light today...
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It is about 120 miles (or 3+ hours) out to Key West from mainland Florida, The view was amazing. the speed limit is 55mph unless you are on one of the islands then it is 35 or maybe 45 unless it is dark then it is 35… I think. But if you are a moron in a Geo with three mattresses stacked on the top of the car then it is 27mph… There are the usual RVs and trucks towing boats to deal with plus there is a large LEO presence and because passing zones seem few and far between, the ride out there was unpleasant. The weather however was perfect. Eventually I made my way to my destination Bahia Honda State Park on Big Pine Key. When I checked in, the lady in the office warned me three times to “watch out for the raccoons” (more on this later). It was late afternoon so I quickly pulled off my bags and set up camp then headed into Key West. It was late afternoon and traffic was heavy (cars, scooters and pedestrians everywhere). I took some pictures grabbed a piece of key lime pie and headed back to the campsite. It was well past dark when I got back, I took a long anticipated shower and settled in to my tent. I was not in there for five minutes and I heard raccoons fighting just a few yards in the bushes. I awoke several times throughout the night to the sound of raccoon(s) sniffing and chattering around my tent. Then the next morning I found THIS !
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They didn’t set off the alarm and it did not appear they tried to hotwire the bike. My best guess is that they hopped on and just made vroom vroom sounds…

My campsite
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Mile 0
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The obligatory 'southern most point' picture...
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Day 3 Big Pine Key to Cocoa FL ~350 miles

Day three for the most part was uneventful, I rode up through the center of the state and along Lake Okeechobee. The swamps of the eastern Everglades turned into sugarcane fields as far as the eye can see. Traffic in this part of Florida is pretty sparse, mostly semi trucks and farm pickups. Speed limit signs seemed to be little more than a suggestion as traffic moved along at 80-90mph it was a nice change from the road in and out of the keys…

Lake Okeechobee... thats a big lake.
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Day 4 Cocoa FL to Montgomery AL ~515 miles

The road through Ocala National Forrest was enjoyable, there were a lot of bikes out. I rode most of the way one handed because of waving so much. I stopped at a Dairy Queen in Cross City for lunch and watched the dark clouds to the north. I spent the remainder of the trip riding in the pouring rain hence no picts.



Final Comments:
Florida is a really, really long state
Raccoons like motorcycles
Rain sucks


My Route
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__________________
'03 Honda CBR1100XX

An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools. - Ernest Hemingway

Catenaccio

Wonderful! Looks like a fun trip.

Strek

Thanks for this post. Right now we have snow coming down and snow on the ground. I'm having to live vicariously through post like this. Great pics too.

John01XX

Wish you had posted up before the trip instead of just after.

I am in Fort Lauderdale and would have riden along for part of the trip as well as would have set you up with ChaserKeyWest who lives in Key West.

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John Smith
Proprieter of John's Bike Bits
John@BikeBits.us