The pro mechanic, John, invited me to join the group for a ride on Sanibel Island and Captiva. I had been there a few years ago with my brother and his wife via car so I was interested to explore the island by bike. The route length was 44 miles and very manageable with this group. There were a lot of new faces and some worried about the speed of the ride but all 15 of us wanted to do this ride so off we went. The photos in this blog were from the internet as this group does not stop for photos.
It was a cool morning with the starting temperature at 64 degrees. People were actually cold. It felt good to me after all the heat and humidity I have endured since arriving here on August 18th. The fearless ride leader didn't show because he drank too much the night before. Can you believe it? Wouldn't happen in NJ. Gretchen asked to see a copy of the route that John put together and graciously agreed to lead the ride. We were suppose to go to the Latte Da Coffee shop but that didn't happen. Bummer. I was interested in seeing the place but I was more interested in having a leader take us there since I drove 40 minutes to the start location. Another time.
We started from the Bike Bistro parking lot which is in Ft. Myers and before the Sanibel Causeway. What is that I thought? Maybe a Florida bridge? Well that is was .....and more!
http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g34616-d3477957-i55715054-Sanibel_Causeway-Sanibel_Island_Florida.html
Now that's a bridge. It was a little unnerving but there is a bike lane so I felt ok crossing over it as long as I was in that bike lane and with the group! Of course the fast riders took off and rode off the bridge with a 36 mph speed! I stayed with the slower group...and there were many....until I was off the bridge.
One thing that the ride leader told us at the start of the ride was that we needed to put one foot down at every stop sign. Why you ask? Bikes must come to a complete stop at every stop sign or face a $180 fine by the police if caught. We were not taking that chance. So much for being bike friendly. There are a lot of rules on Sanibel and I was not going to test the waters so one foot down at every stop sign....and there were many stop signs along this route.
We rode in the bike lane without incident to Captiva Beach which was the end of the island. It wasn't the coffee shop but I was glad that the group took a break. The were portable toilets although not very clean. That usually doesn't happen. I was able to take a few photos at the stop.
Tom, Bob and Karin
We started to ride back to the start and headed to Ding Darling. I had no idea what that was. I thought it was a section of the island that had a beach. Wrong. It is a wildlife sanctuary primarily for bird watching and clamming. Every one who passes through this area pays....even cyclists. The charge...$1. We gladly paid the fee to see the area which reminded me of the long stretch of road at Island Beach state park but with more scenery and lots of bird watchers with large camera lens.
http://www.fws.gov/dingdarling/
This was the best link I could find to the area. You will just have to come visit and I will take you there.
What Gretchen didn't know was that it was a one way trip through the area and we had to backtrack to where we entered the area which added more miles. No one said anything at that point and we just continued on our way to get off the island and back to the ride start.
We encountered one nasty motorist who said blew his car horn at us and yelled something to us. Well Uri was not going to put up with that. He got off the front of the line and went right up to the driver's window and informed him of Florida law and that we were considered a motor vehicle and had every right to be there. I was a bit nervous because you just never know what the driver is carrying on the front seat. Florida has relaxed laws as far as guns and there are many registered and unregistered owners of those things. My motto....." Choose your battles wisely." Thank goodness none of that happened but as that driver passed us he shouted that we belonged on bike trails. Funny how brave people can be when they can speed away. So much for happy people on that island treating their tourists courteously.
We came back over the causeway....and I finally got a good look at that bridge. There are two bridges before the big bridge. Pretty scary and it didn't help that yet another driver blew her horn for a long time as she passed us on the causeway while we in the bike lane. Not a friendly island. I told my brother what happened and he said the residents think they own the island. I got a taste of that for sure.
We ended the ride with 53 miles instead of 44 miles but it was a slower ride for sure. We went to the Bike Bistro which has a small coffee bar area with fresh coffee and snacks. I like to support local bike shops and happily purchased a cup of the coffee for the ride home. Yummy.
Back home I walked the girls in the evening and ended the day with this.
Look closely......A blue heron!
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