Within the first years of moving to Miami, I made the effort of exploring many of  the city’s neighborhoods.  But despite its natural beauty the island of Key Biscayne  had never struck me as something particularly interesting.  Driving down the main corridor of Crandon Boulevard I always thought it was rather uninspiring. Boy was I wrong!  One day, my visiting father-in-law and I decided to ride out some of the island’s side streets and paths.  In preparation, I started reading up on its past which uncovered a treasure trove of stories this island holds – stories of its unique connections to as well as  its disconnect from Miami.   For anybody interested, I highly recommend the book “Key Biscayne – A History of Miami’s Tropical Island and the Cape Florida Lighthouse” by Joan Blank.

Riding past the most prominent place – the lighthouse in Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park  – along the stunning coastline and through the Village of Key Biscayne, the image of a great bike tour started to emerge in my mind.  Below the surface of modern development one can truly understand the island as a microcosm representing all of Florida’s history and ecology.  And like so many places, the best way to explore it is the slow pace of a beach cruiser that lets us travel almost the full length of this barrier island while allowing frequent stops at locales that escape the fleeting look out a car window.

Because of its pace and since we move both through time and space, I thought the most fitting name for our tour would be “Key Biscayne – A Journey by Cycle.”   Over the years since this tour’s inception, the bike vendor and state park have been most welcoming to us and in turn we immerse our guests into tales of piracy, amazing ecological restorations, Stiltsville, Richard Nixon’s Winter White House and many more.  So I think that this ride across the island has become many of our visitors’ and one of my favorite outings!  Wouldn’t you agree?