Ride Key West Coast to Coast on a Beach Cruiser
A guided two-hour ride through Old Town's back streets, ending with a slice of the pie the shop is named for.
The shop sits on Ann Street, a block off Duval, in the part of Key West that everyone calls Old Town. Groups roll out from that door and come back to it two hours later. In between, the operator describes the route as a run from the Gulf of Mexico side of the island to the Atlantic side. Coast to coast, on a bike with a basket bolted to the handlebars.
The guide rides ahead and pulls over to talk. Nothing about the format asks you to turn up knowing anything.
Departures are at 10:00 AM and at 2:00 PM. The booking calendar carries both of them seven days a week, straight through the year. The two slots cover the same route with the same inclusions. What separates them is the heat and the angle of the light. The morning group is off the street before the afternoon settles in. The afternoon group rides through the softer end of the day.
Guided Bike Tour of Old Town Key WestKey Lime Bike Tours · Two hours · Departs 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM daily from 122 Ann Streetwww.viator.comFrom One Shore to the Other
The listing promises iconic landmarks and stories about the colorful characters who have called Key West home. It stops short of publishing a fixed stop list, which is the honest shape of a two-hour ride with a guide setting the pace. What the operator does commit to is the crossing itself: Gulf shore to Atlantic shore, inside the two hours, on one bike. The streets filling the gap are the quiet ones a block or two off Duval.
The Bike You Will Be Riding
The fleet is beach cruisers. The operator describes them as single speed with back-pedal brakes, which means you stop by pushing the pedals backwards. Anyone who learned on that kind of bike will stop noticing within a block. Anyone who has only ridden hand brakes should give the first block some attention. The basket on the handlebars takes a bag.
The listing ticks suitable for all physical fitness levels. The same list of boxes also flags that the ride is not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health. The practical reading is two hours of continuous riding, outdoors, at whatever temperature Key West is running that day.
Coming Off a Cruise Ship
The operator partners with the cruise lines and sells this ride through them. Its passenger page says the ships give priority disembarkment to guests who have booked a tour, and that staff meet you at the pier and walk you back to the shop. Ship departures get scheduled as close to arrival as the timetable allows, which leaves the rest of the port call open.
One distinction matters here. The pier meet and the priority disembarkment are what the operator describes for guests who booked through the cruise line. A booking made here is an ordinary reservation that starts at the shop door.
Water, Pie, and Where to Put the Car
Every rider gets a bottle of water and a slice of key lime pie at the end of the ride. The operator puts that bottle at 25 ounces and keeps sunscreen and ponchos at the shop. Gratuities sit outside the fare.
Parking is the one cost the fare does not cover. The operator points riders at the second lot beside its building at USD 5 an hour, and at 24-hour parking at Two Friends Patio for USD 20. Old Town is compact enough that a good share of guests walk or ride in instead.
One reservation takes up to fifteen riders and an adult has to be on it. The booking form sells a single adult fare while the operator lists infant seats as available. A family bringing a small child should call the shop ahead of booking to arrange one. Cancelling at least 24 hours before departure returns the full fare.
Everything starts and ends at 122 Ann Street. The 10:00 AM group is back with the whole afternoon still ahead of it. Either way you finish at the shop door with the pie in hand and Duval a minute's walk away.