“Predictions are hard to make, especially about the future.”
Yogi Berra
Each individual controls almost nothing, but influences almost everything. The climate crisis is one such an example and one of the most significant challenge we face today, Although 2023 was the hottest year on record, 2024 looks like it just might get worse. There’s a good chance of the “global average surface temperature” passing the 1.5 °C mark above the pre-industrial average. As of 12/23 the United Kingdom’s national weather service global average surface temperature was 1.46 °.
Burning fossil fuels for electricity, heat, and transportation remains the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from human activities in the United States. Storms, wildfires and other threats are exacerbated by climate change and 2024 might be the year of no return .
Complex weather systems are sensitive to chance, and the initial small changes that define it…. the butterfly effect. So my oversimplified answer to such a complex climate problem is to hop on a bike and ride. Ride to the park, to the convenient store, or even to work. Riding is addictive. The more you ride , the more often you want to ride.
Which is the lead in to my 2024 Florida Keys trip. Two weeks of bike trekking in southern Florida hoping to spy that “Magical Butterfly flutter” at the “end of the Rainbow…. Highway A1A.” From 1/4/24 to 1/21/24 Florida called my name. “Mike don’t you want warm breezes tonight, and blue sky kissing the turquoise sea. The joys of not hauling camping gear….credit card bike touring the Everglades and the Florida Keys.
The Keys offer beautiful coastal scenery, stunning sunsets, and a laid-back atmosphere. January weather is typically mild and pleasant, with average temperatures ranging from the mid 60’s to the mid 70’s ( 18-23degrees Celsius). The overseas highway offer miles of Flat dedicated bike paths that are perfect for bike touring. Many of the original A1A bridges have been converted to multiuse paths. When bike paths are absent, A1A’s paved shoulders provide a lane for bridge crossing (pic below).
After surviving the I-75 interstate chaos to Sarasota, I left the car with my sister Pat and husband Jim (pic above). The trek 550 traversed Siesta Key, Legacy trail, Manasota Key, and Canopy trail to Englewod, Rt 776 with its bike path across the Myakka River, and then the back roads to Port Charlotte. After crossing the Peace River, I slept at the Wyvern Hotel, an updated art deco luxury hotel in Punta Gorda (pics below).
The bike wheels are fitted with 32 mm Schwalbe Marathon tires. Decals from previous trips covered the fenders and frame. The back bike rack handled panniers but in this case a bontrager bag that clipped on top. The front Bontrager dry bags were filled with bike and street clothes. The rear bag contained spare tubes and one folded gator skin tire, lights for bike and helmet, lock, CO2 cartridges, toiletry bag, and bike tools. The Ortlieb front bag handled wallet, phone, USB adapters and cords for phone, watch, lights and earbuds. Cashews, fruit and chocolate bars along with napkins and a wash cloth completed the items in the front bag. Bike and gear weighed less than 50 pounds.
Every subsequent year, I’ve packed less gear and fewer clothes. I have two sets of bike clothes, and I wash the used kit each night. I carry a rain jacket and one long sleeve undergarment for cool weather. I no longer carry flip-flops and ride with flat cleated SPD bontrager mountain bike shoe. Three pairs of shorts, shirts, and socks fill the front dry bags.
Day two (pics above) entailed 60 miles of back roads from Punta Gorda to Fort Meyers Beach, crossing the Caloosahatee River at Cape Coral Bridge. McGregor Blvd and San Carlos Blvd had a bike path that was essentially the side walk or access roads.
On Day three, the Key West Express ferried me from San Carlos Island to Key West (pics above and below). Four hours later, Barb and Peggy were gracious to put up with me until Tuesday. What a treat. Beautiful weather, great company, and delicious meals. What a weekend.
Day four ended at Faro Blanco Hotel in Marathon fifty miles away. The weather as warm, overcast, and dry. I passed Bahia Honda State Park and trekked over Seven Mile Bridge. I snapped a pic at the 44 mile marker over Knight Key Pass. In 1973 I trekked over the original Bahia Honda Bridge (lower right pic). What a trip back then!
Day five was overcast, with the sky and the Florida Straits reflecting pewter and silver. A warm 10mph breeze from the south-west helped propel the bike at 14 mph. A wonderfully stress free day while biking eighty miles. At times I felt that I was riding an E-bike. I stopped north of Long Boat Key for my annual mile marker picture (pic below). I arrived early at Key Largo (100 mile marker), and so biked 23 more miles and ended the day in Florida City. A deluxe chicken burrito bowl at Pollo Tropical capped off the evening.
Before daybreak of Day Six rain showers soaked the ground. The weather cleared by seven am and so I rode the 12 miles to the Everglades National Park. (pics below). Last year I rode Rt. 9336 to Flamingo and back (ninety miles) and spent a second night at the Best Western. Today, I wanted to spend time at the Royal Palm Visitor Center and walk the Anhinga Trail. The trail is a paved walkway and a boardwalk over Taylor Slough, a freshwater sawgrass marsh. The Gumbo Limbo Trail, a jungle-like hammock of gumbo limbo trees (Bursera simaruba) was also on my list weather permitting.
The trek to the center was uneventful. The Park Ranger let me enter for free even though I left the senior park pass in the car.
By noon, the Weather Channel forecasted thunderstorms at 5pm. So after visiting both trails, I booked a room at Miccosukee Casino and Resort and raced north on Rt. 997 on its dedicated bike path. I stopped across from the resort (Dades Corner) for tomorrow’s snacks (pic below). The thunderstorms began a few minutes after I unpacked gear in the hotel room. 
Blue skies and a grand sunrise greeted Bike Day 7. The Ivey House and Everglades City awaited seventy miles down HWY 41, Tamiami Trail. I left before eight with only light traffic and mild cross winds from the south. The Tamiami Canal or C-4 paralleled the entire trail and drained from west to east. (pic below). I stopped at Coppertown and ate half a sandwich. I had visited the Shark Valley the previous two years and so didn’t stop. It’s a single 15-mile loop paved trail directly off Rt.41. No sharks, but alligator and Egrets everywhere.
At 55 miles I stopped at the Nathaniel Reed Visitor Center in Big Cypress National Preserve, replenished my water supply and finished the sandwich. The boardwalk, seven feet over the Tamiami canal, protected alligators of all descriptions from us visitors (pics below).
At the turn off for Everglades city (64 miles) , I bought a beer and coasted to the Ivery House five miles away. At a long shower, I had a sunset dinner of fresh red snapper at Camellia Street Grill. Great food with live music (acoustic guitar) in the background.
Day 8 predicted intermittent storms near Naples in the afternoon. The forecaster blamed El Niño in the Pacific Ocean. I started before sunrise and attempted a gravel short cut thru Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park. At the seven mile mark, the trail was closed to all hikers (pic below).
After back tracking I made it to the convenient store on Rt. 29 at Oil Well Rd. before the first thunderstorm hit. After the storm, I headed west to North Naples and stayed at the Hampton Inn in Bonita Springs . I was safely inside when the next band of storms arrived. El Niño had struck again, weather patterns in the Pacific Ocean had altered my travels in the Everglades. Is El Niño the ruling “Monarch”?
On Day 9, a Sunday, the Weather Channel predicted localized showers throughout the day. I stayed on Rt. 41’s bike path rather than riding Estero Blvd. with its miles of exposed beaches. The rain never appeared but I was grateful to have commercial buildings near by. I recrossed Midpoint Bridge and devoured tomato soup and a chipotle chicken sandwich at Panera Bread in Cape Coral. At Charlotte County’s southern border Rt. 765, (Burnt Store Rd.) the shoulder converted to a dedicated bike path. Heavy rain set in and continued all the way to the Wyvern Hotel in Punta Gorda (pic below). Pandora music and warm temperatures kept the rain from dampening my spirits. Once again a long hot shower and dinner (88 Keys) on the first floor completed my day.
Day 10 El Niño struck again. Isolated showers in the morning and then a band of showers in the afternoon. So once again, after crossing Charlotte harbor, I continued on the Rt. 41 bike path to remain near commercial buildings. I raced ahead the thunderstorm all the way to North Venice. I flatted the rear tire 100 yards from Legacy Trail. But what Luck, What Karma! Real Bikes bike store was also right there. Once inside, the storm raged on.
The owner David “the Beast” Reynolds whose motto is “what crazy thing can we do next?’ came to greet me as I rolled the bike inside. The shop was busy with staff and customers. While two bike mechanics were repairing bikes, David loaded mine on a third station. Never underestimate the lure of a bearded, old man with a bike. There is a story somewhere.
We chatted about bike routes to Key West. He displayed a large poster of a newspaper article with the headline Venice to Venice, which described his long distance journey from Venice Ca. to Venice Fla. He had trekked the southern tier of the TransAmerican bike trail. After the bike was repaired we continued to swap stories of great trails, and trails we hope to ride again. I paid my bill and he gave me a pair of socks to remember this day. (pic below).
On Legacy Trail, light rain changed to mist, and then to partly sunny skies. Once I returned to the Judsens a quick shower and a change of clothes followed. Pat, Jim and I chatted for hours over dinner at the Lobster Pot, a family favorite. We said our goodbyes and after a group hug I was on my way back home. My 2024 Florida Keys Adventure accomplished.
And the moral of this story…Complex weather systems are sensitive to chance, and the initial small changes that define it…. or as Bob Dylan so aptly sang…”don’t go mistaking Paradise for that home across the road.”
If that’s not nice, then I don’t know what is.
So on down the road I ride, subject to the whims of Mother Nature.