Holiday Bike Tour 2011

December 19, 2011





Mark



Holiday Bike Tour 2011

In Key West, people go crazy for holiday lights. There are certain areas of town where entire blocks of neighbors try to outdo each other and it makes for all sorts of holiday lights viewing tours. This is the first time in years that we did not take a trolley train ride to view the lights, though being one of the houses that is on the tour route, we see countless passes of the trains in front of our house each evening. Often we hear our friends screaming from the trains and trolleys as they pass, we almost always hear cheers and applause which is nice.

Breanne & Rosie

Wendy & Scott





This year the traffic has really increased, in addition to the many packed trains, there have been a number of trolleys from both of the trolley tour companies in town. In addition, the number of holiday bike tours has exploded and it seems that on most nights there are one or more organized bike tours coming by, which is really a cool thing.

Erin & Ryan

Elena



Jolly

The bike tour that we join each year has to be one of the oldest and most established that there is, though I am not about to get in to the trouble that I did last year when I posted upon the origin of the tour, which apparently is open to debate. Regardless of who or how it began, it is going strong and we love it and join each year.



Josh

Rudi & Anja

As in the past years, the tour got started at our friends Nan & Mark’s home on Grinnell Street, where our group assembled and started things off with the traditional drink of our tour, the White Russian. The tasty libation also known as “reindeer milk” flowed freely and there was even a portable distribution system developed to bring the concoction on the road.



Erin



Richard, Nancy & Mary

That is one of the great things about our ride, being “unofficial” , we have no set guidelines about allowing beverages and people are free to decide for themselves if they want to bring refreshments along. They aren’t really needed as we make a couple of excellent pit stops along the route. This year we stopped by the home of friends Chris & Erin for refueling and we also made the traditional extended stop (which is basically a party) at the beautiful home of Nan & Mark’s friend Robert.



Michael & Josh

Haven & Elena

Tony & Nancy

This stop featured a wonderful open bar and some delicious food and snacks and has become so enjoyable that a number of the riders never really make it much past this point. After a nice stop, we did keep going, riding around the new town area that is packed with homes featuring beautiful holiday displays. It was another fun night in a long line of holiday outings.

Bill & Josh

Kathy

Haven & Ryan

Holiday bike tours offer all sorts of advantages over the more traditional train/ trolley tours. You get great exercise, use zero fuel, can get up close and personal and spend time viewing displays rather than just whizzing by and you can make multiple stops along the way. You are also free to mingle with the other participants as well as the homeowners making it a far more communal experience. Plus it is another opportunity to hang out with good friends. We love it and are already looking forward to doing it again next year.

Nan