Yes. I did a century there going down from Key Largo to Key West on the Overseas Hwy (US 1).

I recall roughly half of the ride was on a paved trail closed off from traffic, and half of it was on the shoulder of US 1. The trail sections are interspersed throughout the ride, and the road sections are not too hairy (except for the Seven Mile Bridge, see below). I don't recall having to ride on any unpaved surface.

The scariest part is the crossing the Seven Mile Bridge. It's pretty windy on there and quite a bit of traffic. Happily it has a wide shoulder and the drivers on the US 1 are some of the most civil I've seen (somewhat to my surprise).

There is an abandoned bridge next to the Seven Mile Bridge, unfortunately it's broken and does not get you across to Bahia Honda. By the way, stop by Bahia Honda and do a short swim in the beach. It's one of the better beach fronts down in the Keys.

Definitely worth renting a bike. I rented mine from Key Largo Bike and Adventure Tours.

Good luck and have fun! It's beautiful there.

ETA: The bike I rented is a beater road bike, nothing fancy (in fact, it's a junker) but it'll get you a ride.

Also do a ride around Miami and check out Key Biscayne!

I think I am going to just rent it for a day or two....might as well bring my pedals etc.

Not sure there is a week's worth of riding......again anybody with a 56-61 cm bike they would let me borrow for a day or two would certainly make my trip. I promise to not ride it on the beach lol.

I just rented a bike for a day when I was vacationing in the Keys. The Overseas Hwy is worth riding at least once IMHO.

I did rent another bike when I stayed on the South Beach. Riding in Miami is not that bad. Key Biscayne is worth riding to as well.

I would say no. Go running and swimming instead.

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Searching for the bliss of ultimate exertion.

Might run a bit, but despite my membership here on slowtwitch I am strictly a cyclist. Only really run in the offseason, haven't swam since I was a lifeguard in high school.

I'm at key west on vacation right now and was considering renting a bike as well. It seems that the only ride worth while would be going on US1. It seems that any other route on the island is just too difficult to cruise on. Also, it is way too hot for me to get a decent workout outdoor. I went for a run yesterday afternoon and had a meltdown. I'm sticking with indoor training for now on!

Looks like it might be cooling down later in the week for ya. I agree with you that it looks like the only route really is US1 and I am at the end of the road season (ie not much to train for) so I am not sure how motivated I will be to go do the same ride over and over. That said I think I will still try and rent a bike for at least 1 day to check it out, say I rode down there etc.

Anybody have a recommended shop? I saw Eaton and We Cycle both rent road bikes. Any others that I am missing?

I'm done with tris for this season, in full marathon training mode now. I planned on using the vacation as a kick start for high mileage weeks. As soon as I felt the heat I wondered how I would do that. I ran outside twice already and both times it was just so hot that I had to slow dramatically. At one point I stopped to walk and my HR went from 160 running to only 140 after walking for a few minutes, pretty scary. Luckily hotel has a nice gym with a treadmill and spin bike.

On a side note, the MLK community pool is free! Just walk right in, since it's so hot there is also nobody really there swimming.

A friend of mine told me the Seven Mile Bridge was an experience. It went from nice to great to scary and back to nice. He was glad he did it and said it shouldn't be missed if you are in that area.