Clubs and casual riders have plenty of scenic bike routes to choose from as they enjoy warm weather and great views.
Written by Glenn Miller
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No hills, icy roads or snow. Not a mountain within sight. Twelve months of warm cycling weather with only the rare cold morning. Well, there are also those steamy summer months, but that’s the price to pay in exchange for balmy winters.
In some ways, despite harrowing traffic on many streets, Southwest Florida offers cyclists plenty of pleasant riding. Palm trees along roadways. Glimpses of the Gulf of Mexico between condos and houses. Numerous coffee shop pit stops along popular cycling routes.
There are hidden gems such as the John Yarbrough Linear Park in south Fort Myers and Gulf Shore Drive in Naples.
What are the best routes? What path or lane or street is the best? That depends on one’s preference and bicycle.
Several members of the Caloosa Riders Bicycle Club stopped to chat and have photographs taken one recent morning on the John Yarbrough Linear Path in Lee County. They were perhaps 100 yards north of the path’s southern terminus along Ben C. Pratt/Six Mile Cypress Parkway.
The rider headed north, trees shading the path as it wound its way toward a bridge over a canal and on deeper into south Fort Myers and toward Fort Myers proper.
The cyclists were already talking about their destination this morning. They discussed pedaling south to Panera Bread at Coconut Point mall or to the Starbucks inside the Gulf Coast Town Center Target. Decisions, decisions.
Club president Steve Rodgers enjoys rides out to Sanibel and Captiva islands.
“First of all, it’s a challenge to do the bridge,” Rodgers said.
He said the participants on that ride usually stop for coffee on Captiva before turning around and heading back.
The best rides
Fort Myers resident Dan Moser, an avid cyclist and cycling advocate, also enjoys the Sanibel-Captiva ride but then added another.
“I could tell you where one of the best ones is – Lovers Key,” Moser said, standing on the side of the path. “That whole corridor. The south end of Fort Myers Beach. Lovers Key through Bonita and down Vanderbilt to Naples. That’s an unbelievable ride. Most of it, except for the very congested part of Fort Myers Beach, it’s quite nice and then you can stop off into Lovers Key State Park.”
Andy Robinson takes a break along Gulfshore Boulevard. / Debi Pittman Wilkey/Special to Coastal Life
Remini Scarfpin,11, rides with her mother Kelly McFadden on Ben Hill Griffen Parkway. They were riding with Scarfpin's brother, Riley, 9. McFadden likes the scenery along Ben Hill Griffen. / Andrew West/Coastal Life
Members of the Caloosa Riders gather for a portrait on a bike trail in south Fort Myers. / Andrew West/Coastal Life
View Scenic SWFL Bike Paths in a larger map
Fun cycling facts
• There is an average of 1.90 vehicles and 0.86 adult-sized bicycles per U.S. household.• About 25 percent of U.S. adults use a biking, walking or hiking trail at least once a week.
• Nearly 60 percent of all bike trips are shorter than one mile.
• The number of Americans who ride bikes is greater than all those who ski, golf and play tennis combined.
• The average bicycle commute is 7.5 miles and takes 30.7 minutes.
• 71 percent of Americans say they would like to bicycle more than they do now.
- Source: bikesbelong.org
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