Captiva / Sanibel = island time

[Bruce K]

I am driving my wife down later this week for a 2 week getaway.

I'll depend a few days fishing and riding and then fly home whine she spends some extra time with one of her friends for a "girls getaway".

Bringing a cx bike on file treads.

Do we have any forumites living on "island time"?

BK

[Ralph]

We go there once or twice a year. In past, always took an old road bike. Since whole Island, every road, is one big bike path, and then they also have bike paths. Could get in an easy 25-30 miles in AM before family got going. Spend plenty of time in Ding darling National Wildlife refuge.

Was there couple weeks ago, and left bike at home. Used the hotel cruiser bikes. They were adequate and we had a blast cruising around on them with family. If hotel bikes too rusty, plenty of rentals available.

Took me about a day or so to get on Island time, but once you do that, it's another world there. I've been about every place in US, yes....all over New England, and like Sanibel Island best of all for family vacation....especially if you have kids. Just turn them loose.

BTW.....A tradition in our family is to go to blind pass, between Sanibel and Captiva, and watch the sun set into the water. We do that almost every night. I know you know all this, just mentioned it for others thinking about going. No place like Sanibel Island. Have a great trip. Fishing usually good also. My son caught a huge snook. Give us a trip report when you return.

[11.4]

I stay frequently on Captiva or Sanibel. The two islands are basically a long skinny beach with essentially one road going the length. There's a nearly continuous wide asphalt bike path paralleling the road, so you can ride evenings or whenever and not be in the traffic. There are plenty of intersections crossing the path, so it's not just a 25 mph training blast down the island. There are only a couple loops possible on the island, most notably through Ding Darling reserve. All roads are dead flat. The biggest hill on the two islands is the rise of the bridge going from Sanibel to Captiva.

In short, it's pretty but it's pretty boring to ride.

The causeway to the mainland is long, can sometimes be windy, and not the best to ride. Better to drive across and park. Then you have lots of super-wide flat well maintained roads going everywhere. The only problem is that you find yourself on some fast and busy bridges going to places like Estero Island. And off the island you're basically looking at flat terrain in swamps or flat terrain in the city. There are some loops you can do, such as a loop around Corkscrew Swamp or out to Labelle -- good training, but at times fairly busy and yes, always flat and featureless views. You can ride up through Cape Coral and onto Pine Island, but again ... basically one road up and down the island. If you go north through Cape Coral and keep heading up the coast, you have a couple busy bridges but you can generally get away from the highways and get some views. Drive up to Sarasota and ride Longboat Key while your family is on the beach or in stores.

But the bottom line is that as you go inland in the Ft Myers area, it turns to swamp or empty scrubland and there are very few roads, so you get forced onto highways that aren't much to ride on. Many are two-lane with lots of trucks, cane trucks, etc. If you are OK with a 25 mi ride up and down SanCap every day, that's probably your best bet. It's not an area I'd move to for the riding. You might just think about lots of beach walking, or bring trail shoes and walk Ding Darling, or go canoeing or kayaking in various areas. If you can get a small runabout skiff, you can go up to islands up the coast that have nice informal seafood restaurants -- part of the lifestyle here is running around in a boat to different islands. In short, I'd rank some of the amenities higher than I'd rank the cycling. Hope that helps.

[christian]

Fish. Drink.



No cycle.

[Bruce K]

Thanks for the thoughts/ideas

Lost track of the number of times we've been since 1989

Early AM rides are the plan

Staying up near Jensen's Marina at Sunset Captiva and will ride daily (and early) down to the lighthouse and back with a stop at The Bean and a detour through Ding Darling

Boat and captain are booked for at least one off shore trip (maybe sharks) and the rest will be from dockside while my wife is shelling

BK

[wallymann]

Fish. Drink.

No cycle.

this. if you want to ride, rent one of those auto-shifting 3-speeds for a few bucks a day. that'll let you sweat plenty. pics from captiva a couple years ago.

http://brown-snout.com/events/2011_captiva-island/IMG_2421.JPG
http://brown-snout.com/events/2011_captiva-island/IMG_2333.JPG
http://brown-snout.com/events/2011_captiva-island/IMG_2336.JPG
http://brown-snout.com/events/2011_captiva-island/IMG_2350.JPG
http://brown-snout.com/events/2011_captiva-island/IMG_2303.JPG

[bcroslin]

leave the bike at home and go paddle boarding/ fishing/ swimming, etc.

[11.4]

Even gravel roads are so hardpack that you can ride a regular road bike and enjoy the 95% smooth asphalt you'll be on. Almost everything is paved now, including nearly all of Ding Darling. Early rides are good because of the heat.

Generally, as most have stated above, find your exercise in ways other than bikes. You just ride the same flat out-and-back ride every day. Got inline racing skates? Much more of a workout on the same course and less hassle to ship. Local rental bikes are pretty bad. Find a local gym and do some time there, swim, sun, and eat. It's a very laid-back place and you'll be way more active than most if you raise your head when looking for a pool boy to bring you your next drink.

If you want, go cycling next to the swamps in Ding Darling where the alligators hang out. Good for interval training.

[Johnnyg]

I am driving my wife down later this week for a 2 week getaway.

I'll depend a few days fishing and riding and then fly home whine she spends some extra time with one of her friends for a "girls getaway".

Bringing a cx bike on file treads.

Do we have any forumites living on "island time"?

BK
Hi Bruce. I live on Sanibel six months of the year PM me is you wish. Have a great time. Quite this time of year. Enjoy

[Bruce K]

I knew that you were there but I thought you were more of a "Snowbird";)

There will be plenty of water sports and beaching on top of the bike rides. I am not a big "sheller" but my wife can sit all day in a shell pile and inspect every one. She only collects "baby" shells and rare ones (only one Junonia in all those years).

Should be a pretty relaxing time and I will try to avoid the alligator sprints :rolleyes:

BK

[saf-t]

Early morning snook from the beach has always been one of my favorite activities there.