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Lifestyles - August 7, 2005
Happy trails
Residents and visitors can find plenty to enjoy on Sanibel Island’s bike paths. Cyclists can take in the hustle and bustle of Periwinkle Way, but they can also indulge in silent beauty, lush vegetation and glorious views.
Published by news-press.com on August 7, 2005
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Sanibel Island is a cyclist's dream ride.
From the old lighthouse on the southeast end of the island to Blind Pass, where the trail ends just before Captiva Island begins, bikers can wend their way through almost 25 miles of off-road trails.
From the hustle and bustle of Periwinkle Way to the silent beauty of West Gulf Drive, the trails give a visitor or resident a view of the island that can't be experienced from a car.
Lush vegetation dots the island. Homes, seaside resorts and hotels feature a riot of color in yards.
Trees occasionally droop over the trails, especially at the southern end. Bikers can spot gators relaxing in swampy areas and small lakes. Heading beyond the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge, the land is less developed. Bikers invariably notice damaged trees and foliage, which are stark reminders of last year's violent hurricane season.
"That's what I like about Sanibel, the trails here. It's a beautiful route up to Captiva, and we end up at the general store and then come back," says Fort Myers resident Phil Hopt, unloading his bike with fellow rider Steve Martin.
Although bikers can access Sanibel via the causeway, Hopt prefers to avoid the hassle of the ongoing construction of a new bridge.
"There is no way I would ride the causeway over here. The cars behind you won't give you any room and there's nowhere to go," Hopt says.
For most tourists the Sanibel Causeway and the ongoing construction of a new bridge, which won't have a bike lane but will be rider-accessible via a breakdown lane, isn't an issue. They are content to stick to the Sanibel trails and perhaps venture onto Captiva with three more miles of road, albeit no trails.
"That is something we tell our renters," says Clare Harris, manager for Billy Rentals and Billy's Beach Service. "If they are considering going to Captiva, they will be in traffic."
Billy's rents everything from single- and multispeed bikes to multipassenger surreys complete with a fringe on top.
"But the biking on Sanibel is wonderful," Harris says, "and, with the exception of parts of Periwinkle, where the trail is adjacent to the traffic, you are off the road."
Harris, who regularly bikes the trails, says Billy's and other local rentals provide maps to riders. Harris is careful to point out to customers that, if they rent a bike for two hours and want to go to the lighthouse and then to J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge, they are in for a long ride.
"We do road calls if somebody has a flat tire or if they overestimate how far they can ride," Harris says.
A BIKER'S PARADISE
Overestimation didn't seem to be an issue for Sandy Capitani and Susan Stehman, both of Melbourne, on the east coast. They traveled to Sanibel for a "mini-vacation."
"I do some biking at home with my sister, and one reason we wanted to come here was to bike," says Stehman, who rode 15 miles the day before preparing for another long jaunt with Capitani.
"It's so peaceful here and so bike-friendly. It's a good stress reliever, and it clears my head besides being a great way to see Sanibel. I was last here in the '70s, but it still has a nice, friendly ambience."
Plenty of locals also use the trails — especially this time of year when the trails are less busy with adults and children pedaling along as they take in the sights.
"In the season, November though April, we ride weekly as a club, usually on Saturday mornings to avoid the crowds," says Patti Sousa, a member of the Sanibel Bike Club.
"We ride early this time of year to avoid the heat, but it's still a great way to get around," Sousa says.
"It can be very crowded on the trails during the season, but we were all tourists here at one time, so you just deal with it."
HOPING FOR CITY HELP
Sousa and other members of the bike club are hoping to deal with it by persuading the city to widen the bike lanes, many of which are only 5 or 6 feet wide, she says.
Sanibel's city council is willing to listen, but it all comes down to money.
“The bike club has offered to put $25,000 into helping widen the lanes, but we have to see how much more money we can come up with,” says city manager Judie Zimomra. “It’s in the first stage now and council will have to debate it. Before we build new trails or expand them, we have to maintain that infrastructure we have. I don’t know of anybody that opposes it, but it’s very much in its infancy.”
Even if the trails could use some work, they are ready for riders. That wasn’t the case a year ago in the wake of Hurricane Charley.
“We have been coming here since 1968, so we are pretty familiar with the island, but the bikes did give us a chance to really see what happened after the hurricane,” says regular biker and jogger Ralph Wozniak, who maintains homes on Sanibel and in suburban Chicago.
“We were here a couple of weeks after the storm and it was devastating,” he says. “We often had to ride in the road because the trails were in such bad shape.”
Towering Australian pines, the a non-native that sheltered Perwinkle Way with their shady limbs, toppled. Sturdy slash pines and mangroves broke like twigs in Charley’s powerful winds. Much of the debris came crashing on the bike trails.
The clean-up also battered the paths.
“Well, a lot of the trucks working around the island had to park on the trails, and that pretty much tore them up,” says Sousa. “But nobody cared then, and the trails are back in pretty good shape, although there are still what I would call potholes you need to look out for and some broken and jagged edges.”
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
More adventuresome riders can leave the trail — well, it actually ends — just before Blind Pass and the crossover to Captiva Island. The narrow road remains lined with storm debris in spots, making for a tricky, even dangerous ride.
“I ride out here every day from my house on Sanibel and it can be kind of scary,” says Scott Slind, manger of Yolo Watersports and Jim’s Bike and Scooter Rental on Captiva. “They are supposed to widen the road and put in a safety lane which will be good.”
While most visitors agree that’s a great concept, they like what’s here, especially the easygoing pace of the island.
“We have never been to Sanibel, so we are looking forward to a few days here,” says Tim Crowder of Albuquerque, N.M., as he and his wife Jean and son, Lucky, arrange to have bikes from Finnimore’s Cycle delivered to their resort.
“We want to spend some time on the beach and see the island, and we thought the bikes would be a great way to do it,” Crowder says.
Says Jean Crowder: “I want to get on a bike and ride around here and just take it easy."