Paradise is best on two wheels. With a slogan like that, we knew we found the best bike shop in Key West. On vacation in the Florida Keys, we spent a day in Key West, home of Hemmingway, the Southernmost Point in the United States and people dressed in silver catsuits and body paint also known as street performers. It’s also the home of a very cool bike shop, Eaton Bikes, just a few blocks off the main drag of Duvall Street, where you can also catch a drag show if so inclined. We opted for stops at Mallory Square, Panini Panini sandwich shop on Duvall and Virginia Streets, Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, the Southern Most Point marker, Higgs Beach, and a wonderful vegan/vegetarian bar/restaurant on Southard Street called simply, “The Café.” The first stop however, was the bike shop.
Cruise to Southernmost Point
We’ve rented beach cruisers a few years ago in Key West, but I couldn’t remember the shop name. All I can recall is that the shop had an actual name as opposed to Key Bikes, Bike Key West, Sunshine Cycles or any goofy touristy combination of bike related and tropical related words. “It’s a real shop name,” I said, “not Key West Bike Rental.” We binged and googled “Key West Bike Shop” on our phones as we drove down the sliver of Highway 1 that ties the keys together. We scrolled through the results. The only bike shop that came up with a normal name was Eaton Bikes, 830 Eaton Street. “That must be it!”
Mirror in Eaton Bikes Restroom
Every bike shop in Key West rents beach cruisers. I’m also pretty sure that every bank, bar, sandwich stand and parasailing outfit also rent bikes. We wanted a real bike shop, run by people into cycling. I didn’t want to rent from an “activity” center and people more interested in our credit card number than making sure we had good bikes and a great time. The second the shop door bell clanged overhead, we definitely stepped into the right place. Wow!
Handpainted
The staff at Eaton was super friendly. The price was right, $18 for a 24 hour rental. Being typical fussy cyclists, even with beach cruisers, they spent extra time making sure our saddles and handlebars were set up on our Jamis cruisers where we wanted them. While they closed at 8pm, they instructed that if we were out late we could lock the bikes to the fence and drop the key in a mailbox. They even had lights on the bikes. While they went about setting up bikes for all six of us, I set out in the shop snapping pictures of the hand painted cruiser bikes and interesting bike art.
She text messaged me from the saddle and told me she completed a Sudoku puzzle while riding her bike on the trainer. Seriously. What's next? Sudoku on the toilet? My wife said it made her dizzy. To avoid the spins while spinning and solving the puzzle, she had to put the book down, think about a solution to a square, then pick the book back up and fill in her answer. For the record, in case my wife is the million dollar inventor of a new sport, Bikedoku was invented in my garage on Sunday, January 2nd, 2011. I've already applied for a patent for a carbon fiber seat tube bottle cage pencil holder. If she ever decides to get rollers, I'm taking out a life insurance policy.
Either my garage must be incredibly boring to a woman, or the stimulus our bodies receive while riding an actual bike actually outside is unbelievably incredible. It can't be my garage, no woman can resist my man-cave. Along with a bible sized Sudoku puzzle book, she had the TV tuned to Universal Sports coverage of World Cup downhill skiing, her Blackberry and an I-pod at the ready…all this for an hour on the trainer. Is riding a bike outside with a group like solving a puzzle with music blaring, while checking Facebook updates as skiers swoosh down the Alps at 60mph in front of our eyes?
Apparently so.
3rd Wheel: Calculating How To Win Sprint Points
No wonder we crave it. Cycling is a sensory smorgasbord. Wind bites your face. From behind, someone shouts car back. Woosh! Pee Ewww. It’s a garbage truck. The spray of a puddle splash paints your shins. You glance down at your heart rate, still 80%. Oh how cute. Look, it’s an Alpaca farm. Better slow for the covered bridge ahead. Your fingers grab the cold brake levers. You reach back and pull a strawberry-banana Gu from your jersey pocket. A dog defends his territory running along the roadside fence.
That stuff happens on every single ride. Hundreds of sights, sounds, smells, flavors, and textures envelope your route.
Getting My Fix For The Rumble of Gravel
When I think about it, I wonder if we choose rides based on their sensory attributes. Your tired legs might crave an easy bike path ride, but I think your mind might be asking for something flat feeling, the tunnel-like feel of the tree canopy, the sound of the river on your right. You say you’d rather ride in Northern Kentucky than Ohio today. Maybe your body is craving the butterflies in the stomach feel of roller coaster hills, the sound of a horse whinny, and a ridgeline view.
It’s been a long time since her last race or big group ride.Maybe doing Sudoku on the trainer while texting and watching World Cup Skiing isn’t any crazier than calculating the time gap to your teammate in the breakaway and the number of miles to the finish line while you’re in the peloton inches from a wheel in front of you, with your heart rate at 85%, rolling at 24mph, as somebody shouts “left side” as you struggle to grab the wheel of a rival team member zipping up the left trying to make the bridge.
In case you miss racing...here's a taste of Bikedoku.
