Bed, Breakfast & Bike Florida by Dale Lally Jr.

Cycling Guidebook; Part of the Bed, Breakfast and Bike Series

Jan 6, 2009

This book details one circular cycling route and five interconnected cross-Florida bike routes covering areas from Pensacola, in the panhandle, to Key West in the south.

Bed, Breakfast & Bike Florida can help cyclists planning to visit Florida, map out a variety of bike touring trips throughout the state. The book details 6 cycling routes throughout the state of Florida. Each route is divided into smaller day trips of between 40 and 86 miles. The cyclist can plan an entire week of bike touring, by following a complete route, or the biker can simply chose one or two segments along the route for a shorter weekend cycle tour.

Lally describes the book as a way "to provide routes for inn-to-inn touring and, by default, make accessible as much of Florida as possible via bike-friendly roads. Readers are encouraged to cobble together segments from one route with parts of other routes to form yet another route."

A useful addresses section, included at the back of the book, contains the contact information for restaurants, area attractions, bicycle repair shops and detailed profiles of bed-and-breakfast establishments located along the bike routes. Many of the bed-and-breakfasts offer cycling day tours originating from their inn.

About the Author

Lally was an enthusiastic cyclist and member of a number of biking organizations. Dale Lally Jr. passed away from a sudden heart attack, while viewing the L'Alpe d'Heuz section of the 2004 Tour de France. A wooden marker has been placed on the side of the road in France, marking the spot where Dale passed away. In lieu of collecting royalty payments earned from the sale of the book, Lally's family has elected to make a donation, in Lally's memory, to the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Lally was instrumental in putting together the plan for the East Coast Greenway project. This is a proposed 3,000 mile bicycle trail being planned which will extend from Maine to Key West. Lally also belonged to the Broward County Bicycle Advocacy Committee, where he campaigned for more bike trails in the south Florida area. Lally is also the author of Bed, Breakfast and Bike Mississippi Valley (Anacus Press, 2001).

About the Book

Bed, Breakfast & Bike Florida received a bronze rating for ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year Award in the Adventure/Recreation category. The awards were given at a special ceremony at Book Expo America in Washington, D.C. on May 19, 2006.

The copyright of the article Bed, Breakfast & Bike Florida by Dale Lally Jr. in Bicycle Touring Routes is owned by Lynn Smythe. Permission to republish Bed, Breakfast & Bike Florida by Dale Lally Jr. in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.