Last month, I was lucky enough to find myself in St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands. My husband and I decided that the best way we could see this beautiful part of the world was on mountain bikes. We signed up for a mountain biking tour with Water Island Adventures, a local operation run by Susan Miller and Agnes Rampino.

The newest, smallest, and least known of the US Virgin Islands, Water Island is home to less than 200 people. Some live on the island and others live on boats that are anchored in the little bays and inlets around the island.

The tour starts with a ferry ride from Charlotte Amalie Harbor followed by a bike ride around the island and finishes at a secluded beach where we got to cool down in the ocean and order Pina Coladas from the local bar before heading back to St. Thomas.

The lovely Karen Riley was our guide. Butch Miller and Jim Dossey helped out as well by leading the ride and driving the support van.

It had poured rain all morning, but the sun came out for us in the afternoon and we just had a total blast. There is just nothing in the world like riding through the mud and then suddenly looking up and seeing turquoise waves crashing up on a white sandy beach or an iguana running across your path.

My husband and I fell in love with this island. Butch and Karen told us two funny little stories about the attempts of the local government to bring some rule and order to the people of Water Island. First, during our ride, they took us past a newly built fire house. Butch explained that the local government felt, a while back, that Water Island needed to have its own fire station so the fire house was built and shortly after, the fire truck that was to live there was delivered. However, the fire truck wouldn’t fit into the fire house (I guess no one thought to measure either one) so it was taken back to St. Thomas and now the fire house is used for community meetings and dances.

The second story was about the police car that we saw sitting by itself out in a vacant lot. Butch told us how the local government officials felt that a “police presence” was needed on the island so they had the cruiser sent over. They tried to start it the day it arrived and it wouldn’t start and it’s been sitting in that spot ever since.

Thank you to Karen, Butch and Jim. That afternoon was the best part of our trip down South and I highly recommend it to anyone else headed down to that area of the world. To book a tour, visit
http://www.waterislandadventures.com/contact.php

I will say though that hibiscus flowers hurt just as much when they hit you going by as the tree branches do here, but they sure smell lovely while they’re doing it.