Due to cold weather and wind, we delayed our return a day. We got back to our original departure point at ~3:30pm today (Monday 3/22/10).
Since the trip was so active, I didn't have time to post full day by day activities, but did get the more interesting, albeit non-incriminating, pics up.
I will be getting to the details of the trip posted in the next few days. Hope you enjoy the pics.
Some tidbits that might keep you interested in the upcoming details;
- The "almost" wreck in Florida
- Our adventures with Scott and his GPS
- Our Taxi driver almost hit a police car
- Who got sick and threw up in a Taxi
- Mark's encounter with the waitress
- Rain and cold, rain and cold...
- And much, much more
Monday, March 22, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Day 2 ( from Mom's house to Palm Beach)
We got up, all bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready for another day of adventure. We decided to meander to the old Fort St. Augustine. Mark, Eric and Teri, and I were on our bikes ready to roll, waiting on Scott, have I mentioned… Again? Unclear what he was doing and knowing the fort was only a half a mile down the road, we decided to go, he could catch up.
We got there, parked, paid, got maps, talked for a bit to the attendant, and began our trek to sight see… Then we got the call, from Scott, where are you at? Now if you have ever been to St. Augustine and you hotel’ed a half mile from the fort, you know what we were thinking, I sent the group on and waited another ten minutes and Scott rode up, we explored St. Augustine a bit, a wonderful city of history. On to breakfast…
Breakfast, more like a brunch, was at the Oasis, another fine recommendation from June Gemmer. Good food and view, really fun sharing stories with friends. On our departure, I imposed a “3 minute” rule, once everyone is ready to get going, you have 3 minutes for kickstands up.
This worked really well, Mark, Eric and Teri, and I were at the rode, again waiting on Scott. I yelled, one minute warning, to which passed and we began our journey, without Scott. He did catch up to us later down the road, we weren’t too concerned, he was the only one after all packing a GPS.
We rode the Florida East coast on A1A to Daytona Beach, got out a couple of times and let the sand fill the lacings of our steel toed biker boots. The ride was outstanding, beautiful weather, still a bit cool and a lot of wind. It was a fun ride.
On to Mark’s mom home, after all it was his birthday. Over the hills (this is an exaggeration, after all, we were in Florida) and through the woods, the Black Bear/ Ocala National Forest to be concise**, It was a nice change of scenery from the beach, but not as nice as expected. There were a couple of scenic spots which made it nice, but still a bit disappointing.
** (http://www.floridablackbearscenicbyway.org/explore/parks/ocala-national-forest)
We got to Mark’s moms in Oviedo, Fl. His brother, Lary (note the one “r”), was there with his wife and kids. His mom had a very nice enchilada dinner prepared, we ate with the family and sat around for some nice talks. I felt comfortable talking to Lary we waxed philosophical about weather, work, other things. Then came the cake. Mark had turned 50, the big five-o, half a century, on the other side of the hill, on a banana peel and picking up speed like no tomorrow. Now I understand why he was so vehement about getting here so fast, he didn’t have much time left…. Haha. Mark’s family was great, especially his mom, we all got a hug before we left and were on our way to the hotel.
Before the hotel, Mark, Lary and I decided to hit a local tavern, Shovelhead. Named appropriately as a biker bar, we walked in to the seedy place, it was like a scene from Wild Hogs. This was a real biker bar, everyone had tattoos, except me, Mark, Lary. I was afraid to ask where they got their ink, not being familiar with the local penitentiaries. If I wouldn’t be able to recognize the name, there would be that awkward silence, you know a real faux pas.
The bar was actually OK, although I would swear I saw the bar maid cleaning the glass she gave us by spitting and a dirty rag. Oh well, the alcohol would kill any germs… right? We stayed there for an hour and departed for our hotel….
Onto Day 3, Palm Beach, Florida
We got there, parked, paid, got maps, talked for a bit to the attendant, and began our trek to sight see… Then we got the call, from Scott, where are you at? Now if you have ever been to St. Augustine and you hotel’ed a half mile from the fort, you know what we were thinking, I sent the group on and waited another ten minutes and Scott rode up, we explored St. Augustine a bit, a wonderful city of history. On to breakfast…
Breakfast, more like a brunch, was at the Oasis, another fine recommendation from June Gemmer. Good food and view, really fun sharing stories with friends. On our departure, I imposed a “3 minute” rule, once everyone is ready to get going, you have 3 minutes for kickstands up.
This worked really well, Mark, Eric and Teri, and I were at the rode, again waiting on Scott. I yelled, one minute warning, to which passed and we began our journey, without Scott. He did catch up to us later down the road, we weren’t too concerned, he was the only one after all packing a GPS.
We rode the Florida East coast on A1A to Daytona Beach, got out a couple of times and let the sand fill the lacings of our steel toed biker boots. The ride was outstanding, beautiful weather, still a bit cool and a lot of wind. It was a fun ride.
On to Mark’s mom home, after all it was his birthday. Over the hills (this is an exaggeration, after all, we were in Florida) and through the woods, the Black Bear/ Ocala National Forest to be concise**, It was a nice change of scenery from the beach, but not as nice as expected. There were a couple of scenic spots which made it nice, but still a bit disappointing.
** (http://www.floridablackbearscenicbyway.org/explore/parks/ocala-national-forest)
We got to Mark’s moms in Oviedo, Fl. His brother, Lary (note the one “r”), was there with his wife and kids. His mom had a very nice enchilada dinner prepared, we ate with the family and sat around for some nice talks. I felt comfortable talking to Lary we waxed philosophical about weather, work, other things. Then came the cake. Mark had turned 50, the big five-o, half a century, on the other side of the hill, on a banana peel and picking up speed like no tomorrow. Now I understand why he was so vehement about getting here so fast, he didn’t have much time left…. Haha. Mark’s family was great, especially his mom, we all got a hug before we left and were on our way to the hotel.
Before the hotel, Mark, Lary and I decided to hit a local tavern, Shovelhead. Named appropriately as a biker bar, we walked in to the seedy place, it was like a scene from Wild Hogs. This was a real biker bar, everyone had tattoos, except me, Mark, Lary. I was afraid to ask where they got their ink, not being familiar with the local penitentiaries. If I wouldn’t be able to recognize the name, there would be that awkward silence, you know a real faux pas.
The bar was actually OK, although I would swear I saw the bar maid cleaning the glass she gave us by spitting and a dirty rag. Oh well, the alcohol would kill any germs… right? We stayed there for an hour and departed for our hotel….
Onto Day 3, Palm Beach, Florida
Day 1 (the ride goes on, and on...)
As the sun dropped, so did the temperature. At a stop somewhere mid-panhandle Florida we looked at the time/ distance remaining, I think we thought we could A) get there in three more days, B) Increase speed and really get with it. We picked “B” and Mark was off.
At first it was kind of artful, we were slaloming our bikes in and out of traffic with great ease, swishing past the various cars AND trucks, very much the skier on the slopes. Unlike a skier we were moving past objects there weight 2-10 times our weight, they were also moving and the thought of falling into a powdery puff didn’t seem to exist….. Needless to say at our next stop….
I looked everyone in the eye, are you really “mentally and physically crisp and clear”? The answers were mixed and not on the side of positive. We decided to take a beak and re-evaluate our plans. Should we stop here, we did cross the 1,000 mark, at least that’s what our bikes said, but Google didn’t agree, they said another ~50 miles and we had another ~150 miles to our original destination. Should we stay/ get to 1000 “Google” miles/ continue on with our destination?
After a nice meal which gave us time to relax and rethink our strategy, we picked the final destination, at least that was what we were thinking. That and “Mad Mark” would relinquish the lead “Slalomist” would give way to “Determined Dennis”. We abandoned the mad race to a more moderated approach, think put it on cruise and try to stay in the same lane for more than a minute. We didn’t get there any faster, but felt there the tension diminished, that and the break got us to our destination.
12:00am (Local time) We arrived!!! Not to end the day with only a bed call, we decided to go into the old town and find a local pub, the Milltop. It was a really nice little bar across from the old fort. While we were recanting the ride, taking copious notes on what worked and what didn’t we met Ken.
Thanks June, awesome stop.
Ken was a local who drove a horse drawn carriage at St. Augustine. Come to find out was a rider (Honda) and deeply engaged in the local ABATE chapter as Seargent at Arms. He was a little guy, with buoyant personality and some magic tricks, but again what would you expect from a guy who rides a Honda?
Since the most of us rode Harleys and he and Scott rode Hondas the lines were drawn. He was quick with his wits and a capable verbal contender, through the evening there were laughs and we all had fun but it was time to go… We went back to our hotel and Teri made the observation, when we were riding away, he was walking, but then again what can you say about a guy riding a Honda? I guess one his bike, he has “my other car is a horse”.
And that was the ride from Fort Worth, Texas to St. Augustine Florida, about 1,100 miles, in ~20 hours!
Read more Day 2
At first it was kind of artful, we were slaloming our bikes in and out of traffic with great ease, swishing past the various cars AND trucks, very much the skier on the slopes. Unlike a skier we were moving past objects there weight 2-10 times our weight, they were also moving and the thought of falling into a powdery puff didn’t seem to exist….. Needless to say at our next stop….
I looked everyone in the eye, are you really “mentally and physically crisp and clear”? The answers were mixed and not on the side of positive. We decided to take a beak and re-evaluate our plans. Should we stop here, we did cross the 1,000 mark, at least that’s what our bikes said, but Google didn’t agree, they said another ~50 miles and we had another ~150 miles to our original destination. Should we stay/ get to 1000 “Google” miles/ continue on with our destination?
After a nice meal which gave us time to relax and rethink our strategy, we picked the final destination, at least that was what we were thinking. That and “Mad Mark” would relinquish the lead “Slalomist” would give way to “Determined Dennis”. We abandoned the mad race to a more moderated approach, think put it on cruise and try to stay in the same lane for more than a minute. We didn’t get there any faster, but felt there the tension diminished, that and the break got us to our destination.
12:00am (Local time) We arrived!!! Not to end the day with only a bed call, we decided to go into the old town and find a local pub, the Milltop. It was a really nice little bar across from the old fort. While we were recanting the ride, taking copious notes on what worked and what didn’t we met Ken.
Thanks June, awesome stop.
Ken was a local who drove a horse drawn carriage at St. Augustine. Come to find out was a rider (Honda) and deeply engaged in the local ABATE chapter as Seargent at Arms. He was a little guy, with buoyant personality and some magic tricks, but again what would you expect from a guy who rides a Honda?
Since the most of us rode Harleys and he and Scott rode Hondas the lines were drawn. He was quick with his wits and a capable verbal contender, through the evening there were laughs and we all had fun but it was time to go… We went back to our hotel and Teri made the observation, when we were riding away, he was walking, but then again what can you say about a guy riding a Honda? I guess one his bike, he has “my other car is a horse”.
And that was the ride from Fort Worth, Texas to St. Augustine Florida, about 1,100 miles, in ~20 hours!
Read more Day 2
Monday, March 15, 2010
Day 1 (On our way) Part 1
Sorry we didn’t post to the blog sooner, sure a lot of folks had disappointing weekends because of us… sigh!
We all, exception of Scott, gathered at Mark's house the night before and got up ~1:00am. All had great aspirations of getting ready in just a few minutes having dutifully prepared the night before, but an our later, we were on the road to St. Augustine.
The first two hours could be characterized as we filled up, rode in the dark, and froze. It was cold! Running at ~80, the frigid wind in your hair… Scott and I were fairly OK, we had some fairings to ward off the morning chill, even Mark had a warm hibernation layer, but Teri and Eric, they were out there, needless to say, all were glad when the sun came up.
Traveling Intrastate 10 through Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida is much like traveling through East Texas, long road, lot of trees. Not much to see, although we were given a good opportunity to see a lot with the traffic jams we encountered, one going into the tunnel in Mobile, the other inside Florida. The jam in Florida was the longest, I estimate we were stuck enjoying the scenic beauty of the car in front of us for over an hour.
Interesting thing when you are stuck in traffic that long, the cars AND trucks behind you find creative ways to progress. In one case a tractor trailer (all of ~8 feet wide) find they can ride the shoulder (all of ~7 feet wide) and decided to make it their lane. Unbeknownst to me he is hitting fairly good speed upon passing, needless to say, I almost didn’t need to take a bathroom break after that.
As time passed a few cars took to the shoulder and here comes another truck, at least this time I was watching, as we are moving forward, he and I are at a bridge, where he needs part of MY lane! Being the friendly Texas driver I was, I held my spot, it was me (in my ½ ton bike) and him (in his multi ton tractor trailer semi) side by side, I believe I have some paint from his truck on my elbow, then comes the car in the shoulder, he then requires my entire lane, not going to happen, it was a showdown as he inched in, but I held firm, he stopped as he ran out of pavement and we moved on at a pace a turtle could have over-taken. Wow, that was exciting.
The trip overall was quite a bit longer than expected, we stopped ~10-12 times, each one taking more time than planned. Think a fuel stop, requiring 5 gallons at the most, by the time you get off the interstate to back on should only take 4-10 min tops, right? Not us rough and tumble set of bikers, I believe our average cycle time for a stop ranged from 20 to 30 minutes. That and the traffic jams contributed to a long journey.
There are more to add, but time to leave….
We all, exception of Scott, gathered at Mark's house the night before and got up ~1:00am. All had great aspirations of getting ready in just a few minutes having dutifully prepared the night before, but an our later, we were on the road to St. Augustine.
The first two hours could be characterized as we filled up, rode in the dark, and froze. It was cold! Running at ~80, the frigid wind in your hair… Scott and I were fairly OK, we had some fairings to ward off the morning chill, even Mark had a warm hibernation layer, but Teri and Eric, they were out there, needless to say, all were glad when the sun came up.
Traveling Intrastate 10 through Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida is much like traveling through East Texas, long road, lot of trees. Not much to see, although we were given a good opportunity to see a lot with the traffic jams we encountered, one going into the tunnel in Mobile, the other inside Florida. The jam in Florida was the longest, I estimate we were stuck enjoying the scenic beauty of the car in front of us for over an hour.
Interesting thing when you are stuck in traffic that long, the cars AND trucks behind you find creative ways to progress. In one case a tractor trailer (all of ~8 feet wide) find they can ride the shoulder (all of ~7 feet wide) and decided to make it their lane. Unbeknownst to me he is hitting fairly good speed upon passing, needless to say, I almost didn’t need to take a bathroom break after that.
As time passed a few cars took to the shoulder and here comes another truck, at least this time I was watching, as we are moving forward, he and I are at a bridge, where he needs part of MY lane! Being the friendly Texas driver I was, I held my spot, it was me (in my ½ ton bike) and him (in his multi ton tractor trailer semi) side by side, I believe I have some paint from his truck on my elbow, then comes the car in the shoulder, he then requires my entire lane, not going to happen, it was a showdown as he inched in, but I held firm, he stopped as he ran out of pavement and we moved on at a pace a turtle could have over-taken. Wow, that was exciting.
The trip overall was quite a bit longer than expected, we stopped ~10-12 times, each one taking more time than planned. Think a fuel stop, requiring 5 gallons at the most, by the time you get off the interstate to back on should only take 4-10 min tops, right? Not us rough and tumble set of bikers, I believe our average cycle time for a stop ranged from 20 to 30 minutes. That and the traffic jams contributed to a long journey.
There are more to add, but time to leave….
Friday, March 12, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Day -2 (28 hours and counting...)
Only 28 more hours before we depart, counting the minutes, can't wait to hit the coast, then the keys. This pic is off the Internet, of seven mile bridge toward Key West, Fl... Yup, we are going to be riding that!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Day -3 (Reviewing the Plans)
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OK... We are all a buzz about the ride. Not focusing on much else... Sexy and Tripod reviewing the routes and stops while taking a smoke break. Not much work being done around here now-a-days...
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Day -4 (Getting ready to ride!!!)
Only four more days left till we leave for Florida!!!Riding with Scott Buck (aka. Tripod), Mark Allen (aka. Teach), Teri (aka. Sexy) and Eric (aka. Gorgeous) Benton, four bikes, five people, one hotel room each night.
Beginning with Iron butt from Fort Worth, Texas to St. Augustine, Florida. Leaving at 2:00am on Saturday March 13th, getting to destination at ~9:00pm the same day! Everyone is getting pumped!
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