I am not one to ride on the Interstate unless I'm really pressed for time or simply tired of riding. I am also getting to know Florida really well. Without looking at a map, I knew that my route would take me out 50 to 301 north into the Ocala National Forest. From there, I really wanted to ride A1A up the coast to Jacksonville. All I needed to do was connect the two segments. I did that on BaseCamp and uploaded the route to my GPS. Normally, I would take the time to put in about a billion waypoints to force the route; but, I really wanted to leave, so I picked 5 waypoints and decided to call it a day for the GPS.
Routing this way is truly not desired. I think that if you don't have the time to properly force a route, just write down some waypoints and navigate by road signs. My GPS constantly...I mean constantly was "recalculating," so much so, I just turned off routing guidance and navigated by road signs and what I could remember of the route. If I got lost, I got lost. As long as I made it there before closing, I would get what I needed and get back home before the clock struck midnight...which isn't important anyway.
When I got up toward Ocala, I decided to have lunch at Fat Boy's BBQ in Ocala. I didn't see any fat boys though. There were a couple skinny chicks serving. I guess they keep the fat boys in the kitchen. There I consulted a map...a paper map...like the kind I'm always preaching about carrying on your bike. It showed that 40 was my connector to A1A. I thought I'd punch the address into the GPS when I got to Jacksonville and let it take me in the last 5 miles. The plan was a success and the ride was wonderful. It was great to see the ocean again. The weather guessers were predicting a hurricane for the weekend, so it's possible that the coast could be pretty well hammered in the week coming.
The Superior Shave store was right where the GPS said it would be. It is a nice place with tons of soaps, brushes, razors, strops, scissors, nail care instruments and so on. I spoke with the owner who is 6 years younger than me. He made no bones about telling me he knew everything about Dovo razors and that there were only 3 such serious stores for this type of thing. He was helpful. He also has a problem. Amazon is kicking the shit out of this niche industry. He told me they hired 7 people to work this industry and since that happened, business is tanking. He can't believe how much damage they've caused in such a short time. It is a pity. Big Internet giants continue to put the little guy out of business and soon, you won't be able to shop for anything in person. I'm sure they want it that way; but, there are certain things you want to try or test or feel or experience before you buy. You may also want to talk to an expert, etc. It's a sad state of affairs to be sure.
With supplies in hand, I tucked them away on the bike and went to find dinner. It was after 5. Chillis was as good a place as any, so I went there, caught up on email, messages and whatnot while waiting for a salad to arrive. Going home, I tried to wing it; but, before too long, I realized that the sky to the east was turning ugly and I needed to put miles between me and it. I opted for interstate roads and watched most of the way home as the storm continued to build. It seemed like it was growing parallel to my position the whole way. When I got to Spring Hill, there was a thunderstorm going on not to far south of me.
It was a good trip and now, my bike is ready for its next maintenance cycle!
All Trips to Date on the K1600GT:
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