| Date | Mileage | Maintenance / Repair Item | Cost | |
| 7/16/13 | 463 | Oil Change | 141.99 | |
| 7/20/13 | 774 | First Service | 175.5 | |
| 7/12/13 | 18 | Oil Change | 140.93 | |
| 8/21/13 | 6006 | 6K Service | ||
| 8/21/13 | 6006 | Rear Tire (Nail) | 511.25 | |
| 11/6/13 | 11162 | Front Tire Replacement | 235.55 | |
| 11/13/13 | 11948 | Oil and Air Filter | ||
| 11/13/13 | 11948 | 12 K Service | 398.01 | |
| 4/8/14 | 16370 | Rear Tire | ||
| 4/8/14 | 16370 | Front Brakes | ||
| 4/8/14 | 16370 | Cost | 445.52 | |
| 4/15/14 | 18656 | Oil Change | 174.51 | |
| 4/17/14 | 18000 | Spark Plug | ||
| 4/17/14 | 18000 | Air Filter | ||
| 4/17/14 | 18000 | Brake Fluid | ||
| 4/17/14 | 18000 | Antifreeze | ||
| 4/17/14 | 18000 | 18,000 mile service | ||
| 4/17/14 | 18000 | Front Tire | ||
| 4/17/14 | 18000 | Replace Center Stand | Warranty | |
| 4/17/14 | 18000 | Replace L Cluster switch | Warranty | |
| 4/17/14 | 18000 | Water Pump | Warranty | |
| 4/17/14 | 18000 | Cost | 1176.74 | |
| 7/7/14 | 24000 | 24000 service | 259.84 | |
| 7/7/14 | 24000 | Replace L Cluster switch | Warranty | |
| 7/7/14 | 28000 | Oil Change | ||
| 7/7/14 | 28000 | Lost Remainder of Receipt | ||
| 7/7/14 | 28000 | Cost | 347.33 | |
| 2/27/15 | 33000 | Oil Change | ||
| 2/27/15 | 33000 | Front Tire Replacement | ||
| 2/27/15 | 33000 | Rear Tire Replacement | ||
| 2/27/15 | 33000 | Front Brakes | ||
| 2/27/15 | 33000 | Cost | 793.89 | |
| 4801.06 |
Friday, February 27, 2015
20150228 - 33,000 Mile Maintenance Costs to Date
Monday, February 23, 2015
20150223 - 66 Alligators
I am having a really nice time riding in Florida. The rest of the country is suffering a terrible winter, except for maybe Southern California and a handful of other southern states. Weather seems to stop short of the Florida boarder. This weekend, temps dropped down into the high 30's; but, that's as cold as we've seen it. That said, I haven't been able to break out of Florida for more riding, so I'm really getting to know Florida pretty well.
My father is staying in Jupiter, and I've ridden there several time this winter already. I try to take a different route each time, hence the big knot on my map in central Florida. As it worked out this past weekend, my father had things to do, so I left early on Sunday with the thought that I'd grab a Cuban sandwich in Miami and then head out into the everglades for the trip home. Initially, I wanted to go all the way down to the Flamingo T loop; but, I didn't have time. Instead, I planned on heading out Rt. 41.
Rt. 41 is lined with folks selling air boat rides. It's very pretty; but, I was hoping that I'd see alligators and did not...at least not until I turned NW on 41. From there until I got to about 15 miles of I-75, I counted 66 alligators of all sizes. Some were in the water on the side of the road, some were on the bank. Some of the alligators were very big - 10' and maybe 40" around. I'm wondering if they are naturally there, of if they were being driven there by the massive forest fire that was going on in Big Cypress National Preserve. This fire is much bigger than it seems. Flames could be seen from the road and clouds towered into the sky and could easily be seen 20 miles away. I realized that I can't take chances anymore. I need to carry my GoPro everywhere I ride! Sorry, stills only.
Here's my latest map:
My father is staying in Jupiter, and I've ridden there several time this winter already. I try to take a different route each time, hence the big knot on my map in central Florida. As it worked out this past weekend, my father had things to do, so I left early on Sunday with the thought that I'd grab a Cuban sandwich in Miami and then head out into the everglades for the trip home. Initially, I wanted to go all the way down to the Flamingo T loop; but, I didn't have time. Instead, I planned on heading out Rt. 41.
Rt. 41 is lined with folks selling air boat rides. It's very pretty; but, I was hoping that I'd see alligators and did not...at least not until I turned NW on 41. From there until I got to about 15 miles of I-75, I counted 66 alligators of all sizes. Some were in the water on the side of the road, some were on the bank. Some of the alligators were very big - 10' and maybe 40" around. I'm wondering if they are naturally there, of if they were being driven there by the massive forest fire that was going on in Big Cypress National Preserve. This fire is much bigger than it seems. Flames could be seen from the road and clouds towered into the sky and could easily be seen 20 miles away. I realized that I can't take chances anymore. I need to carry my GoPro everywhere I ride! Sorry, stills only.
Here's my latest map:
Friday, February 20, 2015
Sunday, February 15, 2015
20150215 - New Port Richey to New Port Richey Florida
This trip is proof positive that I need to carry my Spot Tracker everywhere I ride. I was out for 7 hours riding and can't accurately plot all the little side roads and county highways I got off on. Basically, this started out as a hiking adventure. I was set to go to hiking somewhere up by the Richolam wildlife management area, south of Withlacoochee State park. Of course, I took the bike for the ride there and back.
As I approached Ridge Manor, just outside the park, a train was broken down across Rt. 50, so I swung a U-Turn and parked in the parking lot of the Gas/Convenience store on the corner, ate peanuts and watched the traffic approach, K-turn and bail. It wasn't but about 20 or 30 minutes before the train cleared and I was on my way. Shortly after, I found the trail head. Unfortunately, there was no parking and some guy in a Dodge Charger was insistent on tailgating me, so I wasn't about to slow down to look closely. The plan was to pull off at the next paved road and go back. It so happens that I turned off on County road something or other and decided to check it since there were tons of weeping willow trees and green scenery. That road came to a dead ended about 2 miles ahead. I turned around and continued with the original plan; but, about a quarter mile coming back on Rt. 50, I noticed a sign that said Florida State Scenic Byway.
It took me about 2 seconds to decide that today was going to be a riding day. From that point until I got to Leesburg Fl., some many hours later, I have no clue where I was; but, the roads were not jammed with cars and the scenery was very nice. The only plan was to follow the signs that someone was nice enough to put out there for me. I think my routing may have taken me up toward Ocklawaha. I saw several signs pointing toward Ocala. Again, I really wasn't concerned where I was at.
At some point, I thought I should probably head home, since I was in the middle of nowhere. My GPS wanted to route me back via the toll road and that just wasn't going to happen. I consulted my ROAD ATLAS (you carry one, right) and selected a route back; but, along the way, I came through Bushnell Florida and there is a lot of construction. My lane put me into a tight one lane, uneven, rocky cattle shoot for about a quarter mile. During that time, some guy in a pickup and some lady in a mini-van, clearly trying to circumvent the road signs turned into my lane and started coming at me. She was smart enough to turn around. The A-hole in the pickup kept coming at me. Fortunately, I found enough space to narrowly pass him. When I got to the end, it was totally closed off. They were having some kind of car rally in town. There were detour signs, so I followed. They took me into more nice country roads, so I decided I'd follow those for awhile. Eventually, I found myself on Rt. 27 somewhere around Minneola. I saw signs for Disney ahead, so I decided I really better make tracks for home. Again, I pulled over to consult the ROAD ATLAS.
I pulled into a Gas/Convenience store and next to some people on red Gold Wings. They looked new. It so happens that they were from Harleysville, 5 miles from where I used to live in Collegeville PA. They flew down to Orlando and rented these. They were headed to the Panhandle. One guy normally rides a V-Strom and the other a BMW R bike; but, wasn't specific.
Thinking that I was further North on Rt. 27, I decided to just reverse course, travel North and grab I-75. As it was, I ended up backtracking about 15 miles.
Here is the route as best as I can remember it. I really need to carry the Spot Tracker wherever I go. I was on so many little roads and offshoots. It was a good ride. Chances are, I'll do it again.
As I approached Ridge Manor, just outside the park, a train was broken down across Rt. 50, so I swung a U-Turn and parked in the parking lot of the Gas/Convenience store on the corner, ate peanuts and watched the traffic approach, K-turn and bail. It wasn't but about 20 or 30 minutes before the train cleared and I was on my way. Shortly after, I found the trail head. Unfortunately, there was no parking and some guy in a Dodge Charger was insistent on tailgating me, so I wasn't about to slow down to look closely. The plan was to pull off at the next paved road and go back. It so happens that I turned off on County road something or other and decided to check it since there were tons of weeping willow trees and green scenery. That road came to a dead ended about 2 miles ahead. I turned around and continued with the original plan; but, about a quarter mile coming back on Rt. 50, I noticed a sign that said Florida State Scenic Byway.
It took me about 2 seconds to decide that today was going to be a riding day. From that point until I got to Leesburg Fl., some many hours later, I have no clue where I was; but, the roads were not jammed with cars and the scenery was very nice. The only plan was to follow the signs that someone was nice enough to put out there for me. I think my routing may have taken me up toward Ocklawaha. I saw several signs pointing toward Ocala. Again, I really wasn't concerned where I was at.
At some point, I thought I should probably head home, since I was in the middle of nowhere. My GPS wanted to route me back via the toll road and that just wasn't going to happen. I consulted my ROAD ATLAS (you carry one, right) and selected a route back; but, along the way, I came through Bushnell Florida and there is a lot of construction. My lane put me into a tight one lane, uneven, rocky cattle shoot for about a quarter mile. During that time, some guy in a pickup and some lady in a mini-van, clearly trying to circumvent the road signs turned into my lane and started coming at me. She was smart enough to turn around. The A-hole in the pickup kept coming at me. Fortunately, I found enough space to narrowly pass him. When I got to the end, it was totally closed off. They were having some kind of car rally in town. There were detour signs, so I followed. They took me into more nice country roads, so I decided I'd follow those for awhile. Eventually, I found myself on Rt. 27 somewhere around Minneola. I saw signs for Disney ahead, so I decided I really better make tracks for home. Again, I pulled over to consult the ROAD ATLAS.
I pulled into a Gas/Convenience store and next to some people on red Gold Wings. They looked new. It so happens that they were from Harleysville, 5 miles from where I used to live in Collegeville PA. They flew down to Orlando and rented these. They were headed to the Panhandle. One guy normally rides a V-Strom and the other a BMW R bike; but, wasn't specific.
Thinking that I was further North on Rt. 27, I decided to just reverse course, travel North and grab I-75. As it was, I ended up backtracking about 15 miles.
Here is the route as best as I can remember it. I really need to carry the Spot Tracker wherever I go. I was on so many little roads and offshoots. It was a good ride. Chances are, I'll do it again.
20150207-2015-209 - New Port Richey to Jupiter Florida and back
There's not much to write about on this trip except that I'm trying to find a way to get from NPR to Jupiter faster. My father is staying in Jupiter for the winter and I like to go visit him. My last trip was in the truck and took 4 hours. I left after work on a Thursday and got caught up in traffic around the junction of I75 and I4.
For this trip, I tried two different routes. Neither of them gets me there in less than 4 hours. I thought the last route might be good as it was more direct. Unfortunately, I must have encountered (no joking) 50 or more traffic lights along the way - route 1 and many more on route 2.
I think next time, I'm going to try I75 down to 70 and take that across. At the end of the day, I'm riding and getting to see more of the state!
Oh, I did encounter some weather on the trip. See pic 3. I was in this from Lakeland all the way home. What a mess. Within a span of 3 or 4 miles, there were as many rear end collisions.
For this trip, I tried two different routes. Neither of them gets me there in less than 4 hours. I thought the last route might be good as it was more direct. Unfortunately, I must have encountered (no joking) 50 or more traffic lights along the way - route 1 and many more on route 2.
I think next time, I'm going to try I75 down to 70 and take that across. At the end of the day, I'm riding and getting to see more of the state!
Oh, I did encounter some weather on the trip. See pic 3. I was in this from Lakeland all the way home. What a mess. Within a span of 3 or 4 miles, there were as many rear end collisions.
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Time to start thinking about an Alaska Trip
My customer changed his mind. My trip for this year has been canceled. Yes, I'm disappointed!
"No plan of operations extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy's main strength" (or "no plan survives contact with the enemy,") - Heimuth von Molitke
I don't plan for just this reason. I tend to think about thinks in terms of options and contingencies. Maybe I plan to have those things. Everything else seems to work out.
Based on Heimuth's quite, I need to ask myself what are the enemies main strengths, or for that matter, who is the enemy.
Well, Mother Nature can sometimes be the enemy. I recall a specific trip last year during Winter Storm Boreas where Mother Nature was in a hell of a mood; although, I wouldn't call her the enemy. She's more like a fickle friend. Sometimes, she's your best friend - warm days, sunny skies, light winds and sometimes, she I'd just like to tune up that attitude she brings. That said, in order to deal with my fickle friends special problems, I bring heated gear, rain gear, sunscreen, sunglasses and consult weather maps every step of the way. Now, in this case, I could be off the grid, so I may have to do some weather planning a couple days out and use a wet thumb to tell wind direction.
Mechanical failures. Now there's an enemy. There's nothing fickle about mechanical failures. They plain old suck. It just so happens that my warranty will expire in about 5,000 miles. I need to get that many miles in and then some as I don't want to leave with a freshly "fixed" bike. Ok, more riding. I can do that. There's barely anything on my bike that can be fixed outside of a hole in the tire. So, now my list of prep items reads like this:
Heated Gear
Rain Gear
Sunscreen
Sunglasses
Computer
Put 6,000 miles on the bike in the next 12 weeks and get warranty service at 5,000 miles.
Tire kit
BMW MOA Anonymous book
Money
My "Tire kit" also includes things like JB Weld, a few tools, including a T-25 that is needed to get anything off my bike anyway. Except to help another stranded biker, I don't think I've every pulled any of it out for self-rescue. Hopefully, there won't be a first. I also carry a first aid kit with me. I know. If I wreck, a Band-aid will be of little use to me; but, I have opened the first aid kit for other simple matters. The funny thing about the first aid kit is that I leave it in the bike when others need it...like at the car accident I stopped at in South Dakota. The first arriving PD will have a kit and they can get their stuff replaced. Moving on.
Lack of sleep. Here's another enemy that isn't bad until it's really bad...like when you're searching for a place at O-DARK-THIRTY and everything is booked for miles. This is also the biggest expense of the trip. To deal with this enemy, I will bring more money and I'll even check to see if I can use my Best Western points on a couple rooms along the way. I have a ton of points. I've never cashed them in. I think it's time to step up to the challenge. Just in case I can't find a room and on the odd chance that I might want to sleep under the stars somewhere, I'll bring my camping gear. The individual components of my camping gear have been well thought out and used many times. There's no need for me to go through that list - I can pick up the bag and go.
Stench. Really, this is only an enemy if I want to be considerate of other people. I know what I smell like when I've been forced to remain in the same clothes for days on end without a shower. I can live with it as long as it takes. There is a chance that I might want to go out and have dinner at a restaurant and not wear my riding gear (which I'll add to the list), so, I should bring a change of clothes, a pair of sneakers, a tooth brush, tooth paste and soap. Shave? Hell no. Blades are expensive. Shaving is totally unnecessary.
Now, we have a list going. I'm going on a trip to Alaska and I'm going to bring:
Heated Gear
Rain Gear
Sunscreen
Sunglasses
Computer
Put 6,000 miles on the bike in the next 12 weeks and get warranty service at 5,000 miles.
Tire kit
BMW MOA Anonymous book
Money
First Aid Kit
Best Western Points
Camping Gear
More Money
Change of clothes
Sneakers
Riding Gear
Tooth brush
Tooth Paste
Soap
The only other enemy I can think of is an empty fuel tank. For that, I will bring more money. I might do the Dalton Highway and I know that it has limited gas...414 miles. I won't make it in one tank. This sucks. Now, I might have to plan for an enemy that I haven't met yet. To safely put gas cans on my bike is going to take some engineering... My mind kind of works like this when it comes to this sort of thing.
Fortunately, I think there is a simple solution.
This will only be necessary if I decide to go up the Dalton Highway to Prudhoe Bay. This is considered a rite of passage. I've been told, and I'm paraphrasing - "... it's the shittiest road on the planet. You can plan on dropping that gorgeous bike of yours and it would be a damn shame to see it get banged up. I recommend that you rent something for that trip."
More later...
"No plan of operations extends with certainty beyond the first encounter with the enemy's main strength" (or "no plan survives contact with the enemy,") - Heimuth von Molitke
I don't plan for just this reason. I tend to think about thinks in terms of options and contingencies. Maybe I plan to have those things. Everything else seems to work out.
Based on Heimuth's quite, I need to ask myself what are the enemies main strengths, or for that matter, who is the enemy.
Well, Mother Nature can sometimes be the enemy. I recall a specific trip last year during Winter Storm Boreas where Mother Nature was in a hell of a mood; although, I wouldn't call her the enemy. She's more like a fickle friend. Sometimes, she's your best friend - warm days, sunny skies, light winds and sometimes, she I'd just like to tune up that attitude she brings. That said, in order to deal with my fickle friends special problems, I bring heated gear, rain gear, sunscreen, sunglasses and consult weather maps every step of the way. Now, in this case, I could be off the grid, so I may have to do some weather planning a couple days out and use a wet thumb to tell wind direction.
Mechanical failures. Now there's an enemy. There's nothing fickle about mechanical failures. They plain old suck. It just so happens that my warranty will expire in about 5,000 miles. I need to get that many miles in and then some as I don't want to leave with a freshly "fixed" bike. Ok, more riding. I can do that. There's barely anything on my bike that can be fixed outside of a hole in the tire. So, now my list of prep items reads like this:
Heated Gear
Rain Gear
Sunscreen
Sunglasses
Computer
Put 6,000 miles on the bike in the next 12 weeks and get warranty service at 5,000 miles.
Tire kit
BMW MOA Anonymous book
Money
My "Tire kit" also includes things like JB Weld, a few tools, including a T-25 that is needed to get anything off my bike anyway. Except to help another stranded biker, I don't think I've every pulled any of it out for self-rescue. Hopefully, there won't be a first. I also carry a first aid kit with me. I know. If I wreck, a Band-aid will be of little use to me; but, I have opened the first aid kit for other simple matters. The funny thing about the first aid kit is that I leave it in the bike when others need it...like at the car accident I stopped at in South Dakota. The first arriving PD will have a kit and they can get their stuff replaced. Moving on.
Lack of sleep. Here's another enemy that isn't bad until it's really bad...like when you're searching for a place at O-DARK-THIRTY and everything is booked for miles. This is also the biggest expense of the trip. To deal with this enemy, I will bring more money and I'll even check to see if I can use my Best Western points on a couple rooms along the way. I have a ton of points. I've never cashed them in. I think it's time to step up to the challenge. Just in case I can't find a room and on the odd chance that I might want to sleep under the stars somewhere, I'll bring my camping gear. The individual components of my camping gear have been well thought out and used many times. There's no need for me to go through that list - I can pick up the bag and go.
Stench. Really, this is only an enemy if I want to be considerate of other people. I know what I smell like when I've been forced to remain in the same clothes for days on end without a shower. I can live with it as long as it takes. There is a chance that I might want to go out and have dinner at a restaurant and not wear my riding gear (which I'll add to the list), so, I should bring a change of clothes, a pair of sneakers, a tooth brush, tooth paste and soap. Shave? Hell no. Blades are expensive. Shaving is totally unnecessary.
Now, we have a list going. I'm going on a trip to Alaska and I'm going to bring:
Heated Gear
Rain Gear
Sunscreen
Sunglasses
Computer
Put 6,000 miles on the bike in the next 12 weeks and get warranty service at 5,000 miles.
Tire kit
BMW MOA Anonymous book
Money
First Aid Kit
Best Western Points
Camping Gear
More Money
Change of clothes
Sneakers
Riding Gear
Tooth brush
Tooth Paste
Soap
The only other enemy I can think of is an empty fuel tank. For that, I will bring more money. I might do the Dalton Highway and I know that it has limited gas...414 miles. I won't make it in one tank. This sucks. Now, I might have to plan for an enemy that I haven't met yet. To safely put gas cans on my bike is going to take some engineering... My mind kind of works like this when it comes to this sort of thing.
Fortunately, I think there is a simple solution.
This will only be necessary if I decide to go up the Dalton Highway to Prudhoe Bay. This is considered a rite of passage. I've been told, and I'm paraphrasing - "... it's the shittiest road on the planet. You can plan on dropping that gorgeous bike of yours and it would be a damn shame to see it get banged up. I recommend that you rent something for that trip."
More later...
Friday, December 12, 2014
20121212 - New Port Ritchie to New Port Ritchie via Okeechobee, Naples and Ft. Meyers
Another weekend ride. The plan is to run across to Okechobee and look at some houses and come back through Naples, Ft. Meyers, Tampa and back to New Port Ritchie. Depending on what time I'm done looking at houses, the route will look something like this. Fort Meyers and Naples might be good areas to look in for a house, so I'm going to do some scouting. I don't have to be back until Monday at 9:30 so I can make my morning meeting, so I can take my time and do some exploring along the way. I've already ridden alligator alley a couple times and I've ridden from Bradenton to New Port Ritchie before; but, most of the rest of the route is new. I'm particularly looking forward to the trip around the lake. Weather is supposed to be sunny and 70's tomorrow in Okeechobee.
The original plan was for me to leave in the morning; but, doing hours and thirty minutes of riding and getting there at 8:30 meant kickstand up at 5 am sharp and a 4:30 wake up call. I get up early enough as it is, I don't need to do that. It's not like I'm trying to make a 7am boat launch or do an IBA run. When it dawned on me that this was the situation I was in, I threw some close, my computer and chargers in my hard case, forgot my toiletries and headed out. When I got to Lakeland Florida, it was time to stop for dinner. Cracker Barrel is one of my favorite restaurants when I'm riding. Their service is always good, the food consistently good and usually, I don't have to wait very long. Tonight, I had to wait and while I did, I pulled out my ROAD ATLAS to check out the remainder of the trip. I knew I would have to turn south soon. I just didn't know when. As it works out, I need to go south now. I've riddnt into South Central Florida before, and it's sparsely populated and I can't remember seeing any nice clean hotels, so I was thinking maybe I should just stay here tonight. I've got an hour of riding under my belt, so I don't have to get up early tomorrow. Right about then, I saw the embroidering on the jacket of the guy sitting in front of me. It said 2,000,000 safe miles. Yes, 2 Million. So I asked him if he knew anything about the trip to Okeechobee and chances for hotels along the way. In a perfect southern drawl, he said "You need to stay riiiighhht here." A friend of his, apparently another truck driver happened by and the guy I was talking to asked him. He also said I wasn't going anywhere tonight if I had any intentions of sleeping in a hotel before I got there. So, there you have it. I decided I'd be staying here. It also so happened that there was a Sleep Inn right next door and they had rooms. So, here I am, writing this post from room 202. Oh, I didn't mention. I'd been using my phone pretty hard today and the battery was at 10%, which meant that if I got out into the sticks, broke down, etc. I wouldn't be calling anyone for help...another good reason to be here.
[Lakeland to Naples]
39 degrees was the temp at 6am when I went kickstand up. I had to be in Okeechobee by 8:30 to meet Jeff, my real estate agent. I had enough sense to take my heated gear with me, so temperature wasn't really a problem, except for the continual fogging of my windscreen and face shield on my helmet. It was just cold enough in the wind to want the shield down; but, every time I put it down, it would fog right up. Leaving it cracked one notch was just enough to allow an annoying amount of cold air in. That was the best I was going to get, so that's the way I road. It's better to have a cold face than not be able to see at all. It was dark at 6am. The sun was going to snooze for another half hour, maybe more. The route took me down 98 to 60 to 441. It's a nice ride and the guys from last night were spot on. There wasn't a hotel, motel or inn anywhere in sight. The Trans Canadian Highway has more places to stay...by a long shot. There wasn't much in the way of restaurants or gas stations either.
As planned, the sun started peaking up over the horizon and I happened to be in a place where there weren't many trees or obstructions, so I rode into the sun rise for the whole show. First, the fog coming off the wet areas became visible, then the horizon started to turn purple, then a layer of orange, that faded to peach, then to purple again and then light blue. It was pretty spectacular. At some point, a cloud got in front of the sun and you could see the outline of the cloud in front of the rising sun. It was very cool. Temperatures weren't much higher than 41; but, I knew that it would be getting warmer by the minute now that the sun was on the rise.
Right about the time the sun was all the way up, I passed a sign that said "Panther crossing." Panther crossing???!!! So many questions come to mind when seeing a sign like this...Are they kidding me? How big are these panthers? How fast, hungry and angry are these panthers? Have there been motorcyclists torn out of their seats by panthers? What is the proper procedure if you encounter a panther at highway speeds? Do you slow down, let it approach you and then gun it? Do you twist some throttle and try to go behind it? Do your drive at it and let it decide which way it wants to go? Seriously, what do you do? I know for sure the guidance on what to do if chased by a dog is complete BS. I guess you just make your decision and go with it. I imagine hesitation could get you killed. What if the panther knows you're confused, or was taking lessons from a squirrel on how to make a motorcycle skid off the roadway....panther causes accident and then goes and starts eating the wounded motorcycle rider. What a very smart; but, lazy panther. Anyway...
I arrived in Okeechobee about half an hour early. I had no idea but, Okeechobee actually has some infrastructure. The first thing I saw...and I didn't have time to look around...was a Golden Corral. I'd never been to one of these places; but, the idea is...all you can eat for like $11. They have a serious breakfast spread. It's almost like a brunch spread. All I wanted was an omlet and some toast. Since I was paying for it, I got a small cup of corn beef hash and a small cup of grits too. That plus the omlet plus a cup of tee made for a good breakfast. I was tempted to eat more; but, there was this guy with his name on the back of a school bus drivers hoodie that weighed 400 pounds if he weighed an ounce. I was there less than 15 minutes and in that time, I saw him get up and get 3 plates of food. When you think about it, where else would someone this big eat, particularly on a bus drivers salary? This ended any ideas I had about tying on the feed bag. It was almost enough to make me break down and have yogurt and fruit for breakfast. Fortunately for me, I saw this guy BEFORE I spotted a huge container of BACON. Had I not, I might have just taken that and eaten that for breakfast. Maybe this was an intervention from God. Again, I digress...
I met Jeff. He's a very affable, Kentucky bred, ex law enforcement kinda guy. We got along right from the start. The first thing he said was that there was a Christmas parade in town and the whole town is going to be a giant mess in just about half an hour. He suggested we take my bike over to his house, about 3 miles away, and park it there. He said it would be safe and we'd ride around in his pickup truck. We did that. Blah, blah blah. We saw a bunch of crappy houses. Blah, blah, blah. Back to the bike. Jeff and I shook hands and I was back on my bike. Now, it was a pleasant 71 degrees.
I followed 441 around the east side of the lake. It's a big lake; not great like big; but, big nonetheless. For some reason, I couldn't find rt. 27 to take me to rt. 75; but, that's OK. I stayed on 441 all the way to Davies Fl., right outside Ft. Lauderdale. It was 81 degrees on the East coast. Traffic was horrible. There were way too many traffic lights and lots of cages darting in and out of traffic. 441 leads to 595, which becomes 75 - the Alligator Highway. The Alligator Highway is so named because it cuts through the Everglades and probably does host a couple million of em. The interesting thing is that about 30 yards off the pavement there is a fence that is 8-10 feet high and topped with 3 strands of barbed wire. For those of you that don't know anything about barbed wire topped fences, they are always angled toward what you want to keep out; prisons - angled in, private residence, angled out. These were angled away from the highway. This begs the question...what is on the other side of that fence that requires barbed wire topping on a fence because it can scale an ordinary 8-10 chain link fence? I can't imagine an alligator scaling any kind of fence...digging under, maybe. As for snakes, if they are small enough, they could fit through; but, I can't imagine the barbed wire topping stopping a snake that really wants to get over. I imagine a properly sized boa constrictor could get over a fence that size.
On the other side of the Alligator highway is Naples. I wanted to look around, and the sun was going to go down soon enough, so I found a hotel and checked in. The guy at the desk was nice enough. He thanked me for being a loyal Best Western customer and gave me a suite with a King sized bed for a regular room price. There's also a balcony with chairs on it. Very nice!
Hopefully, I'll get more sleep than I did last night. The idiots in the room above me were loud until about 1:30 in the morning. Some people are just inconsiderate. For some reason, I couldn't sleep either. I remember waking up every hour on the half hour. The only time I don't remember seeing was 4:30.
...
Sleep was good. It's possible there was even some drool involved.
Since today was going to be a light day of riding, I decided to get some breakfast, call Dad for his birthday and wait until temps reached 60 something. There's no need to put on an extra layer of heated clothing when it's just not needed. The plan was to ride out to the bay and stay as close to the bay as possible.
Leaving the hotel, I went West until I hit 41N. That took me to 865 and onto Ft. Meyers Beach. This was a huge bummer. Real Estate is so built up that it's nearly impossible to see the bay from the road. All you see is big hotels and palm trees. What a disappointment. Oh well.
Coming out of Fort Meyers, I wanted lunch and was in the mood for fish, so I stopped at the Fish Monger restaurant. I walked in and was greeted by half a dozen seniors that were sitting at the bar with football jerseys on. The first question they asked was who I was rooting for and I said I didn't care. They said I could root for the Packers or the Steelers. Whatever. Then I waited, while other seniors showed up and were served first. I was getting pretty torqued that I was being ignored. Apparently, these were regulars. Finally, the bartender came over - yes, I was sitting in the bar - and I was able to ask for a menu. That and my iced tea took awhile to get to me; but, it finally made it to my table. I ordered the Mahi Mahi, sandwhich,blackened. The sandwhich had real fish on it and was pretty good. If only the service were better, I'd recommend the place That said, I wouldn't recommend not going, just be prepared for a wait. Onward I went.
The trip got a little better as I made my way up to Sanibel Island. $2 gets a motorcycle across the bridge vs. $6 for a car. It's a very cool bridge that crosses the bay. It's worth the $2 to cross. The island is pretty neat and it was interesting watching people fish, with pelicans standing right next to them waiting for them to reel something in. Lazy birds! They know how to fish. They should be out getting their own meals. Next think you know they'll have Internet and call for Pizza.
Once off the island, I thought I should start getting home if I wanted to be home before dark and before the temps started to fall, so I made my way to I-75. I've learned my lesson that there is nothing to be gained by traveling state and county roads along the Florida coast...either side. It's nothing by people, traffic and more traffic lights than can be imagined.
I managed to get home just after the temps descended back into the 60's.
Here's the whole route...
How long will it take me to completely fill in Florida? I know...resolution matters...
The original plan was for me to leave in the morning; but, doing hours and thirty minutes of riding and getting there at 8:30 meant kickstand up at 5 am sharp and a 4:30 wake up call. I get up early enough as it is, I don't need to do that. It's not like I'm trying to make a 7am boat launch or do an IBA run. When it dawned on me that this was the situation I was in, I threw some close, my computer and chargers in my hard case, forgot my toiletries and headed out. When I got to Lakeland Florida, it was time to stop for dinner. Cracker Barrel is one of my favorite restaurants when I'm riding. Their service is always good, the food consistently good and usually, I don't have to wait very long. Tonight, I had to wait and while I did, I pulled out my ROAD ATLAS to check out the remainder of the trip. I knew I would have to turn south soon. I just didn't know when. As it works out, I need to go south now. I've riddnt into South Central Florida before, and it's sparsely populated and I can't remember seeing any nice clean hotels, so I was thinking maybe I should just stay here tonight. I've got an hour of riding under my belt, so I don't have to get up early tomorrow. Right about then, I saw the embroidering on the jacket of the guy sitting in front of me. It said 2,000,000 safe miles. Yes, 2 Million. So I asked him if he knew anything about the trip to Okeechobee and chances for hotels along the way. In a perfect southern drawl, he said "You need to stay riiiighhht here." A friend of his, apparently another truck driver happened by and the guy I was talking to asked him. He also said I wasn't going anywhere tonight if I had any intentions of sleeping in a hotel before I got there. So, there you have it. I decided I'd be staying here. It also so happened that there was a Sleep Inn right next door and they had rooms. So, here I am, writing this post from room 202. Oh, I didn't mention. I'd been using my phone pretty hard today and the battery was at 10%, which meant that if I got out into the sticks, broke down, etc. I wouldn't be calling anyone for help...another good reason to be here.
[Lakeland to Naples]
39 degrees was the temp at 6am when I went kickstand up. I had to be in Okeechobee by 8:30 to meet Jeff, my real estate agent. I had enough sense to take my heated gear with me, so temperature wasn't really a problem, except for the continual fogging of my windscreen and face shield on my helmet. It was just cold enough in the wind to want the shield down; but, every time I put it down, it would fog right up. Leaving it cracked one notch was just enough to allow an annoying amount of cold air in. That was the best I was going to get, so that's the way I road. It's better to have a cold face than not be able to see at all. It was dark at 6am. The sun was going to snooze for another half hour, maybe more. The route took me down 98 to 60 to 441. It's a nice ride and the guys from last night were spot on. There wasn't a hotel, motel or inn anywhere in sight. The Trans Canadian Highway has more places to stay...by a long shot. There wasn't much in the way of restaurants or gas stations either.
As planned, the sun started peaking up over the horizon and I happened to be in a place where there weren't many trees or obstructions, so I rode into the sun rise for the whole show. First, the fog coming off the wet areas became visible, then the horizon started to turn purple, then a layer of orange, that faded to peach, then to purple again and then light blue. It was pretty spectacular. At some point, a cloud got in front of the sun and you could see the outline of the cloud in front of the rising sun. It was very cool. Temperatures weren't much higher than 41; but, I knew that it would be getting warmer by the minute now that the sun was on the rise.
Right about the time the sun was all the way up, I passed a sign that said "Panther crossing." Panther crossing???!!! So many questions come to mind when seeing a sign like this...Are they kidding me? How big are these panthers? How fast, hungry and angry are these panthers? Have there been motorcyclists torn out of their seats by panthers? What is the proper procedure if you encounter a panther at highway speeds? Do you slow down, let it approach you and then gun it? Do you twist some throttle and try to go behind it? Do your drive at it and let it decide which way it wants to go? Seriously, what do you do? I know for sure the guidance on what to do if chased by a dog is complete BS. I guess you just make your decision and go with it. I imagine hesitation could get you killed. What if the panther knows you're confused, or was taking lessons from a squirrel on how to make a motorcycle skid off the roadway....panther causes accident and then goes and starts eating the wounded motorcycle rider. What a very smart; but, lazy panther. Anyway...
I arrived in Okeechobee about half an hour early. I had no idea but, Okeechobee actually has some infrastructure. The first thing I saw...and I didn't have time to look around...was a Golden Corral. I'd never been to one of these places; but, the idea is...all you can eat for like $11. They have a serious breakfast spread. It's almost like a brunch spread. All I wanted was an omlet and some toast. Since I was paying for it, I got a small cup of corn beef hash and a small cup of grits too. That plus the omlet plus a cup of tee made for a good breakfast. I was tempted to eat more; but, there was this guy with his name on the back of a school bus drivers hoodie that weighed 400 pounds if he weighed an ounce. I was there less than 15 minutes and in that time, I saw him get up and get 3 plates of food. When you think about it, where else would someone this big eat, particularly on a bus drivers salary? This ended any ideas I had about tying on the feed bag. It was almost enough to make me break down and have yogurt and fruit for breakfast. Fortunately for me, I saw this guy BEFORE I spotted a huge container of BACON. Had I not, I might have just taken that and eaten that for breakfast. Maybe this was an intervention from God. Again, I digress...
I met Jeff. He's a very affable, Kentucky bred, ex law enforcement kinda guy. We got along right from the start. The first thing he said was that there was a Christmas parade in town and the whole town is going to be a giant mess in just about half an hour. He suggested we take my bike over to his house, about 3 miles away, and park it there. He said it would be safe and we'd ride around in his pickup truck. We did that. Blah, blah blah. We saw a bunch of crappy houses. Blah, blah, blah. Back to the bike. Jeff and I shook hands and I was back on my bike. Now, it was a pleasant 71 degrees.
I followed 441 around the east side of the lake. It's a big lake; not great like big; but, big nonetheless. For some reason, I couldn't find rt. 27 to take me to rt. 75; but, that's OK. I stayed on 441 all the way to Davies Fl., right outside Ft. Lauderdale. It was 81 degrees on the East coast. Traffic was horrible. There were way too many traffic lights and lots of cages darting in and out of traffic. 441 leads to 595, which becomes 75 - the Alligator Highway. The Alligator Highway is so named because it cuts through the Everglades and probably does host a couple million of em. The interesting thing is that about 30 yards off the pavement there is a fence that is 8-10 feet high and topped with 3 strands of barbed wire. For those of you that don't know anything about barbed wire topped fences, they are always angled toward what you want to keep out; prisons - angled in, private residence, angled out. These were angled away from the highway. This begs the question...what is on the other side of that fence that requires barbed wire topping on a fence because it can scale an ordinary 8-10 chain link fence? I can't imagine an alligator scaling any kind of fence...digging under, maybe. As for snakes, if they are small enough, they could fit through; but, I can't imagine the barbed wire topping stopping a snake that really wants to get over. I imagine a properly sized boa constrictor could get over a fence that size.
On the other side of the Alligator highway is Naples. I wanted to look around, and the sun was going to go down soon enough, so I found a hotel and checked in. The guy at the desk was nice enough. He thanked me for being a loyal Best Western customer and gave me a suite with a King sized bed for a regular room price. There's also a balcony with chairs on it. Very nice!
Hopefully, I'll get more sleep than I did last night. The idiots in the room above me were loud until about 1:30 in the morning. Some people are just inconsiderate. For some reason, I couldn't sleep either. I remember waking up every hour on the half hour. The only time I don't remember seeing was 4:30.
...
Sleep was good. It's possible there was even some drool involved.
Since today was going to be a light day of riding, I decided to get some breakfast, call Dad for his birthday and wait until temps reached 60 something. There's no need to put on an extra layer of heated clothing when it's just not needed. The plan was to ride out to the bay and stay as close to the bay as possible.
Leaving the hotel, I went West until I hit 41N. That took me to 865 and onto Ft. Meyers Beach. This was a huge bummer. Real Estate is so built up that it's nearly impossible to see the bay from the road. All you see is big hotels and palm trees. What a disappointment. Oh well.
Coming out of Fort Meyers, I wanted lunch and was in the mood for fish, so I stopped at the Fish Monger restaurant. I walked in and was greeted by half a dozen seniors that were sitting at the bar with football jerseys on. The first question they asked was who I was rooting for and I said I didn't care. They said I could root for the Packers or the Steelers. Whatever. Then I waited, while other seniors showed up and were served first. I was getting pretty torqued that I was being ignored. Apparently, these were regulars. Finally, the bartender came over - yes, I was sitting in the bar - and I was able to ask for a menu. That and my iced tea took awhile to get to me; but, it finally made it to my table. I ordered the Mahi Mahi, sandwhich,blackened. The sandwhich had real fish on it and was pretty good. If only the service were better, I'd recommend the place That said, I wouldn't recommend not going, just be prepared for a wait. Onward I went.
The trip got a little better as I made my way up to Sanibel Island. $2 gets a motorcycle across the bridge vs. $6 for a car. It's a very cool bridge that crosses the bay. It's worth the $2 to cross. The island is pretty neat and it was interesting watching people fish, with pelicans standing right next to them waiting for them to reel something in. Lazy birds! They know how to fish. They should be out getting their own meals. Next think you know they'll have Internet and call for Pizza.
Once off the island, I thought I should start getting home if I wanted to be home before dark and before the temps started to fall, so I made my way to I-75. I've learned my lesson that there is nothing to be gained by traveling state and county roads along the Florida coast...either side. It's nothing by people, traffic and more traffic lights than can be imagined.
I managed to get home just after the temps descended back into the 60's.
Here's the whole route...
How long will it take me to completely fill in Florida? I know...resolution matters...
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