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Almost 200 miles from door to door, this ride was definitely one of the best we’ve ever had. We had two new riders today, Connie and Slick. Everyone got there with time to spare and the only problem was Lori’s bike refused to start for her. She came in her car and rode with me. It was interesting how many had never seen the lake. That came later in the trip.We started with the mandatory ride out SR80, but chose to take CR880 when we got to 20-mile bend. This presented us with entertainment in the form of alligators in the canal along side the road and the acrobatics of a crop duster as we road between sugar cane and vegetable fields. The overcast was like a fog that was 500 feet above us. That weather lasted all the way to Clewiston where we had planned to stop for breakfast.
The town seemed closed until we got to the plaza where Beef O’Grady’s was located. After a consensus decision between back-tracking for the Clewiston Inn, Clock’s, or trying O’Grady’s we decided to stay since they were serving breakfast according to the banner they had out front. The convenient 10-person series of high-boys made the perfect table for our group and breakfast was pretty good. We got out the door quite full for about $12 including tip.After some photos, I gave Lori the video camera to try on the road. She took video on the ride to Okeechobee along SR78. There, Slick peeled off (after we stopped to explain the route), we topped off gas for the smaller bikes, and gave the video camera to Diane. She took video all the way to Port Mayaca where we stopped to show the lake. At least three of the riders had never seen the lake, though a couple had taken the ride around it. There were lots of huge gators and the group socialized on the levee.We got underway, riding out to SR710 / Beeline Highway which took us back to Royal Palm Beach and our ride into Wellington. Will peeled off after Northlake and the rest of us went back to Starbucks. After more socializing and talk about the great ride, we finally broke up and rode to our homes just before the storm came through.

You can’t beat riding with a great bunch of friends. While it was the first time in our group for Connie and Slick, they fit in like everyone else has in our group: like friends we’ve known all along. I can’t help but to be proud of the people I ride with. They are great riders, great friends, and great people.

The summaries are pretty much the same. This was a great ride. It was a great day. It was about as good as it gets in the kingdom of SoFla.

We started out at the Starbucks in Wellington and naturally, Frank was running late. He has a knack for finding us later so we left on our planned route down US441 to Yamato Rd. There we connected with I-95 and looked for Yarka and Mark at the Oakland exit. I had managed to hit almost every traffic light red, putting us far enough behind that they though we had already gone through. They went to the second meeting spot. Fred, however, was under the overpass for Ives-Dairy Rd and pulled in behind us. It was a good thing he did. In staying with tradition, I missed the exit. Fred led us through the turn around process, which got trickier as we went on and included a left lane exit.

Moving out the Dolphin Expressway we came to one of the most bizarre toll areas I’ve ever seen. Knowing that some of our riders didn’t have a Sunpass, we went left to a special road for cash tolls. In the process it seemed the group exploded into several independent groups. We thought we lost Fred (he had apparently lost us … or something) so we went forward to see if we could find him or contact him. He had gone to the second meeting spot, which we had apparently missed while looking for him. A phone call and a short wait got the group all together again.

We had 10 bikes and 11 people when we started out on the Tamiami Trail on US41. One of our riders had a commitment and turned back halfway across the state. The trail is fantastic and I can’t wait to do it again after the cypress get their leaves back. The first segment takes you through plains of sawgrass that stretch far off in the distance. Swamp rides on airboats are offered everywhere and you get a good look at what the Everglades are intended to look like. The water line is just a foot or two below the road surface and often comes within 10 feet of the edge of the road. You’re immersed in nature.

The second phase of terrain gives the Big Cypress Swamp it’s name. Cypress trees line the road with the water again running right along side the trail. Birds and gators are everywhere and Will stopped counting gators at 35. The entire trail was a leisurely 50 to 60 mph, compared to riding I-95 and the Expressway. We had time to look at everything and enjoy the environment. This was definitely my favorite part. It’s also amusing to see signs that read “Panther Crossing Next 5 Miles” along the road. Rare as they are, you’re riding in their backyard.

The final phase of this part of the ride gave way to higher elevations where grasses dominated and wild palms grew in the fields. The water at the side of the road gave way to expanses of natural land. It’s hard to believe that so much nature is just minutes away from downtown Miami. It set the tone for a great ride.

Naturally, civilization began to take over the natural surroundings as we got closer to Naples. We followed the Tamiami trail into town and stopped at a TGI Fridays for lunch a little after 11:00. We had a great time and got out of there about 80 minutes later. We set up for pictures such as this one and photos for the screensaver I made. Click the link to download it. I mounted the video camera and wished I had run it across the state in the wilderness. Next time I will know. We stopped for gas and got back on the road.

We had hoped to see some beach front for at least a little stretch, but Naples does not offer any roads with a Gulf-view. That part was disappointing and will enter into our plans for future rides. We rode north to Immokolee Road that would wiggle up the state through back-country. Here we caught some planned video that you see in the piece above. We drove through Immokolee and into La Belle where the 360 Pie Ride will be next month. We hooked onto SR80 and stopped at a fuel stop to talk and get something to drink. I gave the camera to Diane, but forgot to explain the zoom. That mistake on my part cost her almost all of her footage. We’ll try it again as her ideas along the road were great.

Fred peeled off in South Bay and later Will and Frank dropped us at Seminole Pratt-Witney Road. Five bike continued into Wellington and Rich and Diane peeled off on Forest Hill. Heading south, Yarka and Mark were headed towards showers as Vic and I peeled off at Lake Worth Road. It was the end of a 10-hour ride for most of us and a great day. We will plan a variation of this ride in the future.

A few people have asked why I haven’t posted anything about this past weekend’s ride yet. Well, I’m still working on the video (not happy with output quality) and it’s been a busy week at work (it’s only Tuesday!) so far. I should mention, though, the ride was fantastic!

I had breakfast with Carl at Cracker Barrel and just as we were leaving Ian came in. We rode over to the Harley dealership together and waited as riders assembled. The HOGs had a ride that morning, too, and the result was quite a few riders gathering in the parking lot. I made my best effort to leave close to our scheduled time and we got out about 9:15. The ride up 710 (Beeline Hwy) was nice with few traffic light stops and moderate traffic. The roads were clear, the skies were clear, and the temperatures were cool. It was shaping up for a beautiful day.

About 10 miles south of Okeechobee, long after you passed through Indiantown, there’s a place where the railroad tracks cross the road. I was waiting for it, but it took so long I thought I might have misread the maps. Eventually, we came to the landmark and I watched my odometer for the next 1.9 miles for a sign indicating the entrance to Martin Hwy. I was rewarded with a sharp right followed by another sharp right leading back east towards Stuart. The tree-lined road created a beautiful canopy with the sun pushing through from the east. Traffic was light coming towards us and there was none in front of us. We rode through the 50 MPH two-lane road and enjoyed the calming effect of this back road. This was the nicest road I’ve ever been on in South Florida. It’s so rare to have miles of road lined with trees that connect at the top. I recommend this stretch of pavement to everyone, even though it’s a straight line.We eventually reached the junction with I-95 and continued east into denser traffic. Vic took the lead as he was almost home and I wanted to include him in a group photo. He lead us to a Starbucks where a bathroom break seemed to be on the mind of almost everyone. Coffee was consumed and we moved outside where I took a panoramic to make into a screen saver. I had brought a tripod, DSLR still camera, and a video camera for the day. There had been as many as 18 people signed up for this ride and it would have been a great photo opportunity. As it was, we had a great group shot. Three of our bikes peeled off here and we were down to six.

We got underway again and gave the gas guzzlers a chance to refuel before moving over to A1A. We rode through Martin County to Bridge Road where we made the left turn towards the ocean, now less than a mile away. This road had been a tree-lined beauty before the hurricanes. It is still recovering and has a beauty of its own. Within a minute or two we were in the park by the ocean. We had learned just after the fuel stop that Frank had been involved in an accident where he was run off the road. While mildly injured and his bike somewhat broken, he filed the report and tried repeatedly to join up with us on the road. There was a lot of concern for him in the group. We care about our riders.

After hanging out at the beach and enjoying the scenery (yeah… ) we headed out. I was consumed with starting the camera and missed the immediate turn on exiting the park. After turning around, I turned too quickly and led us into a parking lot. Undaunted by total embarrassment, I went out and finally got us on the right road. We rode along multi-million dollar homes at 30 MPH, a common speed along A1A. We came into Jupiter and rode through Juno Beach until we joined US1 again. A short jaunt to PGA Blvd and a left turn took us onto Singer Island, passing MacArthur Park and a series of high-rise condos. We crested the Blue Heron bridge and rode south to 45th St., just east of the Harley shop.

A quick ride down I-95 and out Okeechobee Blvd. brought us to Island Jack’s, the planned end of the ride. Burgers, shrimp, and pulled pork satisfied my friends and me as we talked about the ride that day and the ride coming up. We talked about bikes and experiences and had a great time. It was a long day due to the slow ride along the ocean from Stuart. After five and a half hours of riding we were ready for refreshments.

About 4:00 or so we split up with Will and Rabbi headed towards the Beeline to get home and Rich, Ian, and myself heading west to Wellington. It was a really nice ride. If I had remember to put the sun screen on it would have been better ( I got fried ). I hope this coming weekend works as nicely as this ride did.

Is this a sale or a rip off? I just got an email from ebay boasting only $1 insertion fees for automotive and motorcycle auctions. Sounds good, right? I click the link to get more information and I get this table:

Just click the graphic for a full view. Their “sale” price costs more than the regular price by $20!!!! When does a sale cost over 20% more than the original price? All I can say is it costs a LOT less to use 360Bikers everyday.

What a rip off!

What a great night! Cool temps and clear skies started us out down US441 at about 6:50 PM. The road was nice with light traffic until we got into Boca Raton. We dealt with the usual city traffic to Hillsborough Blvd. and turned left. Bru’s Room is immediately on your right. What a great place. Special parking area for bikes. HUGE outside room in the back. Gigantic inside bar and restaurant. Great food and reasonable prices.

After a couple pitchers and some burgers (except Frank who had the fish and chips) mixed with great friends and conversation, we headed back home. We had to work the next day. We had few traffic lights stop us on the way back and relatively light traffic all the way. Wouldn’t you know it spit a little rain on the way home, too.

A special thanks to Rich, Frank, and Will for making this short ride a nice event. We’ll try another weekday night in the near future.

Lots of thanks to Will for creating a quick slide show of the group. I suspect we’ll see more of these as our number of photos and videos grows with each ride.

 It started out with a degree of uncertainty as, for the third weekend in a row, it tried to rain on our parade.  As I took the dog out before going on the ride a dark cloud moved into Palm Beach County and started to sprinkle a few showers.  I met Vic and Howard to ride over to the Palm Beach Harley-Davidson shop and the roads were wet.  The clouds spit on us a few times, but undaunted, we continued to our planned meeting area.

On arrival, we noticed it had rained harder there.  Puddles dotted the parking lot, but our riders continued to show up. One by one our group grew until we had 10 bikes and one passenger ready to go.  Unfortunately, Yarka couldn’t stay and we were down to nine bikes.  It was good to at least meet her and awfully nice of her to ride up just to let us know she wouldn’t be able to ride.

We waited a bit longer than our planned departure for some late-comers and got out of the parking lot about 9:15 or so.  Riding on the bee-line highway, it started to sprinkle again and briefly turned to light rain.  It took just a few minutes and we were out of the clouds and starting what would become a beautiful day.  The ride to Okeechobee had our group looser than I like to see, but we were fine until we reached US441 where Vic sent us right when we should have gone left.  No big deal.  We lost a couple minutes and saw the rodeo going on as we rode past it… twice.

Finally, we made it to Pogey’s and just minutes after getting there Frank and Barry rolled in.  They had hit heavy rains in Palm Beach County that caused them to be late.  It was good to see them with the group once more.  We started ordering food and drink when I got a call from our friends in the Treasure Coast Sharks.  They had also made the right when they should have turned left.  After giving them directions I went out to meet them.  A great group to ride with and great guys to just hang out with.

Our group had now grown to 16 bikes.  I took a few minutes to go over basics and we had a great, tightly grouped ride all the way back to South Bay.  There, three of our bikers peeled off to ride south.  We had riders from as far away as Miami and Port St. Lucie.  That’s a stretch of over 130 miles!  As we rode through Belle Glade Vic told me he was planning to take the short cut on CR880.  I have a friend that totaled her bike and nearly totaled herself on that road and I had avoided it ever since.  Vic turned right onto 880.  I went straight.  The light changed right after me.   Everyone followed Vic.  Whether he wanted it or not, he was now leading the group.

Recognizing this, I immediately turned at Canal St., the next right.  I knew it would bring me to CR880, though I’d be a few minutes behind the group.  Within 5 minutes I had caught up and took position at the tail.  It was great seeing all these bike stretched out in front of me.  It really is a great group of riders.  John suddenly pulled off the road and I turned around to stay with him.  His vest had broken and was causing some problems with riding, but within 2 minutes we were under way to catch the others.  Once caught up, we rode at the back until we connected with SR80.

There, I took the outside lane and caught Vic at the front.  He was surprised to see me since he thought I had taken smoother route on SR80.  He and Will peeled off at Seminole Pratt-Whitney Road and Howard, Frank, and Barry left at different roads to Wellington.  Our group was soon diminished to four: the riders from the Treasure Coast and me.  Instead of going straight to the Harley shop, we stopped at Duffy’s and had a few beers with great conversation.  I had to leave to get to the Harley shop to get a couple screws for the bike (which they didn’t have) and I got there just minutes before closing.

This was a nearly perfect day with great friends, a great ride, great weather (overall), and a group to be proud of.  I’m looking forward to next week’s ride already.