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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.

 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.

Today was another great day for riding in South Florida and the group at 360Bikers took advantage of it. A few people either met or tried to meet at my house at 7:30. A couple didn’t realize that after being up since 5:30 I was ready to leave at the appointed time. I got razzed about that at breakfast, but we all ended up at Denny’s in Boca Raton for breakfast. That little 30 mile ride was a nice warm up for the day ahead.We stopped for gas and recorded the video above. It was the first attempt at recording from the Harley and I found that the vibration level made it less than effective. I’ll have to look into a cure for this problem.

With everyone topped off, we left for A1A and the beaches through half of Broward County down to I-595. We had a great ride and detoured to take a few pictures (Thanks Bryan). We rode across a few bridges and eventually to the concrete slab to go west. The beach ride in Broward is not nearly as scenic as it is in Palm Beach County. The area is so built up that there’s little view of the ocean and the residential areas are extremely commercial. You won’t see mansions like on Palm Beach or Jupiter Island, but lots of high-rise condos.

After hitting I-595 we rode with traffic until I-75. There, the number of cars decreased drastically. We saw lots of other riders out today. It was the perfect day for riding.

Switching to US-27 we found even less traffic, which was part of the idea. We avoid heavy traffic areas for both safety and comfort. On our way north we saw a few sport bikes racing with “lookout” riders along the road. They had to be doing 150 MPH if they were moving at all.

We stopped in Belle Glade for some refreshments and for those high-consumption bikes to refuel. On the way home we each peeled off the group as we approached home. Personally, I got home and had to cook soups for several hours. While sitting down at the end of the day I really realized how relaxing the morning had been. This was a great ride!

Our first local ride for the group was this past Sunday and it couldn’t have provided a better day. The short ride was just under 100 miles under a cloudless sky with moderate temperatures in the 70’s. It was great and the group of people we had were great, too. We met at Starbuck’s and at the Citgo station on Southern Blvd. where some had to fuel up. Riding out SR80 all the way to the lake we found our timing was perfect as there was very little traffic. This held true for the entire trip. We rode north through Pahokee and Canal Point to the levee at Port Mayaca where we just watched gators and talked for about an hour. We rode out SR78 to SR710 (Bee Line Hwy) to get back home before the holiday shopping traffic got out of control.

This was a great, short introductory ride. Next week’s ride starts a little earlier with breakfast at John G’s in Lake Worth and going north along the beaches. It should be a great ride, too. Come join us! Any sensible biker that likes the road and riding is more than welcome to join our rides. We aren’t bike-specific and welcome all motorcycles. To join the 360Bikers rides go to http://motorcycle.meetup.com/210/ and join the group. You’ll get regular information on planned rides.

Click any picture for a larger view.

One thing motorcyclists always pride themselves on is respect, especially for the exemplory rider. This link will take you to a photo journalist’s perspective of Motor Maids, the oldest women’s motorcycle club in America. It warms one’s heart to see biker chicks riding their own bikes well past 80 years of age… and I’m talking about the riders, not the bikes.

This is what respect is all about. This is what motorcycling is all about. It’s about the ride.