360bikers.com

Connie is a regular rider with our group. She is an active rider with other groups and assists with organizations. I wanted to get some perspectives from her in an online interview. Here is what we talked about.

Lee: Where are you from?
Connie: Originally from Philadelphia but living here about 20 years !!

Lee: Did you ride motorcycle when you lived there?
Connie: No, I didn’t.

Lee: How long of you been riding?
Connie: Going on year 5 now.

Lee: What is the longest ride you’ve been on? (elaborate)
Connie: I rode up to visit friends In Georgia who live 45 minutes north of Jacksonville. It was quite an adventure…..a bit scary alone…..but an achievement…..Also, rode to Mt. Dora here in Florida, and of course the West coast of Florida.

Lee: What do you like most about riding in South Florida?
Connie: I would say the weather ….. it’s almost perfect all year round; longer rides in the winter, shorter ones in the summer heat.

Lee: What do you like least about riding in South Florida?
Connie: lol…..it’s flat !!! and we do have some crazy “snowbirds” driving down here in the winter.

Lee: What is your favorite kind of ride?
Connie: Humm….. I really enjoy overnighters….to me it’s like a mini-vacation over a weekend….as having my own business… it’s not easy to just take off whenever I feel like it….. I like all types of rides, some with a bit of challenge is good also, and especially enjoy riding through areas like LaBelle here in Florida with the tree-lined roads and also through horse country.

Lee: What are your opinions on the helmet / no-helmet laws?
Connie: Personally, I prefer not wearing one as I love feeling the wind, and the freedom of riding without one…however, it can save you from becoming brain damaged or a spinal injury in the event of am accident if you are wearing one.

Lee: Do you always wear a helmet?
Connie: Sometimes……I do wear one always on 95 or on highways…..If I am taking a shorter ride along the beach say early morning when there are not many people out driving, or on a very unpopulated country road, I prefer not to…..However, they do say most accidents happen close to home !!

Lee: If you were to describe a general common attribute about women motorcycle riders, what would it be?
Connie: They’re hot !!! They are independent and free spirits…….I think they are very careful riders…. I do feel some men are intimidated by women motorcycle riders…. and that’s a shame…..

Lee: If you could say one thing to all the women bikers out there, what would it be?
Connie: Keep on riding !!!! Look and act like a woman … I dislike tattoos and/or hard looking women riding motorcycles….it brings a bad connotation to the rest of us.

OK, again it has taken me entirely too long to post about this event.  What can I say?  It has been a busy week after a fantastic, relaxing weekend.  As I said before Leesburg Bikefest, this is one event everyone should attend.

The ride up was nice.  Ian and I rode together and stopped at Ft. Pierce for breakfast at the ever popular Waffle House.  Apparently the Denny’s there went out of business, but there’s enough customer base to have two WH’s within a half mile of each other.  From there we rode to Yeehaw Junction where we stopped to split up.  Ian was meeting a friend in Ocala and I was meeting my son north of Haines City.

I took SR60 west on what turned out to be a very nice ride.  Traffic was low and cruising between 65 and 70 was without interruption.   I got to US27 and rode towards Haines City.  In spite of being in town and the construction, the ride wasn’t bad.  The speed limits were 50 or better and the lights were spread far apart.

I pulled into a Walmart to refuel and wait for my son and his friend (following in a dune buggy) to arrive.  That was over 30 minutes, but after they got there we were soon on our way.  It’s only a short hour ride to Leesburg from there unless a biker lays one down.  Naturally, someone laid it down, but there seemed to be no life threatening injuries as we rode past the slightly damaged bike.

As we neared Leesburg bike traffic picked up rapidly.  Where we had been seeing dozens of bikes on the highway we now say only a few dozen cages!  It was bikes everywhere and it sounded great.  Riding US27 with its hills into Leesburg let us know there was good riding around.

We spent the day doing the carnival acts.  We looked at vendors, the Rats Hole for bikes and babes, listened to some really good bands, and just looked at bikes and people.  We met friends and made some, too.  We ate some pretty good road food and had a beer or two.

By 5:00 I was really getting antsy.  It was hot in the parking lots and I wanted to ride to cool off.  Now, David (the dune buggy guy) had to ride bitch with Wes to get over to Main Street.  Wes didn’t like the ride so I humbled to give him a ride back to his buggy.  Then, the three of us road our respective vehicles our through the villages.  It was nice and peaceful riding the back roads and through the golf course developments.  We topped off the tanks and headed back to the hotel.

After dark the old fart (me) decided it had been a long day.  I was up at 5:00 AM and rode 4 hours to meet them before they leisurely came along so I was pretty tired.  The young guys wanted to go downtown to party and I bid them good night.  They came back sometime in the night and had a few good stories, but nothing remarkable.

Sunday was great.  We started after checkout with a gourmet breakfast at the Golden Corral.  Not bad!  Then, riding out we split up as they had to attend a Rotary benefit bowling thing and I had to check out my proposed ride for the way home.  I was the winner on this one.  I rode out through hills and took a few “wrong turns” to see what was there.  I had beautiful curves and fantastic vistas.  Yeah, I said vistas in Florida!  There was one spot high on a hill where I could see for literally 30 to 40 miles.   There was one hill that went up, dipped, went up a little more and then crested to a 45-degree incline straight down about 400 yards to a traffic circle out in the middle of nowhere.  I rode past lakes and homes and was so anxious to take everyone on the route that I hooked back after I hit SR50.

I haven’t finished working on the videos for this trip.  I have an avi file that is over 6 GB that I have to bring home somehow to edit.  The ride home with friends was great even though we compromised to the turnpike to get home before dark.  It was a great weekend and I hope to see more of our riders on it next year.  It’s that good.

This is a very good piece of literature, especially from the biker perspective.

__________________

I saw you, hug your purse closer to you in the grocery store line.

But, you didn’t see me, put an extra $10 in the collection plate last Sunday.

I saw you, pull your child closer as we walked by on the sidewalk.

But, you didn’t see me, playing Santa at the local mall.

I saw you, change your mind about going into the restaurant.

But, you didn’t see me, attending a meeting to raise more money for the hurricane relief.

I saw you, roll up your window & shake your head when I drove by. But, you didn’t see me, driving behind you when you flicked your cigarette butt out the car window.

I saw you, frown at me when I smiled at your children.

But, you didn’t see me, when I took time off from work to run toys to the homeless.

I saw you, stare at my long hair. But, you didn’t see me, and my friends cut ten inches off for Locks of Love.

I saw you, roll your eyes at our leather coats and gloves.

But, you didn’t see me, and my brothers donate our old coats and gloves to those that had none.

I saw you, look in fright at my tattoos.

But, you didn’t see me, cry as my children where born and have their name written over and in my heart.

I saw you, change lanes while rushing off to go somewhere.

But, you didn’t see me, going home to be with my family.

I saw you, complain about how loud and noisy our bikes can be.

But, you didn’t see me, when you were changing the CD and drifted into my lane.

I saw you, yelling at your kids in the car.

But, you didn’t see me, pat my child’s hands, knowing he was safe behind me.

I saw you, reading the newspaper or map as you drove down the road. But, you didn’t see me, squeeze my wife’s leg when she told me to take the next turn.

I saw you, race down the road in the rain.

But, you didn’t see me, get soaked to the skin so my son could have the car to go on his date.

I saw you, run the yellow light just to save a few minutes of time.

But, you didn’t see me, trying to turn right.

I saw you, cut me off because you needed to be in the lane I was in. But, you didn’t see me, leave the road.

I saw you, waiting impatiently for my friends to pass.

But, you didn’t see me. I wasn’t there.

I saw you, go home to your family. But, you didn’t see me.

Because, I died that day you cut me off.

I was just a biker. A person with friends and a family.

But, you didn’t see me.

Ian, one of our most respected members, sent me this link so I could determine if I was a real biker.  I took the short survey, almost holding my breath as I tried to figure out what the hell some of those questions had to do with reality.  I finished it and waited for the verdict.  Damn, what if it turned out I was something less? What if it labeled me a noob or a Poser?  What if it… well, it was fast and the results were favorable.  I have no idea if any thought really went into the survey, but you’ll have fun with it.  Just click HERE and enjoy.

Every riding group in the country should do one of these.  We had so much fun on a 40-mile ride with 6 stops.  It took all day and created a great riding experience for beginning riders, though we didn’t have all the beginners with us that should have come along.  It was just great.

Our stops included Harley-Davidson of the Palm Beaches, Broward Motorsports of the Palm Beaches for Honda, Suzuki, and Kawasaki, Greater Yamaha, Iron Eagle for used Harleys and Customs, and Triumph - Victory Motorcycles of Palm Beach in Boynton Beach.  Of course, we had the ever popular lunch break which was at Russo’s, a new experience for half our group!

This ride was so much fun that we are already talking about doing another after new models come out in the late summer and early fall.  Missing this ride would be a bad move.  It’s just too easy and too much fun.  Oh, and our weather was great.  Dry roads, sunshine, and enough wind to provide some experience for riders without blowing them off the road.

See more pictures and read about this ride HERE.

On New Year’s Eve in Las Vegas, shortly after the ball fell in New York City to begin 2008, Robbie Maddison attempted to break the world record of 310 feet by jumping more than the length of a football field. He did that at 222 feet and 7.5 inches, but wanted to hit 360 feet. So, he jumped a second time. He didn’t make the 360 feet due to heavy winds, but he did set a new world record and complete two truly awesome jumps. This is pretty incredible stuff! We will not be doing this ride in our group rides.

Vicious Cycle Works has some nice new handlebars you should check out if you’re ready for that stage of customizing.  The new Venom-FX works with 42 and 55-degree rake bikes and is made from 304 stainless steel.  The welds disappear after the 8-stage polishing process is completed.

This is a site you have to check out if you’re looking for handlebars to add zing to your customization.  Vicious Cycle Works.

OK, so maybe the toys aren’t just for the boys anymore. I am writing the beginning of this entry from perhaps the hottest new toy for this year. I’m using an iPhone. This device will provide the rider with several great tools in one very small package. Sure, it’s nice to have your cellphone with you on a ride. It’s nice to have some tunes, too. But this has those plus movies, full Internet, maps, and weather. It isn’t inexpensive either at $500 and $600 for the 4 & 8 GB versions. You also get ail and SMS chat messaging. On a bike with limited space this is a great device. I’ll write more later.