Archive for the 'Places' Category
Daytona Bike Week 2009
Posted in 360Bikers, Just Plain Cool, Major Events, Motorcycles, Places, Rides, Special Events, Trips on March 15th, 2009
Well here we are 2 weeks since the start and end of Bike Week 09 and I already miss it. I’m actually late with this, as we got back home on the last day of Bike Week. Some of us had to get back to the job we last saw 9 days ago.
What can I tell you about Bike Week? If you haven’t been you need to go and if you have been, then you already know. Bike Week has something for everyone. Old bikers and new bikers, you are guaranteed to find something that fits you. It really is like your local bike night, times 100,000. The amount of bikers and bikes is really overwhelming and I never get tired of seeing it. You will definitely see your model and make, in many different styles and colors here and steal ideas to make your ride fit you and your personality. I can always find something to add to the bike. Which is just as it should be. If you go to a venue like this, you should expect to find the best possible prices. If you search around long enough you will find a great deal at bike week.
It may have been just me, but I thought I noticed a few less of everything this year at Bike Week. A few less bikers and a few less vendors. This shouldn’t come as any big surprise, given the economy. I’m sure the final numbers on attendance will show a difference. I did see an interesting report on Destination Daytona while I was there. The evening local news reported they were selling 45 Harleys a day through bike week. I was surprised but if you did the math, 45 X 9 days is 405 bikes for the week. If you have several hundred thousand extra people in town to ride motorcycles I don’t think it’s out of the question. So good for them and great for bikers everywhere.
There were some great shows at bike week as well. If you’re inclined, you can pay to watch the AMA races at the track. There were a number of custom bike shows. Endless bikini, T Shirt and shorts, shows. We missed the Cole Slaw wrestling but we did catch the Monster Energy “Dome of Death”. They weren’t to be confused with the “Wall of Death” at the Iron Horse. These kids were free and much more dangerous. We missed “Little Kiss”, midgets who dress up, make up and all, like the original Kiss and have concerts, but we did see the house band on Main Street, rock some of Ozzy’s “Crazy Train”. I heard ”Little Kiss” sounds just like the original. We miss the Brawl in the Cage at Destination Daytona but we did see some Evangelists crusaders versus Strip Club Choppers. This was interesting for several reasons. The crusaders were pretty much protesting everybody and everything. The guy hanging out at the Strip Club Choppers tent, looked amazingly like “Kid Rock” just taller. The crusaders had a guy with a bullhorn, one guy with a pole that had signs listing those being denounced, and 2 security guys standing behind him. Kid Rock was drinking beer after beer and blaring death rock at the crusaders. I thought Kid Rock and Strip Club Choppers got a raw deal because about 1/2 a block away, there were 2 beautiful young ladies having a “bikini bike shine”!?!?!? They definitely deserved some protesting.
We saw the shows. We bought some shirts. We took some photos. We acquired some ideas and new parts for the bikes. The real essence of Bike Week though, is the riding. I saw many country ride tours and saw some obvious tourists/vacation motorcycle groups along the roads. I know they had a great time. We are lucky enough to stay about 58 miles west of Daytona when we arrive for our vacation. I say lucky because by now we know every different way to get back and forth into town. Here are a couple of country roads you must find and ride, while at bike week (CR309, CR308, CR308B, US17). I call CR308B, the “little dragon”, those of you who have visited Tennessee and US129, you know what I am referring too. I often wonder how the locals feel about their backroads? I mean, I travel here at least once or twice a year just to ride. I wonder if I would be more apathetic if I lived here year round? Every morning and every night we had a great ride. After 9 days and about 2,000 miles it was hard going home.
Finally, I did catch up with Mike & Debbie and Mikey from the 360 Bikers, so we did officially call this a 360 run. As the most Popular M/C riding group in South Florida, we had a responsibility to show up at Bike Week. Of course I will continue to provide myself as a guide whenever anyone want to find some country roads during bike week. I’m so selfless, it’s the least I can do. Until next time, Ride Safe!!!
GR
2nd Annual SoFla 360 – Part Three – Northeast
Posted in Cool Video, Local Events, Motorcycles, Places, Rides, Trips on February 16th, 2009
We had lunch at an Irish place called Erin’s Isle. Highly recommended as the food was good and the prices extremely low. We also have to compliment the waiter for taking on 24 customers he wasn’t expecting, doing individual checks, serving us, and keeping everything straight. He was impressive as the owner, who was very accommodating for our group.
After refueling at the gas station next door, we organized again and got underway. I had gone over the route because with a group this size traffic lights make it tough to stay together. We had a couple riders that did not keep the group tight and sure enough we got split. After turning at Immokalee Road we waited for the rest of the group before getting underway.
Now, we were out of the traffic and headed towards Immokalee on a nice road that disappeared into old South Florida. I remembered this part of the ride from the previous year and the nice turns in the road as it twisted from running east to a northward path. Once in Immokalee I took a route that avoided traffic lights so our gappers wouldn’t split the group. In minutes we were on the road headed north.
— Video Coming Soon —
About 13 miles north of Immokalee I was looking for Keri Road. This would lead us through our fourth or fifth park of the day and take us on two roads I had never seen before. The park is Okaloacoochee Slough State Forest (yeah, you say it three times real fast) and the road was nice with little turns. A couple road patches did make it rough, but overall I’d ride it again. This road gave us a left turn at the end of it to get on a road that led us to SR80, a familiar road to most of the riders in our group. From here, we road to Clewiston for our last fuel and rest stop before heading home.
LK
Paradise Lost
Posted in 360Bikers, Places, Rides on February 8th, 2009
Eating again.
Yesterday we finally made the trip to Cheeseburger in Paradise, a hamburger chain owned by Jimmy Buffet growing industrial side. Ian had been there before and I was really looking forward to this. The entire group was looking forward to it.
We had a great set of bikes ranging from Cecil’s scooter (gotta love that guy) to Nick’s Raider. A few e-Glides, Connie’s Kawi and we picked up Yarka on the way. It was a Class 2 ride primarily because we used I-95 to get to Miami. The good news was that I only made one wrong turn and it was because I followed the GPS. Ian got us into the parking garage he knew about and we parked in a nice spot in front of LA Fitness where everyone could see the bikes as they entered the parking garage for the outdoor mall.
It took us no time at all to locate the Cheeseburger in Paradise location and identify the problem. It was closed. Not for the day, but totally gone never to return. We were all shocked. Trudy had to be resuscitated because she was counting on that little pair of sunglasses she buys that came with the free drink. Well, we got over it and Connie asked some cute girls ( should one of the guys have done that?) if they could recommend a place. We ended up at Dan Marino’s and had a great lunch.
Since Mark missed us on the way down he invited us to stop at his house to see his new toy, a 2002 custom Bourget. Very nice bike. It needs some TLC, but damn… it’s a beauty. Exceptional paint. We enjoyed Mark’s place which is awesome. He bought cookies and donuts and I was ready to move in. It will probably be the site of our next 360Bikers party as he volunteered it.
We came back up Federal to Copans and out to US441/SR7. It was an adventuresome day with our group showing flexibility all the way. We had fun, food and a nice ride. Now, we have to find another Cheeseburger in Paradise.
Lee