Southern Ride
Well due to dramatic last minute changes in plans, my 'Southern Ride' was moved from 'sometime in the next few years' to 'THIS SPRING'. I left Sunday March 18th, and arrived back home Sunday March 25th. Here are some trip details:
6 Riding Days
2 Rest Days
3500 Miles
11 States (4 new to me)
Longest day: 820 miles (personal record)
Original Report posted on Adventure Rider.
I've had several trips planned for some time now, one of which included heading south; down the Natchez Trace Parkway, through New Orleans, then following the coast all the way down to Key West, and back up the other side. I wasn't planning on pursuing this trip for several years, but things changed, and about 3 weeks ago I ran into the opportunity do do this ride right away!
To make things more interesting, I ended up picking up a new distance bike 1 week prior to leaving for this trip. I've been wanting a Yamaha Super Tenere since their introduction to the US market last year, but with my Ulysses, I didn't have a good excuse to get one. Uly problems just prior to a trip gave me the needed excuse, and the deal was done. I'll include some opinions formed about the bike, and some Uly comparisons here and there.
I had exactly one week to break-in the Super Tenere and get it's first service out of the way. This was easily accomplished, and I left home Sunday morning with 850 miles already on the clock and fresh oil, filter, and final-drive oil.
6 Riding Days
2 Rest Days
3500 Miles
11 States (4 new to me)
Longest day: 820 miles (personal record)
Original Report posted on Adventure Rider.
I've had several trips planned for some time now, one of which included heading south; down the Natchez Trace Parkway, through New Orleans, then following the coast all the way down to Key West, and back up the other side. I wasn't planning on pursuing this trip for several years, but things changed, and about 3 weeks ago I ran into the opportunity do do this ride right away!
To make things more interesting, I ended up picking up a new distance bike 1 week prior to leaving for this trip. I've been wanting a Yamaha Super Tenere since their introduction to the US market last year, but with my Ulysses, I didn't have a good excuse to get one. Uly problems just prior to a trip gave me the needed excuse, and the deal was done. I'll include some opinions formed about the bike, and some Uly comparisons here and there.
I had exactly one week to break-in the Super Tenere and get it's first service out of the way. This was easily accomplished, and I left home Sunday morning with 850 miles already on the clock and fresh oil, filter, and final-drive oil.
A quick 5 minute adjustment gave me a solo seat and dual luggage racks (cool feature!), and I threw on my Alaskan Leather Buttpad and a pair of Grip-Puppies I had laying around, and that about sums up the modifications for the trip.
An Ortlieb waterproof duffel sat across the two luggage racks and housed my tent, sleeping pad, lightweight sleeping bag, and a couple pairs of clothes. I had an older Wolfman tankbag that strapped on just fine up front, and gave me the rest of my needed storage. I had previously modified this tank bag, giving it a ram mount ball on the outside, and three power outlets on the inside. I had the GPS mounted to and powered by the tank bag, and a camera and phone charger inside. The camera was fastened to the left side on a draw-string for pictures on the fly. Two snaps and the bag slid down to the seat for gas tank filling; not the most convenient setup in the world, but not bad either. The tankbag held my rain suit, bike cover, toiletries, and snacks.
I wore a Tiez Lombard V3 suit the whole time. A bit hot when the speed dropped below 30, but it was worth it for the ease and protection. Alpinestar Scout Waterproof boots, light weight gloves, and my trusty old Caberg Modular helmet sum up the gear department.
An Ortlieb waterproof duffel sat across the two luggage racks and housed my tent, sleeping pad, lightweight sleeping bag, and a couple pairs of clothes. I had an older Wolfman tankbag that strapped on just fine up front, and gave me the rest of my needed storage. I had previously modified this tank bag, giving it a ram mount ball on the outside, and three power outlets on the inside. I had the GPS mounted to and powered by the tank bag, and a camera and phone charger inside. The camera was fastened to the left side on a draw-string for pictures on the fly. Two snaps and the bag slid down to the seat for gas tank filling; not the most convenient setup in the world, but not bad either. The tankbag held my rain suit, bike cover, toiletries, and snacks.
I wore a Tiez Lombard V3 suit the whole time. A bit hot when the speed dropped below 30, but it was worth it for the ease and protection. Alpinestar Scout Waterproof boots, light weight gloves, and my trusty old Caberg Modular helmet sum up the gear department.
Day 1 started early; about an hour and a half before sunrise. The first half of the day was all freeway anyway, so what the hell. Left Columbus at 6:15am. Saw the sun come up in Cincinatti. Kenucky... First gas stop in Louisville. Tennessee... Nashville! (Love me some country music) Hey! Just like that, before noon, but after the 400 mile mark, destination #1 is found! The northern end of the Natchez Trace Parkway.
But first... thanks to a tip from a random google search, I stopped for another gas fill and some southern BBQ!
The pulled pork sandwich was great. Mac-N-Cheese was not. Disappointing. I would have never picked it, I was thinking something else southern (fried okra?) but the guy actually recommended it.
As a side note, I only buy one meal a day when I'm touring alone. I usually eat a nutrition bar for breakfast, Slim-Jims at gas stops, and buy a meal sometime between lunch and dinner time. I perfer to make that single meal count, something local is best.
Back to the story, this was the meal for the day. Local, good, and $7! Perfect!
Back at it!
But first... thanks to a tip from a random google search, I stopped for another gas fill and some southern BBQ!
The pulled pork sandwich was great. Mac-N-Cheese was not. Disappointing. I would have never picked it, I was thinking something else southern (fried okra?) but the guy actually recommended it.
As a side note, I only buy one meal a day when I'm touring alone. I usually eat a nutrition bar for breakfast, Slim-Jims at gas stops, and buy a meal sometime between lunch and dinner time. I perfer to make that single meal count, something local is best.
Back to the story, this was the meal for the day. Local, good, and $7! Perfect!
Back at it!
\
Tons of history along this parkway, including the grave site of Meriwether Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame.
Lewis died very close it this grave site. Interesting story behind his death. Officially, it was a suicide. Here's the catch... he was shot 5 (!) times. Now, I'm not too familiar with the weaponry of the time, but a quick Google search revealed hand guns of the early 1800's to look something like this.
So he shot himself... with a gun like that... several times?!
Yeah, sure he did.
Moving on.....
So he shot himself... with a gun like that... several times?!
Yeah, sure he did.
Moving on.....
Alabama... Cool! Never been here before! Check state number 23 off my list
Mississippi... state number 24!
So, I'm not what anyone would call a 'history buff'. I can appreciate some cool old stuff. The Old Trace for example; tons of history about it. I took a few steps on the path, considered for a bit who had done that before me, and was satisfied. What that means, is the next 379 historical markers along the parkway passed right by without much more than my reading the sign, and thinking... "Huh, old mine here eh? Cool". So, without considering the historical importance of the path, your left with the road itself.
Beautiful right? For sure! No traffic, no cities, nothing! It's... relaxing. But can you have too much relaxing? I mean, the parkway is 444 miles... at 50 mph... through gentle curves... surrounded by woods. Here's the gist of the Parkway...
Mile 1
Mile 100
Mile 400
Get it? Don't get me wrong... I'll take this any day over traffic or interstate riding. But don't come here looking for... well... excitement. Unless history is your thing that is. I think every tourer should take this route at least once, if not for any other reason than it starts in Nashville (a destination city) and ends near New Orleans (a destination city).
You will get fantastic gas mileage along this route! My 6 gallon tank was still reading full at 80 miles, and still reading a half tank at 180 miles.
FROG
The parkway has three free primitive campgrounds along the way for travelers such as myself. I made it south of Jackson Mississippi to the last campground. Now apparently, my definition of 'primitive camping' varies from the rest of the world.
ME: Primitive Camping: Camping without power or running water
Everyone Else Primitive Camping: Bring your own power and water!
So I setup my little tent amidst the power generators feeding all of the tour buses parked throughout the primitive campground.
Whatever... I rode too late.... it was after dark.... I put in a personal record 820 miles for the day.... I can sleep through this. And I could. What I couldn't sleep through was my sleeping pad (of the self-inflating variety) decided to self-deflate, and the temp dropped a good bit more than anticipated. At the first hint of daybreak I burst from my little cocoon of attempted warmth, packed up, and was on the road before 8. Camping Night 1 = fail (but free!)
ME: Primitive Camping: Camping without power or running water
Everyone Else Primitive Camping: Bring your own power and water!
So I setup my little tent amidst the power generators feeding all of the tour buses parked throughout the primitive campground.
Whatever... I rode too late.... it was after dark.... I put in a personal record 820 miles for the day.... I can sleep through this. And I could. What I couldn't sleep through was my sleeping pad (of the self-inflating variety) decided to self-deflate, and the temp dropped a good bit more than anticipated. At the first hint of daybreak I burst from my little cocoon of attempted warmth, packed up, and was on the road before 8. Camping Night 1 = fail (but free!)
Just 50 miles of parkway left this morning. It really is beautiful, especially at 8am, when everything is still crisp and vacant.
While the parkway itself wasn't the most exhilarating ride, I did find a few things that interested me greatly.
First was a controlled fire (below). I will forever maintain that I have ridden through a forest fire.
At another point along the parkway, I rode through obvious devastation, about 5 miles of it.
Tornado damage from a hell of a storm in April 2011. I found this before and after shot online:
Turns out, 1 camper was killed in this tornado, right here sleeping in a free spot on this parkway! Dad was out with his daughter when a huge tree fell on their tent. He was killed, daughter was unharmed. Sobering right? Could you imagine being that little girl? 9 years old... In a tent... middle of nowhere... during a tornado... a tree falls on your dad inches from you... now your alone... my God, I can't imagine the fear.
Sorry, moving on...
All of my pictures from the Natchez Trace Parkway:
Louisiana! STATE NUMBER 25!!!! Hooray! How Exciting! (sorry, trying to brighten things back up)
New Orleans! Alright, I wanted to see N.O. Not specifically because of Katrina... or Bourbon Street... in fact, I can't tell you a specific reason. It's just a combination of that stuff. You hear about Mardi Gras. Everyone heard about Katrina. It's just a city you hear about. So I wanted to say I've been there. On motorcycle websites, the place has a pretty dismal reputation (generally along the lines of; don't park your loaded bike, or all your stuff will be stolen). Alright. I can appreciate that warning, so I made a little loop to ride and see what I thought was worth seeing. I did a loop around City Park... Yup, it's a park in a city. I took a less than direct route to the French Quarter, to try to see some of the actual town. I would not feel comfortable parking my bike here. I played with my GPS and got down to 13 feet below sea level! And that's mounted about 4 feet off the ground! That's pretty cool, (and also confusing why there is a city here, rather than a lake... or ocean... or bayou). I won't see anything like that again till I can make it over to Death Valley.
Sitting next to a Street Car at a red light.
The Famous Bourbon Street, dead ahead!
I wasn't sure if I was supposed to ride on Bourbon Street. It was so packed with people and things, it could easily have passed for a pedestrian only area, but what the hell. I slowly negotiated my way down the road, weaving around a movie crew filming, among other things.
Alright! A couple more streets in the French Quarter, and I had enough of that. It's... I mean... It's exactly what those pictures show. I mean, I have nothing to add to that. It's a city... with tons of people on some of the streets... and scarce but often scary people on others.
Took the free ferry across the Mississippi river on recommendation from a fellow rider. It was a solid recommendation. Ferries are fun and different, and a great way to take a break.
Had to pay a dollar to take the bridge back to where I needed to be, but it's alright. Tolls are something I'll become very familiar with later in the trip.
Hit the road east, and took the small route through the bayou, as opposed to the more northern I-10.
A view of the distant interstate, from my smaller road.
Along this route was some evidence that their was significantly more built up here pre-Katrina (driveways to nothing). Just about all of the bridges along this path were taken out, and in places the road was covered by feet of sand/debris. The road is back, but the building along the route is on a much smaller scale.
Traffic accumulated and slowed, so I turned North to I-10 for a bit. This was the plan originally to get past Mobile anyway.
Florida! State number 26! More than half done!
Back to the coast and off the interstate!
The plan... camp at a state park in Panama City Beach. Trying to beat the sunset to the campground, I passed what looked to be the most perfect small local seafood dinner spot. I decided to setup camp in the dark, and eat NOW! It was now 7:00, and I hadn't had my real meal of the day.
The fish was great, but the sandwich also had shrimp on it, and other... stuff... the first half, when I was about starved... was FANTASTIC! Then though... then I realized, it really wasn't good. Too many flavors going on. Bummer. Not recommended. And $15 for the meal. Bummer.
To the Campground!!!
To the closed gate? Wha? It's ten till 8pm, and the state park is closed? But... the campground...
Dammit.
Moving on, 1 other campground in this town... And it was right in the middle of....
The plan... camp at a state park in Panama City Beach. Trying to beat the sunset to the campground, I passed what looked to be the most perfect small local seafood dinner spot. I decided to setup camp in the dark, and eat NOW! It was now 7:00, and I hadn't had my real meal of the day.
The fish was great, but the sandwich also had shrimp on it, and other... stuff... the first half, when I was about starved... was FANTASTIC! Then though... then I realized, it really wasn't good. Too many flavors going on. Bummer. Not recommended. And $15 for the meal. Bummer.
To the Campground!!!
To the closed gate? Wha? It's ten till 8pm, and the state park is closed? But... the campground...
Dammit.
Moving on, 1 other campground in this town... And it was right in the middle of....
OMG PARTY PANAMA CITY BEACH SPRING BREAK 2012 YO!!!!
Dammit.
How lame am I? If I didn't feel old before this event. Becoming sourly disappointed that I couldn't get a good night sleep in a quiet campground because of all the damn spring break party junk going on... definitely made me feel old... and tired... and lame... and old.
1) This is a sign of how exhausted I really was I guess.
and
2) I purposely put a picture with a bunch of dudes here. If I picked a photo like this and was all disappointed, hell, I'd end the ride report here and just go disappear forever.
Moving on. Now its dark. Not easy finding a stealth camping spot in the pitch black, but I'll just head east till I find something. I found an Air Force Base... which means... no stealth camping... no anything. Just pitch black roadway, with 10 foot fences on either side... for miles.
Dammit.
(Interestingly, they blacked out my SPOT satellite tracker while I was near the base)
Dammit.
How lame am I? If I didn't feel old before this event. Becoming sourly disappointed that I couldn't get a good night sleep in a quiet campground because of all the damn spring break party junk going on... definitely made me feel old... and tired... and lame... and old.
1) This is a sign of how exhausted I really was I guess.
and
2) I purposely put a picture with a bunch of dudes here. If I picked a photo like this and was all disappointed, hell, I'd end the ride report here and just go disappear forever.
Moving on. Now its dark. Not easy finding a stealth camping spot in the pitch black, but I'll just head east till I find something. I found an Air Force Base... which means... no stealth camping... no anything. Just pitch black roadway, with 10 foot fences on either side... for miles.
Dammit.
(Interestingly, they blacked out my SPOT satellite tracker while I was near the base)
Then... Civilization! In the form of Mexico Beach (city name). And, what's this... an RV park? That'll do! Of course there's nobody around, it's now 10pm. I found a vacant spot in the overflow lot just off the main road. I through my tent up in between two buses. (not sure how the camera made it look light out, it never was while I was here).
I spoke with the guy in the pictured bus. Decent dude from eastern Ohio. Hit the showers, and passed out. Mind you, no grass here... just a sand lot... and my flat sleeping pad... whatever.
(Very scenic)
6:20am... Pitch freakin black... I'm only half asleep... like I was all night for some reason... when I hear a guy....
Hey?
Hello?
Me- Yeah??? Me???
Hey! Yeah!
I open my flap/door....
Hey!
You can't camp here!
No Tents!
You Gotta Go!
Me- Um. Ok, sorry. I'll leave.
You gotta go!
When did you get here?
Me- about 10 last night, there was nobody around, I was going to be gone at first light.
You shoulda asked somebody.
No Tents.
You Gotta go!
I was flabbergasted. I'm still flabbergasted. Ten minutes later I was dressed, had my sleeping bag and pad rolled up, and here he comes again...
Buddy you gotta go!
Me- Yeah, I know, I packing up, I'll be gone in ten.
I hit the road without even taking my morning pee.
Dammit.
6:20am... Pitch freakin black... I'm only half asleep... like I was all night for some reason... when I hear a guy....
Hey?
Hello?
Me- Yeah??? Me???
Hey! Yeah!
I open my flap/door....
Hey!
You can't camp here!
No Tents!
You Gotta Go!
Me- Um. Ok, sorry. I'll leave.
You gotta go!
When did you get here?
Me- about 10 last night, there was nobody around, I was going to be gone at first light.
You shoulda asked somebody.
No Tents.
You Gotta go!
I was flabbergasted. I'm still flabbergasted. Ten minutes later I was dressed, had my sleeping bag and pad rolled up, and here he comes again...
Buddy you gotta go!
Me- Yeah, I know, I packing up, I'll be gone in ten.
I hit the road without even taking my morning pee.
Dammit.
Florida Panhandle Sunrise
Now, I can't decide whether it was my asleep half, or my awake half, that kept me from blowing up on the dude... but I didn't... I said sorry, and moved on. Then I spoke to myself in my helmet for the next hour about what I should have said. Eventually to find a gas station with a sign "Fresh Donuts" in the window. Perfect... kill 2 birds (food and gas) no, 3 birds (gotta pee!), no, 4 birds (brush my teeth!) in one stop.
I felt, by being on the road at 6:45 in the morning, breakfast was a worthy 'one bought meal' for the day.
The doughnut was great! Fresh... soft... cheap... I couldn't believe it! I had low hopes for a gas station doughnut. This one is recommended! Clean bathroom meant I was able to brush my teeth too!
More or less followed the coast through the rest of the panhandle and south. Most of this route is far enough away that you can't see the ocean though. The route turns south in the city of Perry, Florida. You'll know you're there when you begin to have difficulty breathing and your face turns green; that, my friends, is the smell of the paper mill not far from here. Bleh!
I did take the route through Tampa to hit their big bridge. Huge bridges like this give me a shot of adrenaline. I love it. Riding with one hand (and taking pictures) surely added to this as well.
Made it to my halfway point this (Tuesday) afternoon. I met my girlfriend and family on vacation on Sanibel Island way down by Naples. Here I would park the bike till Friday morning, and simply hang out on the beach.
Park the bike, with over 2600 miles on it! After only a week and a couple days of ownership (bought with 1 mile on it). And how's it doing? For the most part, excellent! I'm loving the 1)power, and 2)fuel range.
The seat's not my favorite, but I've never ridden quite this much in such a short time either: roughly 1800 miles in 3 days. Still, I believe the Buell Ulysses gets the nod in 'driver seat comfort'. Now there are some known free modifications to change the angle of the seat, which I didn't apply, and also some folks claim the seat needs broken in. In any case, the seat wasn't my favorite, but it wasn't bad either. Not nearly bad enough for me to consider an aftermarket alternative.
Another negative? Under load, there is a noticeable vibration. 'Load' is most noticeable in 5th or 6th gear; if attempting to accelerate to pass, there is a notable and odd vibration. It's smooth as glass when cruising, and not noticeable in the first few gears (when it's under load in the first few gears, you're paying more attention to the G forces being applied to you than what vibration the bike is making). To me, this is really no issue at all. As long as I'm assured that this is 'normal' and not an issue, then it doesn't bug me a bit, and other reports state the same, so no biggie!
Final Complaint... No heated grips! On a bike this outrageously expensive (to me at least), heated grips should be a no-brainier. I firmly believe that any bike made with the potential to tour (Yamaha calls this bike an Adventure-Tourer), it should absolutely have heated grips. Buell wins here. The electronic throttle means electric cruise control would not have been difficult to incorporate either, but no biggie.
Back to positive attributes...
The power! I'm getting ahead of myself, but let's just say, the one advantage to having to stop at stupid toll booths, was getting to start again. I sort of made it a habit of pulling away from the booth all nice and peaceful (don't want to irritate the workers), getting about half way through first gear before pulling the clutch in, clicking it over into Sport mode, crack throttle... drop clutch... HANG ON! FIRST.... SECOND.... THIRD.sixth. That few seconds it takes to go from about 20mph to close to 80 put a grin on my face every time. Man! This is by no means a fast bike. Or, well, it's no race bike. But it's so easy to accelerate. Traction control keeps you stable, and gives you peace of mind that you can't screw it up too bad. Well, you know... no wheelies or tire spinning. There are always those million other things that could happen... you'll have that.
The fuel range! The bike doesn't necessarily get great gas mileage, but the 6 gallon tank is something I've dreamed of. My absolute largest complaint with my Ulysses was the 4.5 gallon tank. My fuel light was on at 150 miles. For touring, that might not be much more than 2 hours, and I often wasn't near ready to stop at that point (which is why I added an auxiliary 3 gallon tank to that bike). The two bikes get nearly identical gas mileage: 50+ if I'm trying for good mileage, 45 under normal conditions, but the Yamaha has a third bigger gas tank. I loved passing the 200 mile mark without the fuel light being on. Even with the fuel light on, I found the owners manual suggestion of 1 gallon in reserve to be quite optimistic. I often ran 20-30 miles after the fuel light turned on, and it still only took 5 gallons. My best tank was in the middle of the Natchez Trace Parkway, cruising about 55 mph non-stop, averaged about 55 mpg, which would have gone well past 300 miles on one tank.
A little side note, the passenger seat luggage rack fits my auxiliary tank so perfect it's like it was made to go there, which makes me want to plumb it up for optional solo touring duty. It's absolutely not necessary, but it'd give me 9 gallons(!!!); I could make it to my family's place in South Carolina without a fill-up along the way. Like I said, not necessary, but it's awfully nice to simply not have to worry one bit about fuel. That was my problem with the Uly, it's not that I normally couldn't find fuel in time, it's that I was always worrying about it.
Park the bike, with over 2600 miles on it! After only a week and a couple days of ownership (bought with 1 mile on it). And how's it doing? For the most part, excellent! I'm loving the 1)power, and 2)fuel range.
The seat's not my favorite, but I've never ridden quite this much in such a short time either: roughly 1800 miles in 3 days. Still, I believe the Buell Ulysses gets the nod in 'driver seat comfort'. Now there are some known free modifications to change the angle of the seat, which I didn't apply, and also some folks claim the seat needs broken in. In any case, the seat wasn't my favorite, but it wasn't bad either. Not nearly bad enough for me to consider an aftermarket alternative.
Another negative? Under load, there is a noticeable vibration. 'Load' is most noticeable in 5th or 6th gear; if attempting to accelerate to pass, there is a notable and odd vibration. It's smooth as glass when cruising, and not noticeable in the first few gears (when it's under load in the first few gears, you're paying more attention to the G forces being applied to you than what vibration the bike is making). To me, this is really no issue at all. As long as I'm assured that this is 'normal' and not an issue, then it doesn't bug me a bit, and other reports state the same, so no biggie!
Final Complaint... No heated grips! On a bike this outrageously expensive (to me at least), heated grips should be a no-brainier. I firmly believe that any bike made with the potential to tour (Yamaha calls this bike an Adventure-Tourer), it should absolutely have heated grips. Buell wins here. The electronic throttle means electric cruise control would not have been difficult to incorporate either, but no biggie.
Back to positive attributes...
The power! I'm getting ahead of myself, but let's just say, the one advantage to having to stop at stupid toll booths, was getting to start again. I sort of made it a habit of pulling away from the booth all nice and peaceful (don't want to irritate the workers), getting about half way through first gear before pulling the clutch in, clicking it over into Sport mode, crack throttle... drop clutch... HANG ON! FIRST.... SECOND.... THIRD.sixth. That few seconds it takes to go from about 20mph to close to 80 put a grin on my face every time. Man! This is by no means a fast bike. Or, well, it's no race bike. But it's so easy to accelerate. Traction control keeps you stable, and gives you peace of mind that you can't screw it up too bad. Well, you know... no wheelies or tire spinning. There are always those million other things that could happen... you'll have that.
The fuel range! The bike doesn't necessarily get great gas mileage, but the 6 gallon tank is something I've dreamed of. My absolute largest complaint with my Ulysses was the 4.5 gallon tank. My fuel light was on at 150 miles. For touring, that might not be much more than 2 hours, and I often wasn't near ready to stop at that point (which is why I added an auxiliary 3 gallon tank to that bike). The two bikes get nearly identical gas mileage: 50+ if I'm trying for good mileage, 45 under normal conditions, but the Yamaha has a third bigger gas tank. I loved passing the 200 mile mark without the fuel light being on. Even with the fuel light on, I found the owners manual suggestion of 1 gallon in reserve to be quite optimistic. I often ran 20-30 miles after the fuel light turned on, and it still only took 5 gallons. My best tank was in the middle of the Natchez Trace Parkway, cruising about 55 mph non-stop, averaged about 55 mpg, which would have gone well past 300 miles on one tank.
A little side note, the passenger seat luggage rack fits my auxiliary tank so perfect it's like it was made to go there, which makes me want to plumb it up for optional solo touring duty. It's absolutely not necessary, but it'd give me 9 gallons(!!!); I could make it to my family's place in South Carolina without a fill-up along the way. Like I said, not necessary, but it's awfully nice to simply not have to worry one bit about fuel. That was my problem with the Uly, it's not that I normally couldn't find fuel in time, it's that I was always worrying about it.
Anyway, enough about the bike talk, back to the vacation talk....
Sanibel Island Florida.
Did some walking on the beach.
Enjoyed some beach sunsets.
Did some fishing from the pier.
And some fishing from a boat.
Where I caught a flounder (pictured) and a spotted sea trout. I also hooked something big, but after a minute of fighting, it snapped my line.
Good times! A great little butt break, and nice to sleep inside on a couch (that was bigger than my sleeping pad). But these relaxed times had to end, and on Friday, at 6am, roughly an hour before sunrise, I awoke the beast in preparation of heading deeper south.
Rolled out and hit the freeway to get past Naples, then off to US-41 for a more scenic route through the Everglades. Decent ride, the Everglades in the morning were neat with the fog hanging around just off the ground. I saw one roadkill alligator, but none alive. The swamp boats were pretty interesting. I thought I took more pictures through here, but they seem to be MIA, I just have this one heading, yet again, into the sunrise:
But then, after a fill-up just south of Miami, I hit the beautiful Keys!
Eventually hitting the end of the line:
I parked the bike, took off my boots and riding suit and left them in a heap on the seat, and went for a walk in my flip-flops and gym shorts/shirt to see the place.
Key West...
Found this place! I enjoyed the fact that I rode through the real New Orleans, on the real Bourbon Street, to get here:
Then there's this place.
(I didn't go in, but I liked the sign)
(Remember... I'm lame.)
In the end, I walked a good 3 or 4 miles around town looking for whatever all of the hullabaloo was about, and was ready to head back to the bike (and see if any of my gear had been ganked).
I don't know, I mean, at first I was trying really hard to like the place since everyone else seems to loves it. But after a bit, I thought, why should I try to love it? I'm here alone. I can do whatever I want. If I were with someone that enjoyed it more I'd have no problem spending more time there, but for me, alone, it's just another tourist town. Seems like a nice neighborhood, some cool little shops/restaurants, and the chickens walking around absolutely cracked me up. But alright, no need to stick around, time to head north.
This (Friday) night I left a mystery. If Key West was amazing, I was willing to stay all afternoon, and find a place to sleep down there in the keys. Otherwise, I could get as far north as possible, in hopes of pulling another marathon day on Saturday and make it to my Family's place in South Carolina, before finishing home on Sunday.
I turned north.
But north was busy... slow moving traffic, in the Key West sun, on the hot asphalt...
(Air Temperature reading 100 degrees) A bit warm for my 1 piece riding suit.
Made it out of the traffic and on the 'open' road, before stopping for a photo shoot.
I made it about 5 miles up the road before remembering I didn't fasten my camera back to it's leash.... Then about 1 second later, I realized I didn't put it back in it's camera case.
AAArrrrrgggg I left it sitting on my duffel bag.
Luckily, I kind of tore out of the parking lot like a mad man on a new bike enjoying some off-pavement shenanigans, so I was hoping desperately I ditched in the lot rather than on the road. It's not a new camera, so I wouldn't have cried too hard if it was broken, but I wanted that memory card with all these glorious pictures!
It fell off as soon as I kicked it off of the center stand. See the tire tread just about touching it? That was a minivan, sitting there when I pulled back up. Lucky! It still worked flawlessly!
The out of the box thinkers here would have noticed that I just posted a picture, of my camera. Tricky eh? I had two cameras on this trip, a point and shoot leashed to the bike (for pictures on the move), and a smart phone/camera for pictures away from the bike.
Anyway, back at it! About 5pm, back close to Key Largo, I passed a sign for the "Worlds Greatest Fish Sandwich". Perfect!
Craig's Restaurant is the place.
And it was, the worlds greatest fish sandwich. We have a winner. $12 for the meal I believe, whatever it was, it was worth it.
On the way out of the restaurant lot I found this thing!
It was every bit of 3' long! Us northerners don't realize these things actually live in the wild!
More north, back on the mainland (hey I thought there were tolls to get to Key West? Guess not!) There was an RV park on the south edge of Miami. It was only 7:00, but I that meant I could actually setup camp in the light! I made it there, but actually had to pay for a site! $35 for a tent site! Ouch! But they had a tiki bar (a HUGE tiki bar) and live entertainment. For a grass site and showers, I guess it'll do. Tons of huge campers, being pulled by mega diesel trucks, hauling Harleys. Odd. Come to think of it, I passed a sign on one of the keys that said something about a motorcycle event Saturday.
I got all setup and showered and headed to the bar for a night cap. I told the bar tender lady to make me something fruity and islandy (I'm on vacation don't you know!). I don't know what it was, but it was pink and delicious. I had two. It was dark, and I was ready to crash... when....
sigh....
The DJ started setting up the sound system. Karaoke Night!!!!!!!!
sigh....
Well, I was tired enough to pass out at first, but after a couple hours of sleep, I found myself staring into the slightly less than dark tent ceiling (RV parks have street lights). Listening to the mostly-aweful singing, and the grand cheers and celebration occurring about 50 yards away from me.
Now, if I didn't feel lame enough after the OMG SPRING BREAK 2012 PARTY! Now I'm trying to sleep through a bunch of old folks (RV parks don't attract many younger folk) trying to party. Weak. I was tempted to get up and join them, but at the same time, I wanted to get to my family's place in South Carolina tomorrow, and that would mean another 800 mile day. Plus my little mixed drink (whose main ingredient was ice) cost like 5 bucks each. Pf.
Then my neighbor in his RV starts hollering about the OSU vs USC game! "Ohio State is about to beat USC!!!" "OH MAN! OVERTIME"
Now this almost got me up, because, you know, GO BUCKEYES!
Later I learned it was Ohio versus University of North Carolina. I'm going to hope the guy was drunk, otherwise, just completely clueless about the game he was watching.
More sleep...
More awake, Harleys, rumbling past my tent... I look at my phone... It's 3:30 in the morning. What... the... hell...... If there's a bike show down there on the keys, they'd be leaving now to arrive at what? 5am? I woke up to Harleys rumbling past my tent about every half an hour for the rest of the morning.
Loud pipes save lives.
Daylight! Broke camp and hit the road by 7:30.
I got all setup and showered and headed to the bar for a night cap. I told the bar tender lady to make me something fruity and islandy (I'm on vacation don't you know!). I don't know what it was, but it was pink and delicious. I had two. It was dark, and I was ready to crash... when....
sigh....
The DJ started setting up the sound system. Karaoke Night!!!!!!!!
sigh....
Well, I was tired enough to pass out at first, but after a couple hours of sleep, I found myself staring into the slightly less than dark tent ceiling (RV parks have street lights). Listening to the mostly-aweful singing, and the grand cheers and celebration occurring about 50 yards away from me.
Now, if I didn't feel lame enough after the OMG SPRING BREAK 2012 PARTY! Now I'm trying to sleep through a bunch of old folks (RV parks don't attract many younger folk) trying to party. Weak. I was tempted to get up and join them, but at the same time, I wanted to get to my family's place in South Carolina tomorrow, and that would mean another 800 mile day. Plus my little mixed drink (whose main ingredient was ice) cost like 5 bucks each. Pf.
Then my neighbor in his RV starts hollering about the OSU vs USC game! "Ohio State is about to beat USC!!!" "OH MAN! OVERTIME"
Now this almost got me up, because, you know, GO BUCKEYES!
Later I learned it was Ohio versus University of North Carolina. I'm going to hope the guy was drunk, otherwise, just completely clueless about the game he was watching.
More sleep...
More awake, Harleys, rumbling past my tent... I look at my phone... It's 3:30 in the morning. What... the... hell...... If there's a bike show down there on the keys, they'd be leaving now to arrive at what? 5am? I woke up to Harleys rumbling past my tent about every half an hour for the rest of the morning.
Loud pipes save lives.
Daylight! Broke camp and hit the road by 7:30.
Uneventful ride up the east coast of Florida via turnpikes. You know, on 1 road in Florida, you can go through several different kinds of toll booths? First it was 3 "toll by plate" booths, where there is no option to pay, either, you have their sun-pass thing, or they mail you a bill, conveniently with an administrative charge added on. Then 2 cash booths. Then a booth to take a ticket, and pay when you leave the turnpike. Seriously? Couldn't I have gotten the stupid ticket, like, way back at the first toll both? Whatever. I did this whole trip on temporary tags, and never got the mailed bills. Made me feel stupid for actually paying all the other times. Every stop on the freeway gave me an excuse to accelerate back up to 75. Weeeeeeeeeeee, shift, Weeeeeeeeeee, shift, Weeeeeeeee, Aww speed limit. I've been to Daytona Beach, and Cocoa Beach, and Savanah, and Charleston all before, so, while I felt a bit bad about passing them by, I didn't necessarily need to stop just to say I did. I would have rather taken the smaller routes, but when the choices are city traffic, or interstate... I'm going to pick interstate.
Hit some rain in South Carolina. I saw it coming, so I was wearing my rain suit... no big deal, just a minor inconvenience. Apparently the cars had a worse time with it than I did. I don't like getting wet, but I have no problem riding in the rain. It was one of those brief but intense down pours that's so hard it floods the road a bit instantly... the cars were making a wake. Anyway, they were slowing down to about 35 with their 4-way flashers on. Sheesh, pansies, I did my best to get through the traffic in a perfectly safe manner, and got back up to a comfortable 55ish so my helmet would keep clear. Easy. A couple storms like that (all quick) and I made it well before sunset! Actually in time to watch the Buckeyes play! And by play I mean win! GO BUCKEYES!
Short ending...
Had a great, albeit short, time with family down there, and I headed out about noon on Sunday. (You know you ride a lot when you say something along the lines of "Eh, it's an easy 500 mile day, I don't need to leave till about noon". I love the Carolinas! Close to the ocean, close to the mountains. I've traveled in 26 states, and South Carolina is still my number 1 favorite. [EDIT: now that I've ridden in Colorado, this decision is a bit more difficult. I'll maintain, my favorite state to live in, would be South Carolina.]
Had a great, albeit short, time with family down there, and I headed out about noon on Sunday. (You know you ride a lot when you say something along the lines of "Eh, it's an easy 500 mile day, I don't need to leave till about noon". I love the Carolinas! Close to the ocean, close to the mountains. I've traveled in 26 states, and South Carolina is still my number 1 favorite. [EDIT: now that I've ridden in Colorado, this decision is a bit more difficult. I'll maintain, my favorite state to live in, would be South Carolina.]
Not this time Blue Ridge. I crossed under it on this trip in North Carolina. I've travelled the Blue Ridge numerous times in the past, and as far as enjoyment factor goes, I like the Blue Ridge Parkway far more than the Natchez Trace.
I rode straight up US 23. It's an easy and enjoyable ride. Interesting note, in South Carolina, gas was still $3.59 a gallon, and it was 70 and sunny. When I crossed into North Carolina (about a half an hour in) Gas jumped to $3.95, and the temp dropped to 55. Johnson City brought medium rain for a solid hour. Bummer.
Kentucky brought more tornado damage. This time, (as opposed to on the Natchez) there was civilization. Houses were leveled. Trees were leveled. There were signs for FEMA assistance. Nasty stuff here. I've never seen destruction of property like this. I didn't get pictures, because it took me a bit to wrap my head around what I was looking at when I passed by.
I got a shot of a freshly leveled barn. Houses and business looked similar.
This storm hit just 3 weeks prior. There were close to 20 deaths in Kentucky I believe.
Even into southern Ohio, 23 stays fairly scenic
So that's it! I made it home in just over 8 hours, which is dang good for that drive.
I learned some. No matter how hard I try, I like mountains over coast. The main reasoning though is that mountains are still natural. You can get away from it all in mountains. Coast... well, if it's accessible, or a road goes within sight, it just gets built up into a tourist town.
I've hit these states, passed though some main cities of interest, enjoyed a week off work, and happily don't ever need to ride back down there again. If I had the opportunity, sure I would! I like to ride, regardless! But I don't need to.
With others, I could've spent more time in New Orleans, or Key West, or heck, Nashville or Miami, or Panama City, or one of numerous other cities along my path. But on this ride, it was about the ride.
I'm fully aware that, as a disadvantage to being lucky enough to get to ride a lot, some of the rides are going to be better than others. This one was necessary, but not my favorite.
I'm still happy. It was a great time. Much better than sitting at work the whole time!
The new bike worked flawlessly. The tires are still above 50%, despite having 4700 miles on them (and tons of those are hard freeway miles).
The miles have smoothed out the suspension a bit, and the motor vibes are a bit better as well.
Can't wait for the next trip!
I learned some. No matter how hard I try, I like mountains over coast. The main reasoning though is that mountains are still natural. You can get away from it all in mountains. Coast... well, if it's accessible, or a road goes within sight, it just gets built up into a tourist town.
I've hit these states, passed though some main cities of interest, enjoyed a week off work, and happily don't ever need to ride back down there again. If I had the opportunity, sure I would! I like to ride, regardless! But I don't need to.
With others, I could've spent more time in New Orleans, or Key West, or heck, Nashville or Miami, or Panama City, or one of numerous other cities along my path. But on this ride, it was about the ride.
I'm fully aware that, as a disadvantage to being lucky enough to get to ride a lot, some of the rides are going to be better than others. This one was necessary, but not my favorite.
I'm still happy. It was a great time. Much better than sitting at work the whole time!
The new bike worked flawlessly. The tires are still above 50%, despite having 4700 miles on them (and tons of those are hard freeway miles).
The miles have smoothed out the suspension a bit, and the motor vibes are a bit better as well.
Can't wait for the next trip!
