November 20, 2010 - San Antonio

It was another glorious Saturday morning in central Florida as eight good friends met for breakfast in Plant City.  The skies were somewhat overcast and the temperature was cool but promised to warm quickly. Leaving Snellgrove's Restaurant, three of the group left for other duties while, Bill, Boyd, J.T., Bob K. and I prepared for the day's ride.

The morning ride took us to San Antonio via Dover and Zephyrhills.  We made a comfort stop at the San Ann Market where we enjoyed a beverage and conversation on the patio.  This is always an enjoyable stop because of the atmosphere and the very friendly people.  From there, we headed off to explore the many hills and curves that the area offers, including Jessamine Rd., Clay Hill, Powell, Hayman, Bayhead, Bellamy Brothers and Old Pasco. Lunch time found us back in San Antonio for a stop at Pancho's Villa Mexican Restaurant.

Green Burrito

Bill heads for the door while Boyd finishes his lunch.

After lunch we headed back to the road.  Boyd's Concours14 had just completed it's break-in and it was time to stretch it's legs.  Soon after we left the restaurant, Bill turned his bike towards home while the remaining four continued the ride. The afternoon route took us back north to Trilby, then back to Dade City, where Bob broke away from the group.  As we approached Zephyhills, J.T. also headed for home.  That left just Boyd and I to complete the ride.

We headed towards the north Lakeland area to run Old Dade City Rd., Sherrouse and Lakeland Acres.  From there, we made our way over to Green Pond Rd. then explored the curves through the orange groves east of Polk City.

It was a great 236 mile ride.  You should have been there!

Gunny

November 13, 2010 - Lake Minneola

It was a cool morning as seven friends gathered for breakfast in Plant City, Florida.  The last to arrive was our friend, Boyd, on his new 2011 Concours 14.  I think he planned it that way to draw the biggest crowd of gawkers.

After breakfast, Bill, Boyd, Robert, Bob K. and I left for the day's ride. Sadly, Lloyd couldn't ride due to family commitments and J.T. decided he'd rather ride rather join his Faith Rider group.

Today's route

took us first to the Florida Fun Bike Center in Lakeland so Boyd could retrieve his Guardian Bell from to VMax.  While we were there, Bill talked Dave, the Fun Bike Manager, into allowing us the use of their conference room to show us all his latest DVD creation, The Last Ride of VMax.  The video depicted Boyd's last ride on his VMax before he traded it for the Concours14.  It was a great piece of work and I join all the other viewers in saying that Bill could have a very nice future should he decide to take Navigator Studios commercial.  Great job, Bill.

Leaving Fun Bike, Robert decided to call it a day while the rest headed north, mostly, to get to Rockridge and Green Pond Road. We made a brief stop at the bridge near Green Pond and Poyner Oaks, one of our favorite stops.

Leaving Green Pond Rd. behind, we next headed for Lake Erie Rd.  This morning, we decided to explore Bay Lake Loop which starts at the end of Lake Erie Rd. and loops bake to Bay Lake Rd. (CR-565).  It was an interesting piece of roadway through a vignette of old Florida. Arriving at the intersection of Bay Lake Loop and CR-565, I was tempted to take a right on the blacktop but I thought that it world soon turn to dirt. A later check of Google Maps showed that I was right.  The blacktop continues only as far as the Van Fleet Trail (1/4 mile) where it becomes a sand logging trail.

Our journey continued to Sloan's Ridge Rd. then over to Montverde via back roads.  From there, we worked our way back to Lake Minneola for lunch at the Tiki Bar Grill.

The place was unusually busy and we had to wait awhile to get a table (turns out there was a festival in town). The $1.00 drafts and excellent burgers were enjoyed by all.

I said, enjoyed, Bill!

Boyd

Bob K.

After lunch, we took and indirect route home via CR-561and back across Green Pond Rd. - two of our favorite pieces of roadway in central Florida.

We covered about 175 miles today under sunny skies with temperatures topping out near 80 degrees. We arrived back home around 3:30 p.m. happy and thankful for another great ride.  See you next time.

Gunny