October 29, 2011 - San Antonio

I usually start this blog with something like "It was a beautiful morning..."  Today, that just wasn't so.  In fact, I drove out to Ace's place to pick up my bike with high hopes that the rain would clear by the time I got there.  As I stood outside the bike barn gazing at the cloud filled, rainy skies, Ace exited his house, got into his SUV and headed for the street.  I decided he was probably right, so I got back into my car and followed him into Plant City to meet the group for breakfast.

Arriving next to the Whistle Stop, I was surprised to see Robert's Harley, then Preacher showed up on his Wing!  Some guys just gotta ride.  Usually, I am one of them but had chickened out today.

As we stood talking and waiting for stragglers, the smell of baking bread was wafting out of the Whistle Stop's open kitchen door.  As we were commenting on the great aroma, Jerry came out of that door to join us.  We tried to convince him to bring out a fresh loaf and a tub of butter.  Alas, none was yet ready.  So off to Snellgrove's we went - Ace, Preacher, Big Ed, Jerry, Robert, Jade and I.

After breakfast, Jerry went back to baking his bread.  Ace & Big Ed went shopping.  I was about to leave when Preacher promised that the weather was improving and convinced me to ride also.  So, off to Dover we went to retrieve my Burgman.

Shortly after we started the ride, Preacher's prediction came true.  The rain stopped, resulting in some great riding conditions.  The route took us up to San Antonio for a stop at the San Ann Market.

Click on the map for details.

From there, we rode Jessamine, Bayhead, Bellamy Brothers, Pasco and St. Joe.

We stopped at Smitty's Smokehouse & Grill in Dade City for lunch.  The food is excellent and well priced.

Leaving Smitty's, Preacher and I headed for my house to replace a headlight bulb on Preacher's Wing while Robert and Jade headed back to Plant City.

All-in-all, it turned out to be a great day to Ride with Pride.  See you next time.

Gunny.

October 21, 2011 - Montverde

It was a brisk Saturday morning when we gathered for breakfast in Plant City, FL.  We were happy that Eddie, Marlena and Robert could join us for morning food and conversa-tion, even if they were unable to ride today.

The skies were clear but the temperature was still cool as Ace, Preacher, Mr. Sarcasm and I left Plant city en route to Montverde, FL on the east coast of Lake Apopka.  

Now that the Burgman has completed the break-in period, I was, for the first time, able to push it hard through the power band.  It made for a much improved ride - quick and responsive - as we covered some of our fa-vorite roads.

Somewhere along the line, Ace left us and headed off on his own to take care of other business.

Leaving Montverde, we turned south and headed for lunch at the Minneola Inn.  The food there is always excellent, including the homemade fries.  If we were smart, however, we would have started with one their homemade deserts since we were all to full to try them after lunch.

The route home took us south on CR-561 to SR-33.  From there, we headed for the barn by each person's best route.  It was another great day on the Florida by-ways.

October 1, 2011

With half of our every week riders on their annual northern tour, participation at breakfast was slim this morning.  Only J.T., Robert and I were there, however, we had 100% participation in the morning ride, at least until Robert received a call from a neighbor telling him that his dog had gotten out.  Oh well, J.T. and I had a nice ride around eastern Polk County and I only lost J.T. once.  It was my fault.  I had not charged the battery on my GPS and it died shortly after we left Plant City.  As a result, the turn onto a hidden rural byway snuck up on me - I made the turn, but J.T. did not.  Luckily, we found each other again.  Anyway, we had a good ride and I completed the break-in on the new machine.  It will be interesting to see how it performs when the RPM limitations are removed.

As to those on the northern tour, this week found them riding the White Mountain area in New Hampshire, then west across Vermont where they put their bikes on the ferry across southern Lake Champlain to Ticonderoga, New York.  Saturday, they arrived in Niagara Falls, NY and spent the night on the American side.  Sunday, they will be moving to a hotel on the Canadian side overlooking the falls.  Sounds like a good time, although I see that it is cold up there and there may be a few days of rainy weather ahead.  Good luck, guys.

Gunny