It was a cold Central Florida morning when Boyd Harrell and I met outside the Whistle Stop Cafe in Plant City. As 8:00 a.m., the appointed meeting time, approached, we began to believe that we were the only ones willing to face riding in the cold. Just about then Carl Lane came walking around the corner. After a few minutes catching up with Carl, we started across Collins St. heading for Snellgrove's Restaurant. Midway across the street, we heard the sound of a pair of motorcycles which heralded the arrived of Bill McDaniel on the ST and Robert McDaniel, accompanied by Jade, on his Harley. Once seated for breakfast, Eddie Richter came dragging in looking like he had just gotten out of bed, which, as it happens, was accurate.
Once we had all had our fill of food, coffee and improbable stories, we headed off to our cycles to prepare for the day's adventure. Eddie and Carl were unable to join us for the ride, but the rest of us bundled up against the cold and turned our knees into the breeze with no particular destination in mind.
Our Route took us north by northeast to some of favorite roads. After covering Hancock, Old Dade City, Lakeland Acres and Sherrouse, we headed for a much needed comfort stop at Rockridge and US-98 (I did say it was cold, right?). We were soon on our way again, heading for Green Pond Rd. and Laws Rd. Reaching the intersection of Laws Rd. & CR-561, Bill, Robert & Jade left us to return to other duties and warm fingers in Plant City. However, Boyd and I continued north on 561. Reaching US-27 around noon, we decided to stop at McDonald's for comfort and coffee. While there, Boyd mentioned that he had promised to meet Miss Vicki for lunch at 1:00 p.m. in Lakeland.
Finishing our coffee, we turned back towards Lakeland where, at 12:56 p.m., I left Boyd at I-4 and US-98 - plenty of time to get to his 1:00 appointment. Meanwhile, I headed to Sky Powersports because it was the closest, fastest location for a comfort stop (did I mention it was cold?). While there, I took time to drool over a white 2012 Victory Cross Country Tour.
If I can ever scrape together enough cash ...
Meanwhile,
RIDE WITH PRIDE
Glenn "Gunny" Monroe
1 comment:
Does Bill have enough room?
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