February 18, 2012 - Inverness

Heavy fog greeted us as we met for breakfast in Plant City this morning.  However, the weather-guesser promised that it would burn off by the time we were done with breakfast.  Wrong, again.

The plan for today was to ride up to Inverness to check on the progress of turning Eddie's old GL1800 into a new California Sidecar Trike.  With that in mind, Eddie, Bill, J.T. Boyd and I turned north into the fog.

After passing through Zephyrhills, we made a quick stop at San Antonio's San Ann Market.  Leaving San Antonio, we rode north on some of the best roads in the area - Jessamine, Clay Hill/Church, Weatherly, CR-439 (Istachatta/Ling), and finally into Invesness on US-41.  By the time we reached Spring Lake and Cortez, the sun had finally come out.

At Trikes by Design, we found Eddie's new trike almost completed.  He should be riding it home sometime next week.  Believe me, he is very excited.

Looks good and they did a great job of matching the paint.

While we were there, we took the opportunity to look through their accessories store.  Good selection and excellent prices.

Leaving Trikes by Design, we headed back to Floral City for a little lunch at The Shamrock Inn.  Did I say a "little" lunch? The portions were huge.  A regular burger is 8 oz., while then Shamrock Burger (Boyd & J.T.'s choice) is a full 12 oz. of beef.  Bill and I enjoyed excellent salads while Eddie kept looking at everyone else's lunch and mumbling, "Looks like I made the worse choice."  Oh, by the way, they do serve a large selection of beer.  Eddie made the mistake of asking a redheaded, Irish waitress if they had beer.  Long story short, they do.

After lunch we headed back towards Plant City, this time taking in all of Istachatta Road.  By then, it was starting to look like rain so we pretty much beat feet back to Plant City via US-301, Old Laklenad Hwy. and CR-39.

All-in-all, it was a great ride with good friends, covering about 150 miles of highway on a pleasant Florida day.

Until next time,

RIDE WITH PRIDE

Glenn "Gunny" Monroe

February 4, 2012 - Off to Eustis

Attendance was a little light at breakfast today.  J.T., Kent, Boyd and I were the only ones gathered in front of The Whistle Stop to enjoy the aroma of Jerry's baking bread.  After breakfast at Snellgrove's, Kent headed off for other duties while J.T., Boyd and I prepared for the day's ride.

Our first destination today was Shoot Straight, Lakeland, where we perused their offerings with great care.  If you ever make it over there, be sure to check out their Custom and Collectible cabinet. After wiping the drool off the display cases, we were back on the road.

The next destination was Champions Powersports in Eustis.  Not only is it a fun place to visit, but it is also an excellent ride.

While at Champions, J.T. went to check on new tires for the Wing, Boyd checked out the new Ninja, and I checked out a new helmet.  I love the quick connect chinstraps on my Nolan helmets, but they are very noisy.  I guess I didn't notice the wind noise too much behind thew larger windscreen of the Wing with music playing in my ears, but now it has become very distracting.  I soon concluded that the helmet for me was a Shoei Qwest Overt TC-3.

Sadly, the only one of this new model they had in stock was awaiting pickup by another customer.  Mine should be here sometime next week.  Thankfully, it was on sale.  J.T and Boyd had less success as the tires were too dear and the salesman made the mistake of thinking that Boyd was not a serious customer.

By now it was nearing 1:00 P.M. and was time for lunch.  We headed for Billy's Cafe in Tavares where the food is excellent and the prices moderate.

After lunch, we headed for home via CR-561 and Green Pond Road.

It was about 165 miles of decent roads and glorious Florida weather,  Come join us next time.  Meanwhile,

RIDE WITH PRIDE

"Gunny"