Well?..........in a simple sentence.......what a great day in the saddle. Me and my trusty steed 'whooped em again eh Josey'
Left out about 8:00am. Rode just under two and half hours to get there. Took Tpike to yeehaw junction and then straight out to Rockridge road. Pretty much was lucky and actually found most of the first eastern side roads going up and over the top. Lost gps signal and yes got lost in the Green Swamp. No biggie I just winged it and rode a couple local roads. One road over there was
decent. Oil well road was actually
decent.
It was a bout 3 miles of low speed left and right switchbacks and a couple esses. But there was no out on it so I had to turn around and come back out same way. Rockridge road was pretty much same as the 'famous' Tail of the Gecko which was freshly paved patches on a road that hasn't been addressed in fifty years. Even on the places where you would want to lean over or take a corner there was just too many small loose stones in the road and difficult to see patches of sand in middle of lane. Lots of muddy tire tracks coming off properties and into road which also made things squirrelly. I made it to the Green Swamp preserve entrance and stopped for obligatory pic and to sign visitors register. After that no cell or gps so I just winged it. Rockridge road to green pond road to commonwealth to st rd 50. Made it to the top western corner of the loop and was hot, tired and SPENT. Already about six hours on the bike. I stopped in Mascote I think it was and then remembered if I turn my phone off and on again gps may come back. It did. When I final got a good signal I realized I was about twenty miles from the Tpike in Clermont. Again it was going on 3-4 o'clock so I said to myself let's just hop on and head home. From Clermont it was 180 miles home. I was tired but still wanted to come down south on west side thru Dade city back around up 98 and home but the impression I got from the east side didn't leave much to be desired. Again the roads I found there did wind thru old Florida, OLD Florida! Little itty bitty roads going thru places with homes way out in the middle of flipping nowhere? What do these folks do? Some really nice freshly made big homes again in the middle of nowhere?
Long and the short. Great day all day ride on the bike. But I'll say same thing I said regarding the Tail of the Gecko, if somebody asked me to go over there to ride some Florida back roads I say pass. If it was closer sure but it wasn't worth 170 miles just to get to where the 'good stuff' was supposed to be. I got back around 6pm and was flat worn out. It was HOT. Wound up doing just under 500 miles today. For the life of me I can't see how I rode 800+ in one day coming home from bash because I was beat today. Can only think it was post dragon adrenalin and the different temps that allowed me to do so much in a day back then. I took some pics and recorded every minute of the trip on the gopro. I'll post the pics I got now and edit some video clips for everyone to see as well as crop a few still frames from the videos for other pics. Again after having grown up in Tn and just recently ridden the Dragon area this left a lot to be desired. I don't know if conditions were regular and normal or if there was lots of pond wash and other debris there in roads from Isaac? Either way most turns I thought about leaning thru I wound up taking almost straight up because more than once both my tires pushed thru the corner dirt track style and after the first couple times I decided not to push my luck. So it was just a lazy cruise thru some really old neighborhoods. I know most if not all folks there were nice and would have been helpful if I needed it but the whole area just reminded me of some C grade horror movie. I kept expecting some bloody girl to come running out screaming 'save me' with a guy carrying a chain saw behind her
Now for the pics I got on my GD no gps signal IPhone.
Chocalate milk and a sweet roll on Sr80 before I hit the Turnpike north....
Ate lunch in Lakeland at this place 'Salem's gyros'. Not bad for a hungry soul.
Food porn...
From there I made my way up the first leg of the loop on Rockridge road. Stopped by the preserve entrance for a pic or two cuz
I was there
Trail head past gate going into the Green Swamp preserve. I'd like to drive over and go for a hike one time...
Pic of the interior areas I guess? Seems like the 'old world climbing fern' is taking over?
Like I said I am sure some of the locals were cool but also some are downright mean and nasty and should not be approached
Couldn't leave without signing the visitor log. Gotta represent ya know
Nice day on the bike, there and back rubber side still down
Now I did have the extra fuel in tail bag and almost used it because I was 30 miles past 'low light on' but got lucky to find a gas station, again in the middle of flipping nowhere. Like an oasis in the desert. But I would like to offer a 'winner winner chicken dinner' to the first person who can tell me what's wrong with this pic?
Sadly I think I've given up finding anything close by worth riding other than PBIR but it was a great day riding on my bike so I can't complain at all. Lastly I'd just like to say God bless the Florida Tpike. Hot, tired and spent I got on with 180 miles home. I was in a train of about three or four cars slowly passing a tractor trailer on our right and my dial was at 115. I mean everyone, even granny in her Prius were cooking along at triple digits. Made the 180 in just over two hours with one last fuel stop in Jupiter. Which brings up a question for anyone else riding a GenII Busa. How many useable gallons do you get before she starts to sputter? Since I had extra fuel when light came on on the way home I decided once and for all to see exactly how far she'd go before starting to sputter. Light came on at 140 and I got to 170 miles before she started bucking and sputtering. I was lucky cuz an exit for Jupiter was right there and I got off. She literally bucked and kicked right up to the station where she died before I could turn her off, perfect, I love my bike. But anyway since it basically ran itself dry and I've got almost 6gal capacity I figured she was gonna take quite a bit. But 5 gallons filled it right under neck same spot as I always do. So really I only got to use that 5gal before she sputtered? 34mpgs at triple digits of faster ain't that bad. Had I been going 70-80 I'm sure it would have been better but as usual the Tpike was rolling. We all passed an FHP at almost 100 on the dial. Seeing as how my speedo reads 10 or so over at these speeds I know we were all doing at least 90 and he didn't even flinch.
Now at my last fuel stop I pulled in and up to a guy on a Valkyrie. Sticking my chest out and acting all billy bad azz I said 'yep just did a days ride and got almost 500 miles down today!'
His response was kind and polite, 'I did 1100 today, 700 yesterday, been on the bike touring by myself since June and three days ago was in Grand Teton Natl park.'
me ,tucks tail, chest deflates, 'well have a safe ride home.'
Vid clips to follow. I'll post up Rockridge road, Green pond rd and some others. No clue if the west side south run back down and around thru Dade city would have been better or not but there's always next time.
Here's a google maps link to first leg of trip from the app I have called Cyclemeter. Doesn't seem to be working perfectly as it usually marks each mile that you can click on to gain data just from that one particular mile.
Cyclemeter-Motorcycle-20120902-0814.kml - Google Maps
Gps didn't come back on until I was on the top western side and like I said I just took Tpike home so that portion is boring.
