After enjoying a great ride to Florida it was time to enjoy what brought me south in the first place.
Back in the day the finishers of the Iron Butt Rally would get together in Daytona for a pizza party. This was an intimate gathering as back then very few people had finished the Iron Butt Rally. As an aside after 17 editions of the Iron Butt Rally only 543 riders can claim to have finished the IBR.
As the IBA grew the party also grew and was relocated to Jacksonville. Regular members were invited and events were added to make it a great place to be for those who like to ride a lot of miles in a short amount of time.
The dinner is Friday evening; it was the reason I made the trip. I started the day with a ride down to Daytona to visit my former co-workers at the Yamaha tent. Track management must have changed, not only were all the vendors gone (relocated to the strip) but Yamaha got screwed and was forced to set up their entire multi truck / tent display on dirt and carpet rather than the promised pavement. I visited with old friends and made my way back to Jacksonville via the Tamoka State Park.
Along the way I stopped at the Bulow Plantation. Bulow used to be ground zero for all things BMW during Bike Week. It was a "no host" campout hosted by the Space Coast BMW club. It was a fantastic time but the operators of Bulow decided the bikers (BMW was a small section in a sea of straight pipes) had to go. I found it noteworthy that RV's bikes and even tents were back. It made me wonder what if, but that's one of those things that even if recreated would never be as good as it was.
Back in Jacksonville it was time for happy hour (fun) and dinner. Dinner was as good as one gets in a banquet room and the company was even better. This year's presentation was interesting with the theme appearing to be If your spouse / partner won't let you ride ditch em, followed by staying home because traveling is dangerous means you'll get killed by a mattress on your commute.
I could be wrong, I believe both the presenters and the audience had a pretty fantastic happy hour.
Jacksonville to Baltimore
My oldest son is a grad student studying Bio-Chemistry at Johns Hopkins and yes I am very proud. It was a scary moment when he said he wanted to go to grad school; thankfully it was followed up with "Dad they pay me". Thank Dog.
I don't know about the other parents out there but I savor the opportunity to see my fully launched child; if I get a phone call the world stops so I'll be damned if I'm going to do a east coast swing without a stop to put my eyes on my son. Our plan was to get together for Sunday brunch on my way north.
I had discussed riding north with others but they really wanted to stay off the interstate as much as possible; for me if I was going to be in Baltimore for Sunday brunch I was going to have to put down some miles on fast roads. I was up for working in some of the BRP and perhaps even the Skyline but to do that I'd need to beat it up toward Charlotte.
Jacksonville to Fancy Gap is 488 miles and I was there for lunch. A reasonably fast ride on slab with a departure at 04:30.
After lunch I jumped on the Blue Ridge heading north. I felt I had plenty of time and when I reached Meadows of Dan (home of Willville, a great MC only campground) I realized I was near the spot where an old friend bought some property and had built what appears to be a very nice home. Thanks to social media I knew chances were high he'd be out on his tractor so I decided a surprise visit was in order. I had to do a little digging to get the exact coordinates but after a few messages I was on my way, happy to be forced to ride some of the roads connected to the parkway.
After 40 minutes of fantastic twisties I arrived at his gate only to find it closed. A check of my phone revealed my surprise was a bust; my buddy was in bed with the flu. I felt glad the gate was closed; rather than keep me out it was keeping his virus in which was fine with me.
I went to leave and as I backed my bike I felt the back end going down. Being a GS rider I eased clutch and added gas. Being a GS rider on a street bike that failed miserably and I ended up stuck in a ditch.
All that beautiful body work, what's a guy to do? Fortunately GS riders have mad recovery skills so I was able to extract the bike without scratching it or dropping it on myself. I did burn a bunch of calories I was planning on using to ride.
After the extraction I made my way north, rejoining the BRP at Peaks of Otter. I'll admit I was tired and I wanted a nap. This created a dilemma because the only way I would be able to nap would be to find a spot in direct sunlight, otherwise I'd freeze but I also needed daylight to make tracks north and get off the parkway before dark.
Take time to make time is one of those sayings used by endurance riders and I decided I really would benefit from a nap. I pulled off, found my spot and set my alarm for 20 minutes. I dozed quickly, woke in 10 minutes and felt great. A true power nap.
I continued north and was having a fantastic ride. I felt confident I could make it to the northern end of the parkway before dark which is where I would find a room and meal. I felt this was perfect as I would be right around 200 miles to Baltimore with is an ideal distance to do before brunch.
I found a overlook and pulled off to grab my phone and make a reservation when I received the text no rider wants to receive:
Granted the 14 miles is what the GPS said before I pushed GO, i.e. 14 miles as the proverbial crow flies. In road miles it almost doubled which is why I was in the area in the first place but it would have been nicer to be a little quicker to the hospital.
If you ride a lot and you have friends that ride a lot too chances are you've been hurt or been with someone else who has gotten injured as a result of riding motorcycles. Either way it sucks, it sucks to see a friend hurt almost as much as it sucks to be hurt. Thankfully the damage is to fingers, vs all the horrible scenarios that could have happened however we still have a rider hundreds of miles from home who cannot ride.
Every organization can mobilize help through social media and the Iron Butt Association has been doing it since the days of dixie cups and string. By the time I arrived at the hospital others volunteered to store the bike and get the rider to the plane. All I was left to handle was dinner, rooms and move two bikes a few miles which I did with pleasure.
Such a relatively minor injury for a motorcyclist but will keep him off two wheels for a while and it's his writing hand.
After some ethnic take-out we both went to bed. I had one more day of riding, a brunch in Baltimore and a forecast of rain to look forward to. Two out of three is pretty good and I slept soundly.
Sunday morning I work up, confirmed it was raining lightly and geared up for a ride to Baltimore. Here's a photo of oldest son and his girlfriend. If only I could get him to ditch the smokes...
We enjoyed a great brunch which I followed by Sunday combat on the 95 corridor and the Jersey Turnpike. Knowing how politics can make crossing the Hudson a challenge I looped north to the Tappan Zee to 684. As a recent transplant to the Hartford Ct area I chose 84. Bad choice and noted for the future.
After 4.5 riding days on a six day trip I made it home for Sunday dinner. Total distance was just under 3,000 miles and I am delighted to say I am fully bonded with the new RT.
