Passing through - 2016 year in review

Scooter Bob hanging with the cats.

Despite the crash and relative bad luck that was November and December of this year...I can honestly state that 2016 was a good year at the Wilson home.

My dearly departed Kimmie and I managed to put some 6000+ miles on her before her death.  It's hard for me to believe that a mere 3 weeks ago I was looking forward to the adventures of 2017.  Now we are in the closing moments of 2016 and I'm seriously debating if I'll ever get on another bike again.

It's been a year of connecting with old friends and making new ones.  It's been a year of kitchen remodeling and getting involved with projects that took up a lot more time than I originally expected they would.  While I loved having Scooter Bob here, I was unable to do everything I wanted with him due to my work schedule and other issues.  He hung out with the cats a bit more than I would have liked. 

I raised over 600 dollars to help fight Prostate Cancer and Men's Health issues.  I received a very nice imprinted poster for my efforts.  As well as a wonderful feeling that I was part of something bigger than me.  As I rode with some 150 other bikers in and around the city of St Petersburg and Tampa proper I was truly the happiest I've ever been on Kimmie.  I'll probably have that poster framed one day, although I'm not sure where I'll hang it.

It was a year where I finally got out of my comfort zone and rode out to the central parts of the state.  Spending time in Winter Haven and around Orlando.  These are roads that I wanted to spend more time on in 2017.  It was nice to finally take the time and ride over to St Pete and that part of the Tampa Bay area in general. 

I guess that won't happen now.  Or at least not for some time.

For now I'm looking at physical therapy although I do feel relativity well.  Despite a overnight stay in the hospital because of the accident I walked away from it more or less intact.  This one though...honestly has put the fear of God into me.

We will see what the future brings...but I could not let the year pass without some sort of review.  Some thing to keep up with tradition. 

So I want to wish each and everyone a Happy New Year.  May you be healthy, safe, wealthy and wise in the coming year. 

Distingished Gentlemans Ride - Tampa 2016

152 bikes.

Over $20 thousand dollars raised for a good and worthy charity.

Over 170 miles (including the ride itself, getting to the ride and making my way home) ridden through some of the prettiest country in all of America.  It's easy to forget that I live in paradise at times, and I took a moment or two to glance over my shoulder at some of the calmest and bluest water in the world just to remind myself of that fact.

It was worth riding in 90+ degree (32.2 C) heat just to see the smiling faces and bemused looks of wonders of pedestrians and cagers alike.  More than a few filmed us going by, in our dresses and suits.  Sometimes I just needed to look ahead and see nothing by bikes.  Sometimes I needed to glance in the mirror and smile at all the bikes that were behind me.  Bikes of all shapes, sizes and color.  BUT only one scooter and it's happy though very hot rider.

Kimmie held her own against various Trimuph's, Harleys, Ural's Honda's, Moto Guzi's and at least three or four Royal Endfields, Vincent's and even a Norton.  Let's not forget the BMW's, Suzuki's and an odd Kawasaki's or two.  Both new and classic bikes were represented.

The ride itself wove its way through downtown St Petersburg, where more than one person pulled out a camera and filmed us going by.  We zipped through this town and again I feel the need to spend the day just looking for, and taking photo's of the various murals.  I actually was able to take more than a few photo's of nearby murals as we stopped en mass at Green Bench Brewing for a hour long beer and food stop.  I have to be honest, I'm not sure what beer I had but it was quenching!

We worked our way down the city and across the Gandy Bridge, where people enjoying a day out on the sand waved and pointed.  Then up and on to the bridge itself, the dark blue water looking so refreshing well a light ocean breeze cooled us down.

Into Tampa proper now, around the bend and onto Bayshore Blvd.  This is one of my favorite rides in the city as we cruise along the Bay moving effortlessly towards the city, then into the downtown itself were a cute little girl of no more than two or three bounced up and down and waved by closing her fingers as only little kids do.  More than one biker waved back to her, which only made her more excited to see us go by.

Onto the highway now, opening Kimmie up a bit to stretch her legs as we head towards Ybor City and the last stop, Coppertail Brewing.  Although I did make a brief stop after the ride at my favorite watering hole, Cigar City Cider and Mead since I told them I would.

This ride was a first in a lot of ways for me.  It's also the biggest group of riders I've ever had the pleasure to ride with.  It was my first charity run, and I raised just about 625 dollars for fighting prostate cancer.  Thank you all who donated.  I am rather proud that I finished in the top 10 fundraisers  If you have yet, and would still like to give something you can donate here.  Just be sure to do so before October 3rd.  That's the last day donations can be accepted and it is tax free.

Sadly a friend of mine that was going to ride with us had last minute bike problems and was unable to make it, meaning that I don't have any Go-Pro footage to share.   However at times we had a jeep with what I assume was a professional photographer following us, and even a drone above us at time.  Once I have access to that footage, I'll be sure to share.  I'll also share more on my Facebook page. 

In the meantime:

How's that for vintage, an exposed belt drive with chain linkage shifting.

Finally getting down to St Pete's

I woke up this morning and it was 44 F (or a tad shy under 7 C).  It was going to warm up and quickly, so if I was going to go for a ride...now was when I wanted to get going.

It's a rare free weekend where I literally have no where to go or anything to do.   It being a weekend I wanted to avoid the beaches, but slowly a plan formed in the back of my mind.  How often did I want to get pictures of Kimmie down by the water?  How often have I said I was going to do that then not?

Of course that meant going over the Howard Franklin Bridge, (275 - see map below) which I did once before and thought for sure that I would get killed on it.  However riding in daylight, coming home in daylight....that's another story right?  Plus it's been a while since I rode that bridge.  I'm much more experienced now.

After a hardy breakfast of fruit loops and coffee off I went!

St Petersburg is actually a large city in it's own right.  It's on the other side of the Tampa Bay, and truth be told their is no real easy way to it.  The city only has one overland route to St Pete and three connecting bridges.  The Howard Franklin is always a mess, the Gandy is more to the south of the city and apart from the main city of Tampa.

St Pete is the home of the Tampa Bay Rays, of the MLB.  I was tempted to go get a photo of the Rays stadium but they had a game and I wasn't going to get involved in that mess just for a photo.  It is also the home of the Rowdies's, my beloved soccer team.  Their stadium is actually open on one side allowing the view of the bay, making it one of the more picturesque stadiums in the country.

As I drove up and down the main drag of St Pete, the aptly named Central Ave, I was reminded again why I love city life.  All those little restaurants, art gallery's, and various book stores waiting to be explored.  A variety of people, colors, smells and sensual experiences.  All waiting for me.

Their were a few places I wanted to go but due to construction near the new pier, which used to be an inverted pyramid, originally built in 1973, was being rebuilt.  So I headed down towards the Dali museum and the home of the Rowdies.  It's close to the pier and right across the street from the yacht club.

The Dali from the parking lot

Another view of the Dali

Kimmie with St Petersburg in the background

Sadly I was unable to get a good picture, but you can see a pod of dolphins at play

Might as well enjoy the Farmers market

And some good music

And enjoy a wonderful lunch under the trees

Not only a famous book store, but its said that Jack Kerouac haunts it

Happy Mother's day!!!

Overall I could not think of a nicer way to spend a Saturday, just wandering about and seeing what I could see...and realizing that I had just barely scratched the surface of this place.  How I wish I would have stopped and taken pictures of the many murals I passed!  That I barely touched all the wonder that is Florida and life in general.

It's days like this that make riding wonderful.  It's days like this that make life worth living.  At the end, when I finally did pull into my home I logged 124 miles.  In the end though it was not the mileage that excited me, it was the smiling faces of little kids, the wonderful sandwich I had with homemade bread and artisanal cheese while sitting under the trees, letting the cool breeze off the water kept me comfortable all day.

Sometimes I forget that I live in paradise, when the weight of the world is upon me.  Sometimes it's nice to be reminded of that fact.  Funny how a bike ride to somewhere can do that.

The accidential tourist - we zig instead of zag

I work two jobs, one is my regular "9 - 5" job from Monday to Friday and is the majority of my income.  The other one is a part time job that I've maintained for myself since 2008 or so.  I own my own small distribution company which delivers magazines and other products to various locations. 

What that means is that I very rarely have a free weekend.  This was one of those rare free weekends and since it fell on the Easter holiday, a lot of the places and things that I wanted to show Scooter Bob would be closed.  The weatherman also kept trying to convince me of heavy rain showers but they seemed to be off in the distance, I decided to take my chances and head towards the beaches.

I headed towards Tampa and Clearwater but then thought of something that might be interesting, so I veered to the left instead of the right.  Only to find this closed due to the holiday.   I was on a road that would lead to one of the beaches nearby...but traffic was particularly heavy.  It's freaking hot sitting in traffic.

"Hey Rob!  What is Palm Harbor?"  Scooter Bob called from his box.

"Just a small town I've never been to.  It might be fun to check out." I yell back, as we zig, or is it zag, towards this new destination.

"Rob, lets get a drink."  As I pull over into the Two Lions Winery and Palm Harbor Brewery.  The place is empty but it was just opening up and I try a few small samples of their beer.   I have to be honest, while decent I've had much better beers.  Their wine however is wonderful and I can't help but tuck a bottle of Sangria next to Scooter Bob as we head out the door about an hour later.

The bartender, Christie, loved the story of Scooter Bob and told me that one of the owners had just died, and how creating a traveling mascot for him may be in order.  So Kevin Zylstrt know that you were loved and that this little motorcycle brought a little joy to your staff.

I knew that Palm Harbor was not far from Dunedin, another small town that I understood to be famous for it's art, it's various breweries and Honeymoon Island.   Plus it was a place that I have never been to, so I pointed Kimmie's wheels in that direction but first I decided I needed to grab a bite to eat.  While I had not had much to drink, I am not going to risk a ticket or worse.

Scooter Bob insisted we stop and eat here.

A couple of fish taco's later and we were on the way south again.  I'm looking for two craft beer places, I don't know how Bob felt about beer but I enjoy a good libation and heard nothing but good things about the Dunedin Brewery and it's nearby friendly competitor the 7th Sun Brewery.

I was in no hurry to get there however and stopped in the small downtown area to have a look around.  There were more than a few art galleries and other interesting places to pop my head into, but sadly it being Easter Sunday they were all closed.

Over all it was not a bad day, I stopped at Dunedin Brewery and ended up passing on 7th Sun.  Another time, another trip.  For now I was happy and pointed my wheels back towards home....which was an adventure in itself but that is another story for another time.   I'm safe, happy and wishing everyone a wonderful and joyful Easter Holiday (even if you don't celebrate it).

Bob chats with a local

Bob checks out the fishing pier

A Dog that serves as a bike rack

The sink at the brewery

Just a fountain in the center of town.

Not sure if they are breaking in or escaping

 

It's time to ride update

So far this year I've been out on Kimmie maybe three times.

Sunset - ignore the date it's a mistake

Over the last couple of days she would not start, a coughing spattering sound was heard as she tried to turn over.

Then yesterday....she started.

Susan elegantly stated "I guess the bitch doesn't like the cold."  I grumbled at both of them and started off down the road towards work, stopping to fill the tank with some high test gas and thinking that it probably would not hurt to either get a battery tender or other such device.  Being the geek I am I go internet diving for an answer but don't find anything that was truly helpful to me.

The ride was thankfully, uneventful.

Although I started to cramp up and my bike started to bother me on the way in.  Not so much on the way home.   I cursed myself, I've been off the bike to long.  I also wondered when the last time was I gave Kimmie a bath.

Bok Tower

I have plans for this year.  I hope to visit the Keys and Conchscooter.  I'm planning on possibly meeting Bill and Rocket sometime later in February.  I understand that David of  the infamous Life on two wheels blog  might be making a trip down my way as well.  I needed to be in top riding shape to keep up with these legends of the blogging world.

Rides are planned to Bok Tower, St. Petersburg and other places I've been to and visited but not by bike.  Other places I hope to revisit by bike again, or go for the first time.   Places like the Manatee viewing center and the Sunken Gardens.

Florida has a lot to offer if you know where to look, and little surprises when you look beyond the the corporate facades of Disney and Universal.

I promised myself I was going to get out more this year, and come hell or high water I was going to do it.  Now comes the hard part....actually doing it.

Festivities of the Orange Kind

Not everything works out as planned.

I was originally planning on riding Saturday, hopefully with a group heading somewhere but by Friday afternoon I sort of gave up on that idea.  I was feeling guilty.  Guilty because there was work that needed to be done, I had yard work to do that I kept putting off because of the summer heat and humidity.  Now that the heat and humidity are gone, there is no excuses.  Today, for example, was a pleasant 84 F (28.9 C)...still warm but without the humidity it is a pleasure to work in.

My mom and dad asked me to clean the gutters of their winter home...I still needed to do that.  

Truth be told, well I enjoy riding and exploring other parts of the local world, I really didn't feel like crossing the Howard Franklin bridge into St Petersburg to meet a group of strangers to ride back into Tampa and spend all day exploring the parks of my adopted city.  Or I could meet the other group and ride out to Lake Wales on various back roads and spend all day in the saddle.

Both options appealed to me but frankly I was not looking forward to either like I originally thought I would.  .  

So when the lovely Sue mentioned the Hunsadar Farms Pumpkin Festival was having their final weekend to me this Saturday, it just seemed right.  Plus they had an air cannon you could shoot a pumpkin out of.  An AIR CANNON!  Okay, the geek was me was excited.  Maybe they let me fire it...just once PLEASE!  PRETTY PLEASE!

So Sue and I jumped into our "Great Pumpkin" and hit the road.  Hunsadar Farms is about 75 minutes south of us in Brandenton, Florida.  The Pumpkin Festival was a combination of things, merchants, musicians, a petting zoo, food stalls, entertainment and Americana.

It's not that far from the Rosa Fiorelli vineyards, which just happen to be my favorite local wine maker, so you know we had to stop there too!  Trust me, follow the link and order a bottle or three, it's worth it.  

Scarecrows provided a distraction

We walked hand in hand taking in the crowd, the event was geared to the little ones to some extent as petting zoo's and jumping frog competitions were part of the day's events.  Two girls, maybe 5 and 6, tried their hands at frog wrangling to the amusement of the crowd, the and horror of their mother.

We got to see the air cannon fire a pumpkin into a strand of trees some 300 plus yards away.  There were some monster trucks, a hay ride, corn maze.  All the normal stuff that you would expect, but a zip line?  No, that we didn't expect.

There were a few shows and demonstrations as well.  Dirt bikes going off of jumps (missed that show) and a Monster truck flattening some old car (missed that too), but we did see the "Wall of Death" where, in addition to motorcycles, they used an old go-kart and a pedal bicycle.

Overall it was a good day, and sometimes you need to do something different to get out of the rut.  I think I was in a rut, so getting out helped.

Well the bank is safe, I think

Sheriff didn't look that tough however.

Other scarecrows provided useful info.

A really old fashioned Merry-Go-Round

More photo's can be found on my Facebook page.  

#pumpkinfest  #blogger  #blog  #pumpkinfestival  #hudsadar  #hudsadarfarms

Not a bad Saturday at all.

I was unsure of my plans for this last Saturday.  I wanted to stay home and do yard work, weeding and planting the garden outside to make Martha Tenney proud of me.  Friends of ours were planning a cook-out later that night and I was keeping a close eye on the weather.  All this week the weatherman was calling for a 30 - 40% chance of rain, which unfortunately for me, had been closer to 100% every time I rode out.

pretty much my week

Over the last week I had been caught out in the rain twice, raced a thunderstorm home and decided that commuting in the rain was just not a good idea twice.  So for two days in the last week I took the car, and both times stayed dry in less than idea conditions.  

I had also promised Kimmy that I would take her on a nice 100+ mile ride to stretch her legs a couple of weeks ago, and so far I had not kept that promise.  Barney's of St Petersburg was having a Vespa Open House from 9 to 5 and I liked the idea of running down there to take a look at the stock, perhaps dream a little and consider some farkles.  Yes, I know...cheap ass me considering farkles.  I had been considering a LED licence plate for some time and Sue was still going to need proper riding gear.  One thing I did want to get however was a reflective flag stickers of the countries I was riding in.  The US of course, after September I could add the Bahamas' to that as well.  Canada and Mexico were still dreams for now, but they would happen one day.  It might help with safety at night too.  I expected to order those online.

Actually the main reason I wanted to go was for companionship and the idea of browsing and talking to others about scooters gave me the warm fuzzies.  I don't get the chance very often to mingle with other scooterists and the free pizza sounded good too (it wasn't).   A secondary reason was that I have been wanting to get shots of the bike by the water for some time (still don't).  After all, living in Florida means that I am surround by the sea so the idea of getting a few picks of Kimmie by the water just seemed appropriate.   Due to circumstances I had not participated much in the Equinox to Equinox rally as of late, I was not planning to go out of my way, but if something was in my path...why not take a photo of it?  That was the third reason I wanted to go out and ride.  I might even find another interesting milk shake stand to try.

Loving the paint job

Susan decided to ride down with me, so we packed what we needed and took off about 10:30 AM, the heat of the day already starting to climb.  It was a about 50 miles one way and I had planned to avoid the highways.  I also planned on avoiding the dreaded Howard Franklin Bridge.  I don't fear highways or bridges but with Susan on back I didn't want to risk a problem.  Guess what we ended up doing anyway.  The back way was jammed with traffic and the sun just kept getting hotter so we decided just to keep moving.

We finally got there, to Barney's, and was disappointed.  There were not that many people there as I had hoped.  Although they did have a nice collection of Honda's, Aprilia's, Can-Am's, Vespa's and Yamaha's.

We gone done to the event to try gear on for Susan and to hopefully test drive a few bikes.  I am not interested in buying anything at this time, but the dealership did offer a Aprilia Mana 850, which I read about but had not seen first hand.  Sue's daughter also wants to start riding, and I wanted to learn about the dual sports.  Sue's daughter is definitely a "Tom Boy" and a dual sport maybe the perfect bike for her.   I was surprised that no sales people tackled us as we looked at the Can-Am's.  I hate to admit that these things are growing on me.  I would have not minded taking one out for a test drive either.  In the hour or so we hung around, not a single person approached us.

Sue looking good on a Can-Am

It was not a total waste of time though.   There were three classic scooters there.  A solid pink one that I know belongs to one of the organizers of the Tampa Two Stroke Scooter Club, a woman I was hoping to meet actually. A lovely older blue Vespa whose year and model I could not identify but the Odometer read over 97,000 miles.  And a Stella that was....beyond words.   

It was covered with Barbies and even had a little pull along trunk that carried...well, I guess if I was strapped to an old Stella going down the road I would need a change of panties too.

We then headed back, eating lunch at a chain restaurant that served good milk shakes.  Enjoyed our cook-out with friends and swam in the community pool to cool off.   Not a bad way to spend a Saturday at all.  Oh yea, and the was just shy of 150 miles total.  Yea, not a bad way to spend a Saturday at all.

Some additional photo's can be found on my Facebook page.

Someone stole my cherry.

Sleepy Hollow - Part Two

I finally went on my group ride.  I've gone on rides with two other riders that are friends of mine, been involved with groups of riders that I don't know - forming a informal and unofficial group for mutual protection while zipping down the highway.  These things don't count for me.

Kimmie meeting new friends.

I've been wanting to go on a group ride, an organized ride out to somewhere I've never been, for sometime.  Finally I got the chance.  

I'm not sure how many scooters eventually made the run to Sleepy Hollow.  Kimmie was the only Kymco scooter.  The group consisted of mostly Honda Silver Wings, Burgmans and two Aprilla's.  One or two off name brand scooters, surprisingly enough, no Vespa's were to be seen.  A Harley and and Gold Wing rounded out the group.

I fell into the middle of the group and we quickly left the main part of the route (please see the map) to take some side roads.  There were some thrills as the group traveled along at about 50 miles an hour through various sweeping turns.  Over hills and through Florida's central back country.  It was pretty cool to top a hill and see all the other bikes in front of me.  During this part of the ride I was worried about two things.  I wanted to keep up with the group and wanted to make sure that I made the turns well.  Some turns I felt fine in, one I wish I could have back as I entered it to quickly and cursed to myself as I ended up wide cutting off the cyclist behind me.

On and on we went.  A few beautiful places called to me to take photographs.  An old dilapidated barn that called out to be explored.  A lake with a lone single tree sitting out in the water, the light playing over the water.  A strand of cypress trees off in the distance.   If I had been alone or a smaller group, I would have stopped, but the phalanx kept moving on down the road, and so did I.

There was an incident before we got to Sleepy Hollow which bears mentioning.  One of our group went down.  I was immediately behind him and he froze in a turn, becoming fixated on something right in front of him.  The back tire went squirrelly and down he went.  It seemed to happen in slow motion, I veered to the left to go around him and then pulled off, only to find myself in soft soil and unable to get off the bike because it would fall.  Luckily the other riders were able to see to him quickly.   He was shook up but not hurt badly (due to privacy concerns I will not go into more detail concerning the accident).

After that the ride had a different feeling,  a slower pace was called for as we negotiated the last 10 - 15 miles or so.  Each of us understanding that the slower pace was for him, and it could have been us that went down.

Once we arrived there you paid $6 and stood in line for food.  Basically from the conversations I had with other riders, it's pretty much what ever they have in the kitchen.  So it's not uncommon to switch from steak to fish or chicken without any warning.  It was actually better than it looked.

Sleepy Hollow is an outdoor restaurant that sits right on a river.  They had a decent cover band playing and lots of shade.  Sitting next to a river a few boats pulled up, air boat rides were available.  Here are some additional pictures.

An idea of the crowd

Kimmie copping an attitude around the boys

Then along came a spider....

The view from the dock.

I ended up breaking from the group on the way home.  They were going to head back the same way they came and I wanted to ride the route suggested by the motorcycleroads.com site.  I was disappointed that I did that.  The way home was more or less straight.  Little changed in the way of the view.  If I would have stayed on this road I would have returned to the starting point.  I didn't do that.  Deciding to cut cross country and head home via a different route I got a little lost, which is never a bad thing...although for some odd reason my GPS on my phone would not work.

OK...Keep heading inland and eventually you'll find a road you know.   I did it was I-75.  So I jump on I-75 for a few miles and look for the first exit sign...as it happened it was for Dade City.   Literally 12 miles from where I live.

Would I ride with this group again?  Yes.  Although I think I would do better with a smaller group.  Our group leader was amazing, keeping everyone together and driving at a pace that suited most of the riders.  He was very attentive when the rider went down.  I like the idea of being able to pull off the road if something unusual catches my eye.  I like the idea of traveling at a pace suited for me.

Overall it was a great day, the sun was shining.  It wasn't to hot.  I got to to do some much needed recreational riding and got some much needed practice on twisties.  That's all that matters right.  The ride was 146 miles total.

UPDATE:  I had to go to work this morning, only to discover a flat rear tire.  Guess I picked up a nail or something.  :(  I guess Kimmie didn't like being ridden that hard.