Caption Contest

No, I'm not dead.  I've just been exceptionally busy these last few weeks to get anything done.   However I did come across this little jewel and decided to have a caption contest.

The winner receives bragging rights and the praise of his (or her) fellow humans till the next caption contest I have....so probably forever.

You can enter here or on the Scooter Revolution Facebook page.

 
Due to me being an idiot, I accidentally deleted the two comments that were left.  From Mike Mike (that's his name)...we have

 

"What a deal I got!"

 

 

From David (or his wife)  we have:  "T-boned" or "new Tesla hybrid bi-directional motorcycle" or "training wheels now mandatory for new riders"

 

Personally I like my entry:  "Ride it like you stole it?  So I stole it."   Sadly I can't win. 

AIME impressions

I have to be honest, one of the reasons that I wanted to attend the AIME expo (American International Motorcycle expo) was the opportunity to ride bikes that I would not normally get the opportunity to ride.  As it so happened I only was able to ride one bike.  The Can-Am RT.

As much as I hate to admit it, I've always took issue with the Can-Am.  It's not exactly a motorcycle and people have told me they steer like sleds or lawnmowers.  The price has always been a little daunting and the size made me question if I would be able to handle one.

I can honestly say that starting today, they are on the list to replace Kimmie.  The ride was smooth, and although I had a little issue with low speed turns, in that I kept wanting to counter steer or lean when I could not - that would be corrected with time, I was impressed.   The bike is semi-automatic meaning it has a thumb shift to climb gears but the computer handles downshifting.  It took me about five minutes to get used to shifting that way but once I did it was seamless.  The bike had solid, but not stellar, acceleration and handled very well.  A few rough patches on the roads around the Convention center were handled without issue by the bike I rode.

Susan was also able to get on and off without much issue and that was another plus in the bikes corner.

I could have rode Kymco scooters, a few off road vehicles, the Beamers, the Suzuki's and others.  However we were alternatives to ride the Can-Am and waited over an hour in the hot Florida sun to do that.  Each demo ride out lasted anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes.  Some dealers required you to supply your full gear (helmet, jacket, boots at minimum) where others were OK with you in long pants and a helmet (Can-am supplied Nolan helmets in various sizes for examples).

Inside the convention hall was a variety of dealers.  Most of which frankly didn't interest me.  I don't go off road riding, I'm not really that interested in the mechanical side of things.  Yes, I want the best performance out of my bike for the longest time possible...but I've not desire to go to your booth unless you have some nice swag.  So that left me looking at bikes and oh what a selection there were!

I showed Susan the Honda NCX 700 that is on the short list of "new bikes" when its time to buy a replacement.  I ended up have to defend a Suzuki Burgman 650 from a few people that were putting it down, but the woman there kept looking at it wistfully and I think I convinced her it was a good touring bike.."A lounge chair on wheels" is how I described it.

Vespa and Piaggio was both represented well and truthfully I didn't spend much time looking at their products.  While I love scooters I'm probably moving away from them and going towards a semi-automatic or fully automatic motorcycle.

I did however want to look at helmets and fell in love with a new Shark helmet.  It will not be able till March of next year in the US and will probably sell for $700 dollars.   However it was amazing, a full sun shield at a touch of a button, good venting and most amazing to me...I put it on and the ambient noise around me was reduced to zero.  I mean, nothing.  I could still hear, still focus on what was around but it was a several decimals lower than before.

For a cheap bastard like me to want one right then and there, and probably would have paid full price, told me I was going to take a closer look at Shark in the future.  Somehow I missed the Bell Helmet display even though I wanted to stop in.

one of the more interesting bikes on display

Overall I enjoyed myself and would love to go a second day.  Just to ride some of the bikes I am considering in the future.  To compare the smaller Kymco's to my beloved Kimmie (Kymco is discontinuing anything bigger than a 400 in the US for 2017).  To ride the BMW's and others that were there.

To take in some of the lesser know companies and display's.  To just look.

I've posted additional photo's to the Scooter Revolution Facebook page. 

Roadside attractions and swamp buggies

Susan and I wanted to get away during the July 4th weekend.  We were not sure what we would do or where we would go, but she wanted to do something different and I am always up for an adventure.   After all, experiences are what create memories.

When our local news station did a little show on Swamp Buggies we both said "done."  These are often found in the Everglades and at one time were considered essential in the state of Florida since they were they only means of transportation in areas were there were no roads. 

Ochopee, Florida (pronounced exactly like it sounds) is home to the worlds smallest post office, the skunk ape research center and Wooten's swamp buggies and air boat tours which we decided would be our destination.  As it so happened we were the only two people on our particular buggy.

Our ride was actually pretty sedate, you enter one section and plow through about 3 to 4 feet of water before getting onto to dry land.  Where your exposed to the nature of the area, some local wildlife and a bit of local history.  Ochopee it seems was a moonshiners paradise at one time, as Al Capone had a casino in Miami at the time.

Two female deer showed no fear of the buggy and since Sue and I were the only ones on the Buggy, we were within 10 feet of them at times.  A curious raccoon also seemed interested in visiting us as he walked in front of the slow moving buggy at times.

A friendly grasshopper.

Of course if I'm this close to a national monument I had to go and see it.   Up the road a few miles was the world's smallest post office.

Legend has it that the swampland around Ochopee is home to a giant ape like creature, who differs from Bigfoot, a likely cousin, is several ways.  The biggest way in that this ape supposedly stinks; and stinks badly.  Giving him the name of "Skunk Ape."

Now never mind the fact that the only people that have supposedly seen the Skunk Ape work at the Skunk Ape research Center and Gift Shop.  I'm sure that is just a coincidence and  has nothing to do with gullible tourists.

I'm sure that these guys are legit Skunk Ape hunters.  I mean they have a jeep and everything, and nothing says "I'm serious about a fictional animal." like a jeep.

Besides just look at some of the evidence they found in all their years of research.  You can't argue with the evidence.

Sue and I enjoyed the weekend away, although we really didn't plan it well.  We left on a Saturday afternoon and had our little adventure on Sunday morning.  Next time I think we will leave on a Friday night and spend the full weekend in the Naples, Florida area.  Their seems to be a lot to do and see in that area.  Of course, more pics are on my Facebook page.

Happy July 4th weekend to all my American readers.  
  

Into the depth's of the earth

Sue and I about to enter the depth's of the earth

I have never gone spelunking.  Although frankly the idea of caving has always appealed to me.  The idea of seeing something unique, or something that very few others have seen fascinates me.  However I learned long ago, when I explored an underground pipe system with some friends as a young man; is that I hate being wet, cold and in the dark.

So given the chance to take a rare free weekend and go caving in Florida's only open air cave, I would jump at the chance.  Sue and I drove about five and a half hours north into the panhandle of Florida.  Some 40 million years ago Florida was covered by a shallow sea, and this resulted in limestone being deposited.  The limestone is raised up and then water seeps into the limestone, slowly dissolving the limestone and creating a cave.  This is known as a Karst formation.   

These caves can take million of years to form and each one is unique in it's own way.  They grow and change, admittedly very very slowly, over time.  Each one can, and often does, support a fragile ecosystem.  As such very little of the cave was open to the public, and my few attempts of photographing it, do not do it justice.  You can see the full album of the caves on my Facebook page  (please note there are two different albums).  

nom nom

We also decided to explore the nearby town of Marianne, Florida a bit as well.    The panhandle of the state was the first part of the state that was "truly developed" as plantation owners in Georgia and Alabama expanded southward into what was then Spanish territory in the early 1800's.  

As such the town had a variety of historical buildings and styles throughout it.   From the Spanish influenced post office building to the antebellum southern style of the early to mid 1800's.  The rest of the state would be developed after the Civil War when the railroads started to push south along the coasts. 

Sadly we went exploring on a Sunday morning/early afternoon and the city was pretty much empty and shut down.  Still though we managed to find a few things of interest and plan on making another trip somewhere different soon.  

It feels good to be getting back to exploring my adopted state and all it has to offer.  

"straws" and an example of "cave bacon" in the upper right corner

a pool filled with water, so still it appears as glass would

Example of the Spanish style I love so much

Not technically Antebellum but lovely still

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.

Scooting about Winter Haven and Lakeland

 I've been riding a lot lately.  Running back and forth not only to my job but whereever else I can go as well.  I am not traveling far, at least I'm out and about on Kimmie.  

It's hard for me to believe that the last group ride I was on was back in August 2015...yet, there it is.  I would once again be riding with the same group.  This time we were planning on meeting up in Lakeland and then take what I supposed would be a long circular route to Winter Haven for brunch.   

Kimmie and Rob's Vintage 125 Vespa

Again it occurs to me how very little I actually know about this state.   I remember visiting the Winter Haven area as a kid, where we went to a amusement park and I remember being impressed by a Water Skiing show there...this park later morphed into Legoland.  Other than that I knew next to nothing about the area.  

So the day started off well, with a ride promising to teach me a little more about my adopted state.  It also promised to be another in a series of hot, dry days which had me reconsidering my commitment to ATGATT.  However safety always comes first.

The group ride actually ended up just being a gang of two.  All the gang members where named Robert.  Although we did meet up with Rob's friend Andrew for brunch in Winter Haven for a bit..  He's an interesting guy with interests very similar to mine when it comes to home gardening.  His home is also directly influenced by the work of Gene Leedy, which to a geek like me was pretty cool.  I didn't take pictures however, I'm a big fan of privacy.  I may be all over the net, but that is my choice.  I wasn't sure how Andrew would feel about me wandering about taking pictures of his home.

A mural in downtown Winter Haven

Again I was impressed by the beauty of Lakeland, with its public spaces and wide open views of its various lakes.   Winter Haven also impressed me, with its attempts to revitalize its downtown area (signs of building construction where everywhere) and its various lakeside views.

As a fan a unusual buildings, I would have been happy to go in search of Leedy's work but we were here to ride.  The roads around Winter Haven were just twisty enough to make the ride fun, and the town has various lakes (50 in total) within it's borders meaning that where ever we road had a water view.   Many of these lakes were connected by canals.   

Over all it was a good ride out and I put about 117 miles on Kimmie.  

A mural painted onto a tree in Lakeland

 

Another mural

Public art in a public park