The July 4th follow up (or air boat riding!)

It's still hot in central Florida, and the rain and thunderstorms that make up the usual Florida summer show no signs of abating any time soon.

With that in mind I woke up early Saturday to get a bit of recreational riding in.  I had no destination in mind but found myself pointing my wheels northward and my "secret road".  For what ever reason I've not seen many bikers on it.  Maybe because the road sort of "dead ends."  I should explain, although there is a connecting road that takes you to the green swamp, another wonderful ride, that road is mostly dirt and is badly rutted.  It's not exactly a road most bikers want to go down.

So I worked my ways through the curves and farmland till I reached the end, then turned back.  It's only 9 AM and the bank thermometer is reading 85 F (29.4 C).  I have to admit that I considered just sliding my gloves and helmet on.  Leaving the jacket at home...but here I am, sweating even in my mesh jacket at a red light; a prisoner of ATTGAT.  It occurs to me that I need to do some reading on hot weather riding.

Susan and I had plans, ever since we moved to Florida some five or six years ago, we had talked about going on an air boat ride.  After all this time, we finally did it.  About an hour north of us is the Withlacoochee river (pronounced exactly as it sounds) and swamp.  While we did not see any wild alligators (most likely due to the time of day and heat), we did see various turtles, coots, herons and various other Florida birds.  Including a fishing peregrine who got a small bass right near the boat.

Wild Bill's airboat tours is literally out in the middle of no where.  This is back country Florida but that what we came for.  Nature at it's purist.  Sadly we were moving to fast for us to get any good pictures, although at times our pilot did stop the boat.  The above video, courtesy of Born to Ride, should give you an idea of what's it like.

I have to admit that I gave a little thought to seeing how much a cheap air-boat would cost after an hour or so on the water.  It was fun, and just reaffirmed my growing belief that a day on the water is never a bad thing.

Sue and I had a early dinner and then headed home through a hell of a thunderstorm.  Due to the weather we decided not to go out for the fireworks.  Nature was providing her own.  Overall a good day out.

Bubba, 14 feet and 1000 pounds

Little Bubba.