A wasted day in the Channelside district

This time of year in Florida, your going to get wet.  The only thing that matters is how wet you wish to be.  I have no desire to ride in lightening storms.  I've done it before but it really doesn't make sense.  So when there was a break in the weather on Saturday morning I decided that the best thing I could do was ride into Tampa itself.  I rode with no destination in mind, preferring to just go where ever my tires took me.

However as I rode a small germ of an idea started to take form in my mind.  Tampa sits right on the Gulf of Mexico and that allows the big cruise ships to port in Tampa, I've actually taken a cruise or two out of Tampa.   The only problem is that the gulf itself is very shallow.  At times reaching a depth of 30 feet, so the size of the ships are limited.  If you have never taken a cruise, you don't know how big those ships actually are.

The "exploded chicken"

My plan was simple, ride south hitting some of the twisty's I know in the are and head towards the port of Tampa.  Then perhaps head into the city some and get photo's of Kimmie in front of some of the sights such as the "exploding chicken", the world's largest bowling pin and Florida Aquarium.  This area is often referred to as the Channelside area, and although a bit pricey, it's one of the nicer parts of town.  It's a combination of high end shops, restaurants and residences.

To paraphrase Robert Burns (Steinbeck stole the line from him) "The best laid plans of mice of men often go awry."  While I was able to see the chicken and the Aquarium there was really no good area for me to pull over and take pics...the chicken itself sits in the middle of a round-a-bout making stopping impossible.   The bowling pin was out of the question due to construction in the area.  The pictures above are all stock.

There were no cruise ships in port and the parking lots were closed off, most likely to protect the cars parked there.  Which makes perfect sense to me.

I did however find the modern day headquarters for the Rough Riders, so I had that going for me.  This is one of the many volunteer organizations that does various good deeds throughout the year.  At the end of the year they participate in the annual Gasparilla Pirate Festival.   Legend has it that when the pirates invaded the city, under the command of Jose Gaspar.   Tampa's Jose Gaspar, not being a direct influence on the Jack Sparrow character, claim to fame is that the story of Jack Sparrow using his back hair to surf on the backs of sea turtles to escape a desert island, is taken directly from the Gaspar legends!  Anyway...a fleet of ships went out to battle Gaspar and seeing the foolishness of the task, turned back and joined the city in the raid.

Why or how the Rough Riders are associated with these brigands I've no idea.

Generally though it was a fun day out and about, and any day out on the bike is a good day.  Sadly however those days appear numbered.  Their is a chance, although a small one, that the topical depression currently in the Gulf will become a small Hurricane.  The first one to hit Tampa since 1946.

At this time it's still a weakly organized tropical depression and not expected to do much other than give us a serious soaking and associated flooding.  It looks like that I'll be putting Kimmie under her blanket and tucking her into a safe corner over the next few days.  

 

5 years and countless miles

Tomorrow, it will be five years since I started this page.  

Five years ago I put myself out into the blogging world and let the chips fall where they may.  I've maintained other blogs, and have done some other writing before this blog of course...and I can honestly and truly say that I've been paid for my content as well (although I write strictly for fun now).

Hopefully my writing has improved when it comes to motorcycling and scootering topics.  As I reread my first piece and a few others of my early blog, I can't help but cringe.  Although the enthusiasm was there, the knowledge was not.  Over that time period I've grown in knowledge and experience at least.

I started riding a small Yamaha Zuma 125; which was wonderful for the city streets of Tampa, but not so good for the move to the rural country about a year before the blog started.  I had no one to train me, no one to ride with and I put on a lot of miles just scooting around parking lots and fields before I took the bike out into the street.  I remember often pulling over late at night to allow a car to pass me because I was paranoid about getting hit from behind.

Today I ride on highways and back roads equally with no fear, and although I still watch my mirrors, I've not as paranoid as I once was.

I have grown as a rider in many ways, but I'm still just a "scooter commuter" in that I've not ridden that far.  I've not driven across the state, I've not ridden over two hundred odd miles in one day.  In fact, I've only a couple 150 mile days under my belt.  There always seems to be some excuse, some other demand on my time and life.  Kimmie's got more than enough room for an overnight bag and that's something I want to work on during the next five years.  Going further, riding out and staying the night, even camping.

I don't see myself giving up motorcycling anytime soon.  Although when I feel I have nothing left to say, or the blog becomes more of a chore than fun, then this blog will simply disappear into the mists of internet lore.  I certainly hope it helped another rider in some small way.

Frankly though, adding mileage to my bike has been one of my goals this year.  I'm out on the bike more than I have been in some time. I'm not even watching the weather like a hawk that match anymore, since I feel that pretty confident that I can ride in almost anything.

Nor am I sure how long I'm going to have Kimmie.  I told Susan yesterday that I plan on running her into the ground...and I probably will.  She's a good bike and I've added a few farkles to her over time as well.   She's a lot like me.  Not that flashy, hard working and reliable but not to be underestimated.  She's stronger than she looks but has been scratched and dented by life.   Kymco is not a big name bike in America, but I would buy another in a heartbeat. 

Here's to another five years.  Here's to countless miles.  Here's to fun, friendship and the wonder that only cresting a hill and seeing the world spread out before you can bring.  Here's to riding.  

Going "vintage"

It's occurred to me that to truly get into the spirit of things for the 2016 Distinguished Gentleman's ride, I should be riding an older vintage motorcycle or scooter.  While I love my 2008 Kymco Xciting scooter, it's not really "vintage."

"Vintage" according the to the Merriam Webster dictionary is defined as "used to describe something that is not new but that is valued because of its good condition, attractive design, etc."  While my beloved Kymco (or Kimmie as I like to refer to her as) fits the strict definition in my understanding of the definition.   She fails in two very important ways.

She is not that old.

Nor is her style exactly "classical."

When people think of scooters they are thinking about the lines of a Vespa.  Not the modern sleek design of my Kimmie. 

To the right is a picture of a more traditional and vintage scooter against my more modern Kimmie. 

Dressing up in vintage clothing and going out for a ride is all fun and games.  If I happen to raise some money for a good cause then so much the better.  I'm just hoping that Kimmie doesn't stick out like a sore thumb to much...I know, I'm worried about nothing and I know she can hold her own against nearly any bike on the road. 

I'm letting my social anxiety show.  Call it the curse of an introvert. 

The 2016 Distinguished Gentleman's ride

This post all started because David, of Life on two wheels fame, posted about joining the 2016 Distinguished Gentleman's ride.  You can read his post here.

I've never met David but I do like the man and respect him.  I first learned about the Distinguished Gentleman's ride sometime last year but it was after the event itself.  At the time, I thought it might be fun to ride somewhere dressed in my best 1920's clothes.  Besides, I do have a passion for flat caps and it's one of the few times I can have my dickey out in public (Ah, that's clever).

 There are also personal reasons for this.  I have reached a certain age where Prostate Cancer enters the realm of possibility. I've set myself a rather modest goal of $500.

I'm not competing with David, because he's a lawyer and therefore most likely knows more people then little old introverted me.  Plus I don't think it's fair to ask the blogging community to choose between one or the other, as we do have a small group that regularly reads and comments on both blogs.

If your so interested in helping find a cure my personal donation page is here.  If you can't help both of us then please help one or the other.  Please spread the word.  Please feel free to share the links.  Getting the word out is just as important, if not more important then any thing you might be able to give.

If you have a motorcycle or scooter and want to join in, please do so.  The more the merrier (and the more we can all raise). 

Thanks to you gentle readers we will find a cure.  

**UPDATE**

As of 8/16/2016 I am at $146 dollars out of a $500 goal or nearly a 1/3 of the way there!  Thanks very much to the people that donated and continue to support me!!!.  I also found an interesting blog piece about last year's ride complete with pictures you can read here.   I'm really looking forward to this now. 


**UPDATE #2**

I found a vintage tux...and since I'll be riding without safety gear (except helmet and gloves) this seems the way to go.  So is orange my color?

Two posts in one weekend! SAY WHAT???

The weather over the past week has been rainy and generally hot and humid.  The weatherman was calling for an 80% chance of rain, but the catch was it would hit after 2 PM. 

Since it had been a while since I was on my beloved Kimmie I decided to take advantage of the cooler temps and get in a ride before the rain hit.   I also wanted to go further than I have been.  Lately it seems all my rides are either commutes or shorter jaunts of under 50 miles.

I wanted to stretch her legs a bit with a longer ride.  The last time I took her out we traveled roads I knew and didn't know, we did various twists and turns and had some fun.  I was just not happy with the mileage, doing just under 50 miles.

On Saturday I left about 11 AM with every intention of putting on 100 miles minimum.  I knew the rain was coming but I had three hours to conquer my goal.  I could do this. 

So I started with no destination in mind, but a general plan to head south towards Tampa, catching some of the more interesting and twisty roads that I knew of on the way. I sort of had a big circle in mind and stick mostly to the back roads.  I also decided to go down some side roads that I've passed 1001 and one times only to find they either dead ended or took me to a familiar road.  Plus, I always head north and west for some reason...I really have not explored the east and south of Tampa that much.

Cigar City Cider and Mead

However I started to realize that their was a flaw in my plan as my stomach started to growl.  I had eaten a bagel with some hummus about 7 AM and nothing since then.  It was also national mead day.  What many people may or may not know about me is that I enjoy a good craft beer now and again, or a bottle of wine.  Mead is basically fermented honey but it's also much more than that.  

The more I thought about this the more my stomach growled and one of my favorite watering holes I knew would be jumping with my fellow cider and mead heads.  Generally speaking they don't serve food but I knew of a pizza place next door.  Should I stop?

Of course I should!  Although alcohol and bikes don't mix, I did have two droughts of the nectar of the Gods. 

About 90 minutes later I was back on my bike and looking at the sky with a bit of worry, I was still under the 50 mile halfway mark but the sky's were beginning to darken.  I could feel the temperatures drop some and I cursed at my choice to spend some time in one of my favorite places, but I didn't curse at myself to much. 

I went towards downtown Tampa some then turned Kimmie northward towards home.  Twisting the throttle a little bit as the rain started to fall so I could get ahead of it some, and generally that's what happened all the way home.  I got wet, but not as bad as it could have been.

I pulled into my spot about twenty minutes before the skies opened up, checking my mileage I put on 73. 4 miles.  Not bad, but significantly under my goal for the day.   Still though, I had good riding weather.  Good food (2 slices of pizza and a coke for $6).  Some good mead and company which warmed my heart.  I'll chalk it up to a good weekend. 

A bit of fun research leads to a ride?

I am, at the core of my being, a researcher.  Give me something odd, something unusual and let me sink my teeth into it.  I have a deep love of learning, a deep love of history, of wanting to know something new.

An old haunted house on a old haunted road

This discussion started at work because we were talking about ghosts and ghost towns.  How a friend of mine lives within a block of the May - Stringer House in Brooksville, Florida - it also turned to the racism there but this in not the forum for that.  I've also written a bit about Brooksville in the past.

When Susan and I visited the caves in the panhandle of Florida not that long ago we drove down a side road to see what was in a small town with a funny sounding name...sadly I don't remember it now...but it was one of those "end of the road towns" where their is only one way in and out.  I remembered thinking at the time, that could be a fun experience to drive this road on Kimmie.

"What" you may ask, "is Robert on about now?"

I started researching end of the road towns and ghost towns....and I found one.  I found one within riding distance.  I found one that checked all the boxes for me.  Their was a navel raid on the city of Bayport which resulted in a Confederate victory.  The town would later play a part in the Brooksville raid as well, when it served as a loading area for retreating Union troops.  Despite being the better known of the two, the raid of Brooksville was nothing more than a skirmish, there was never a full pitched battle like their was in Bayport.

An old naval map showing ship locations

History however remembers Brooksville due to it's larger population, while Bayport faded not only from history but from the map itself.  In fact, I recovered evidence of at least five pitched navel raids and battles in Bayport as Confederate Blockade runners tried to slip by Union Navel ships.

I never really thought about it before I started researching this ride.  The South was desperate for goods and parts, the blockade runners could make a small fortune if their ships got through the blockade, and many did.  A smaller port like Bayport served their needs well. 

Today all that remains is a old park with a historic sign.

Yes, I think a ride is due soon.  You have to honor the past...even if you just learned about it.

While riding just to ride is a wonderful way to spend the day...I'm happiest when I have a destination in mind, someplace to go, to see...that is what makes riding so fun for me.   Now if only this rainy weather would break so I can actually go!