It all started about a month ago. I mentioned to Effie that I was contemplating taking a ride down to Biketoberfest to meet a few Rec.Motorcycles.Harley newsgroup people at the Smiley's gathering. Her response was not very receptive, something like "You just got back from a 3 week ride out to Sturgis. You are NOT going to leave me home alone again this year!". After about 20 minutes of pleading my case and only getting "that look" for a response, I asked if she'd call and find me a room in Daytona.
My first plan was to just blast straight down there and back in the shortest trip possible. 2 days down, 1 day there, 2 days back. But, then I started looking at the possibilities... Skyline Drive, Blue Ridge Parkway, Deal's Gap, visiting my High School friend in North Carolina, leaf-peeping, Etc. Len, from New Jersey, (whom I had met on the Vermort ride last spring) invited me to join him and Agua for the ride down (or back). But, in the end, I decided on a different schedule.
Watching the weather reports a week early, I decided to go to work on Sunday to finish a few things and hit the road. Hoping to get far enough south to avoid the foul weather forecast for Monday and Tuesday, I headed out at 1:00 PM on Sunday. It was a beautiful day for a ride with plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures. And with 5 1/2 days to get to Daytona, I had plenty of flexibility for the trip.
As the sun set in central Pennsylvania, I pulled into a rest area to put the leather jacket on. I had seen several other riders along the way who appeared to be packed for a trip. I wondered how many of them were headed to Daytona. As I was getting ready to leave, a Wing rider pulled in with a Mass. plate. He was headed to Biketoberfest, so we teamed up for a ways. Stopping for dinner, we compared trip plans and schedules. He seemed interested in the route I had selected, but his idea of an early morning start was to head out at 9:00 AM. We stopped for the night just outside of Harrisburg. (day 1 - 430 miles)
It was sprinkling when I checked out of the motel at 6:00 AM. Within an hour the sprinkles got heavier and forced me to stop under a bridge to don the rain gear. By noon, I had slabbed it down to Roanoke where I stopped for lunch. I had traveled the northern end of The Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive on two previous occasions. But, at Banker Bob's suggestion, I decided to check out the southern end this time. I spent the rest of the afternoon easing down The Blue Ridge Parkway into North Carolina. Cruising down the Parkway was pure joy. Watching the brightly colored leaves floating down from the trees and chasing each other around in the road only to be picked up by my tail winds and thrown into a rooster tail.
Stopping for gas at one of the ever so few service areas, another rider pulled in. Riding an Evo' that appeared to have a LOT of miles on it and apparently packed for a long trip, I asked if he was headed to Biketoberfest. His response of "What's that?" sure surprised me. Turns out, he was from California and was headed home. He had been on the road since July 4th! (day 2 - 480 miles)
The Banker was right! The last 100 miles or so of the parkway is beautiful! The scenic vistas were all ablaze with red, yellow, and gold foliage.
There was a bit of a delay just outside of Ashville due to road construction. By late afternoon on Tuesday, I had to decide between riding Deal's Gap or heading east to stay at my High School friend's house for the night. I opted to go visit Earl and leave Deal's Gap for a future trip. After a late night of reminiscing about the good old days and enjoying a great dinner at a local steakhouse, we hit the sack. (day 3 - 250 miles)
Earl took me out to breakfast the next morning and went to work late in order to see me off. I stopped in Gastonia to get an oil change at the HD dealership. Crossing the border into South Carolina just after lunch, I was looking forward to an afternoon of cruising down 321 with the wind in my hair and the sun on my face. It's a nice smooth road with NO traffic. But, not much in the way of services in the little towns along the way. You definitely have to plan your stops for food or fuel. I made it down to Hardeeville before stopping for the night just after sunset. (day 4 - 270 miles)
With only a few hours of riding left to get to Daytona, I slept in until 7:00. After getting a cup of coffee and a slice of strawberry pie for breakfast at Shoney's, I slabbed it down I-95 to Florida arriving at the motel before noon (1620 miles since leaving home). The guy in the room next to mine came out to chat while I was checking in. Noticing my bike, he says "Oh, a 2001 T-Sport... I'll bet you don't even have 100 miles on it yet.". "How much you wanna bet.", says I.
The weather turned out to be warmer than I expected, so I headed down to Main Street to pick up a Biketoberfest Tank top or 2. I spent the rest of the day riding in Tomoka State Park (Effie calls that "Riding in the Jungle") and trying to hunt down my aunt who lives in Palm Coast.
Sad news Friday morning... 2 guys at the motel had their bikes stolen overnight. I was glad I had parked mine in front of the window where I could keep an eye on it. The rest of the day Friday was great in spite of the clouds and the few sprinkles. I checked out the vendors at The Ironhorse Saloon, continued on down to Main Street to take a few pictures, stopped for lunch in Daytona Beach Shores, visited The Last Chance and Pub 44 before stopping at Volusia County fairgrounds for the Swap Meet. Later in the afternoon I headed down to Orlando to find my next door neighbor who had taken his family down to Disney World. We had made plans to get together for dinner. Can anyone else claim to have ridden 1670 miles to have dinner with your next door neighbor?
Of course, Saturday was the day of the gathering at Smiley's. So, I decided to stay near that end of town. I figured I could check out all of the vendors between Ironhorse, Jackson Hole, Broken Spoke, and Smiley's while waiting for the RMH gathering at 12:00. That didn't turn out to be a very good plan... Hardly any of the vendors opened up until nearly noon.
I met lots of nice folks at Smiley's, Gator, HarleyWoman883, Arie, Agua, and several others whose names escape me (like Gator's wife - who doesn't think my T-Sport looks much like a Harley). When Len showed up, he introduced me to a few more RMHer's before I had to split. The smoke from the barbecue was bothering my asthma, so I went riding to get some air. I spent the afternoon in Tomoka Park again and stopped to take some nice pictures along the way (379 miles in and around Daytona).
I got up early Sunday and was headed north before 6:00 AM. Blasting up I-95 all day, I made it to just outside of Baltimore (840 miles) before calling it a day. That left me with only 410 miles to travel on Monday to get home. Arrived home at 3:15, Monday afternoon ending one very nice week of riding my new T-Sport. (trip total - 3,249 miles)
I'm very happy with the new bike. It's every bit as comfortable as my old FXRS was, in spite of the slightly increased vibration and it's a hell of a lot more fun on winding mountain roads. With nearly 5,000 miles on the clock now, I'll be looking for ways to improve the performance (ever so slightly) in the spring.