Mel's Diner serves it up...

Woke up at 6am for some unknown reason and since it was Sunday decided to roll out and go for a ride. First I had to unload the motorcycle from the bed of the pickup truck. I finally have both vehicles located in the same city. This took a little more work than I thought. The pickup had been parked at dad's house for the last 4 weeks almost, and in those 4 weeks the farthest it moved was from one side of the driveway to the other. Which means when it came time to start it, the battery was dead. And not just weak and tired, but totally toasted. Not even a click or weak buzz, but to steal a phrase from Bones on Enterprise "he's DEAD Jim!!!". So a trip to the auto store and $80 later we are cranked and rolling. Back to this morning, I unloaded the bike, parked the truck and hopped on the road. Filled up the gas tank and pointed the bike west. It was a little cool this morning and I had to hunker down behind the windscreen for a little protection, but after 30 minutes the sun took hold and started to work its magic. I made my was over to Bradenton and then across to Anna Marie Island. Headed south and curved around to the downtown Sarasota area. Out on the island there were a TON of bicyclist out and they were not having a good morning of it. There was a huge wind out today straight from the east and it was gusting and blowing hard, which means on the north south route they were riding there was no hope of a tailwind on any part of their ride. The whole time I was keeping an eye peeled for a breakfast spot. My stomach was getting grumpy and I was looking for someplace that was not national chain. I was just about to hang up hope and head for the cracker barrel when I passed Mel's Dinner in Bradenton. It was busy but not overly packed. Ordered up a plate of chopped sirloin with two eggs over easy and some hashbrowns. When you need a little protien you cant miss with this combo. it was served up hot and fresh, the only downer was a lack of seasoning in the preparation. That doesnt suprise me int his area as it is a huge retirement population and they tend to not like the extra season or spice that they younger crowd likes. After packing it all down and finishing it off with a glass of moo juice I loaded up and headed east out of town. Rolled back home on another route and was back in the house by noon. 198 miles, some nice scenery and a good breakfast and only 4.2 gallons of distilled dinosaur burned up in the process. On a side note I had the oil changed and service done on the Honda on Saturday in Lakeland and the bike seems a lot smoother and happier with the new vital fluids.

3 weeks, 2400 miles, 2 wheels and no pickup truck

Took the Riders Edge MSF class and as soon as I finished I left the truck at dad's house and jumped on my new Honda VFR Interceptor and rode it home. And then like Forest Gump I liked it so much I just kept riding and riding and riding. A week at home and then two weeks on the road for business and pleasure. Used UPS and Fedex to ship what I couldnt carry on the motorcycle and had a great time. Visited friends, road my bicycle a little, took some leadership classes at headquarters, ate a lot of good roadfood, some GREAT roadfood and a little mediocre roadfood. Stuck to the highways and backroads as much as possible and only used the Interstate when necessary. Learned a lot and learned that I still have a lot to learn to become a proficient rider and a SAFE rider. The best meal on the trip was Clarks Home Grill serving up some Wagyu bone in ribeyes for dinner one night. Mega size and mega tasty. The best restaraunt meal was the Triangle in Charleston for the boneless porkchop blueplate lunch special, that really hit the spot and fueled me up on the last days ride to the house. The most relaxing day of the trip was the second Saturday in Myrtle Beach. Walked up the beach and down the beach, had some good beach dive food for lunch and a "few" Guiness at the Molly Darcy Pub next door. Best riding day was Sunday from Albany to Charlotte. Lots of good backroads and a tasty sausage biscuit breakfast at Striplings in Warwick, GA, thanks Paula Deen! Best sleep of the trip was the Tuesday night I got home, 585 miles, 12 hours on the road, 2 beers when I got home and my own soft bed at the end of the day.

Where to next? Key West maybe or another beach trip. Will have to look at the calender and clear a stretch of days, the road is calling and the bike is willing.

1-month, 2- wheels, 3- dragged foot pegs....

I have been drooling over motorcycles for 33 years now. It really is my parents fault. When I was5 and my brother was 6 we moved to a house on the other side of the railroad tracks. The other side of the tracks from 2 different motorcycle dealers. My brother and I used to go over and hang out in the shops looking at chrome, rubber, aluminum and steel. There was a Honda dealer right behind our house and a Kawasaki dealer down the street from him. Lots of CB's, KZ's, and all sorts of things to grab the fascination of a 5 year old. We used to wait till the new models would come out and we would BEG the shop guys to give us the old posters from the previous models and we would decorate our rooms with them. In the next 33 years my motorcycle experience other than reading every monthly edition of Cycleworld or Motorcyclist I could lay my hand on was limited to rides with uncles, cousins or friends who I could mooch rides off of. Vfr500 Interceptor, Kawi LTD440, briggs and stratton scooters, vespa scooters, anything I could lay my hands on. In my teens my mother would always speak of the evils of motorcycles and how our family friend Huckle had been run off in the ditch on his bike by some drunk crazy and he laid there for hours until he dragged himself up to the road for help. Then recently we got onto a discussion about bikes and she brought up the fact the around the time she was pregnant with me and right after my brother was born that she had ridden the 125-250 size enduro street bike that dad had bought as backup transport for the family car. So evidently I was bitten by the motorcycle bug while in the womb. Flash a couple weeks forward and I set my sites on a certain bike, call them, do the research and drive up and pull the trigger. Hello to one 2005 Honda Interceptor 800 sport touring bike. Picked it up with my pickup and took it to Dads house and put it there. Sign up for the Motorcycle Safety Foundation beginners class the following weekend. $300 at the local Harley dealer in Lakeland, FL. Dave and Bill are the instructors. I wont bore you with the details, but it was a hugely informative class and I would highly encourage ANYONE new or old to take it to pickup new skills and safe driving techniques. The highlight of the weekend was leaning over far enough in the cornering skills exercise that I actually dragged the footpegs in turns in both directions on the cool little Buell Blast 500cc bikes they provide for the classes. I was able to work thru a lot of the jitters and relearn the proper techniques to do battle on the streets without being a total idiot. So I aced the riding test Sunday afternoon and aced the written test Sunday afternoon, and picked up my paperwork and headed to Dads house. I had ridden around the neighborhood on the new Honda a couple times. Enough to realize that it is a supremely powerful bike, and while it seems intimidating at first, what it really needs is smooth throttle, clutch and brake skills and it responds well. So I filled her up, loaded her up with my weekend bag and pointed it south towards Sebring by way of Grandma's place and a friends house in Winter Haven. The Winter haven part was a last minute detour when the south to Sebring route was filled with a dark sky and rain. 123.4 miles later I was home safe with a huge smile on my face, a sore butt from 2 full days of sitting on motorcycles, a numb finger from the vibrating clutch lever on the Blast motorcycle, and sense of accomplishment from completing the class and my first long trip on my new Honda. I dont think I can fully explain my sense of wanderlust and anticipation to the roads ahead that I want to cover. I cant tell you what they all will be, because the wander part of wanderlust is striking me again for the first time since I used to drive a semi-tractor cross country about 10 years ago. Keep your ears peeled and if you hear a Roadrunner style "beep beep" in your driveway that is probably me!