Good time of the year in Florida for riding!!!

[ride4now_imp]

We had a Chamber of Commerce Sunday on the west coast of Florida... just had to
take advantage of it. I left the beach at 10:00 and followed a MadMaps route that started
north of where I live in Wesley Chapel. After a short ride up I75, I headed east on route 54
to Branchbourough, then north on 471 to Bushnell, then west on 476 (yes, there are twisty's
in Fla), to US 19. US19 south past Weeki Wachee Springs, then over to 597 and 595
south past Hernando Beach, then down US19 again to ALT19 through Tarpon Springs,
then down to Dunedin and out to Caladesi Island then back to Treasure Island.
234 miles from 10:00 am until about 5:15. A couple of stops for gas, a bite to
eat, and a Starbucks Break at 3:30. A great day! The more I ride this bike, the
more impressed I get!!

This is the route I took... The GREEN circle, #13

A sleepy little town (Zepherhills)...

Lunch!! A Cuban sandwich, tomato soup, and a diet coke...yummy!

Ran out of road... near Lake Lindsey off 476. I had to get my
GPS out... before I got too lost.

Old Florida.... Spanish Moss.

Of course... I'm in Florida... so here's a water shot
near Caladesi Island.

Sorry... this one slipped in. Hey, in July when you guys
are out enjoying the mountains, we're stuck inside in the A/C
because it's WAY too hot to ride. You can get back at us then...

A great day on a really good motorcycle!




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[the Ferret]

Ok I'm jealous enough to tell you your "circle" isn't very round.

Other than that...wish I was there

 

[ride4now_imp]

Lol...

Ok, your right, it's not a circle, it's a green SQUARE!!!

Are you Ohio guys always so particular?

 

[the Ferret]

Lol...

Ok, your right, it's not a circle, it's a green SQUARE!!!

Are you Ohio guys always so particular?

look out my window...what else do I have to do?

 

[ride4now_imp]

Love it... lol big time!
I hope it warms up soon... enough at
least so you can get that bike off the charger
and ride her... before you go stir crazy!

 

[the Ferret]

We are not as bad as Wisconsin, but woke up to 3 degrees with windchills today at -25 to -35 sustained winds over 20 mph. We didnt get as much snow as they predicted jsut about 1/2 " or so.

Florida sounds awesome right now,

 

[CA200_imp]

Really enjoyed the pictures:banana:
Was -17 on my theam-o-meter this morning , don't even want to
discuss wind chill.
Won't even leave the house for a couple of days , have lots of food
and Wi. beer so will be OK:beerchug:

 

[The Spaceman_imp]

Its a gorgeous day today in South ,Florida. Mid 70's and sunny. Unfortunately I'm going to miss most of the riding season this year (again!) I'm scheduled for hip replacement on the 27th to fix the botched job they did last year when I broke it.

It sucks more than anything that has sucked before.

 

[Cormanus]

That's crap on two fronts at least, Spaceman.

Very best wishes for the surgery.

 

[the Ferret]

Major bummer. My wife had her hip replacement surgery 7 weeks ago. She said the hip that had the surgery feels great and her back pain is gone, but muscles used for so long on the other side when her hip was bad are giving her some issues. She did go back to work 2 1/2 weeks after the surgery, and climbed onto the back of the ST after 4 weeks, but she hasn't tried riding yet.

Best of luck Spaceman. Heal fast!

 

[SanPete_imp]

Gheil thanks for the route info, I may travel it one day. Today is not a good day for riding as we have a wind chill advisory in effect, 53 degrees, and overcast. Better days ahead!

Spaceman: I hope you have a better outcome on your second surgery.

 

[The Spaceman_imp]

Thanks for the well-wishes guys. I was hoping to avoid the second go-round, but the top end of my femur didn't reconnect, the three pins are backing out (shoulda used Locktite!), and my left leg is over 1/2" shorter than my right. Aside from that its FINE! I like the new Dr I found, he does over 600 joints a year. Volume volume volume!

As long as I can ride in time for Bike Week I'll be happy.

 

[ride4now_imp]

Spaceman... good luck with your surgery. Will you be well enough to go to Daytona in
March? Sanpete... It was a good ride. Check out madmaps.com... they have maps that list good road trips all over the country, by state. I obviously ordered the Florida one because I've been frustrated with the riding down here. They're based out of St. Pete... so far so good.
I hear you about the weather... I left the beach this morning and drove to Pensacola. It's in the 20's up here right now. My wife is at our home in N. Georgia... and it'll be 4 degrees there tomorrow morning. But St. Pete will be 80 on Saturday... so another good weekend to ride is coming up. We ought to meet up sometime...

 

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Good luck Spaceman.

I am killing time in Vienna airport waiting for our (delayed) flight to Dubai then on to Sydney. Had a great 10 days skiing with temperatures in the Alps (Saalbach-Hinterglem) relatively benign, daytime temperatures between +2 to -7 (deg C) with little wind. Towards the end another snow dump would have been good but not a big deal as the piste preparation was excellent.

Not much motorcycle activity and I can understand that as the roads are prone to ice, gravel and other scary things, such as mad Austrian drivers who don't seem to understand the three second rule .
Judging by some of the signs I saw near ski lift stations I would say that the "trailies", or Moto X, get plenty of summer action action with a lot of sponsored competition. The arterial roads in both the Austrian and German Alps look to be a road riders paradise. I have ridden a VFR 750 (in my opinion one of the great sport-tourers) around the Rhine and Mosel regions, and out to the East of Heidelburg, but the Alpine roads are another level again and are on the bucket list.

I am now suffering withdrawal symptoms and need to don the summer Kevlar and give the CB a good workout in the Oz summer. I can relate to "Good time of the year in Florida for riding"

Happy and safe New Year to you all.

 

[the Ferret]

Pterodactyl..my wife and I did a 9 day tour with Edelweiss in 2010 and got to ride in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria as well as France and Lichtenstein and without question Austria was my wife's and I favorite country as far as roads and beauty go.

I would really love to ride in Australia and New Zealand one day.

 

[Cormanus]

Pterodactyl..my wife and I did a 9 day tour with Edelweiss in 2010 and got to ride in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria as well as France and Lichtenstein and without question Austria was my wife's and I favorite country as far as roads and beauty go.

I would really love to ride in Australia and New Zealand one day.

Come on down and see us Ferret. Perhaps in your winter?

 

[ride4now_imp]

Ferret...was Edelweiss as good as it looks and sounds?

 

[the Ferret]

Pterodactyl..my wife and I did a 9 day tour with Edelweiss in 2010 and got to ride in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria as well as France and Lichtenstein and without question Austria was my wife's and I favorite country as far as roads and beauty go.

I would really love to ride in Australia and New Zealand one day.

Come on down and see us Ferret. Perhaps in your winter?

Come on down and see us Ferret. Perhaps in your winter?
That would be a dream come true. May e someday!

Ferret...was Edelweiss as good as it looks and sounds?

Gheil, Edelweiss was great. Good guides, good hotels, good meals, the riding days weren't too long or too short, they knew where to go, how to get to the interesting places and good roads without wasting time. We were really pleased. Great way to negotiate foreign countries where you do not know the languages, customs, menus etc. It was pricey though for someone of my financial means. I saved for 10 years for the trip. Worth every penny to me.

Some don't want to be led around by the nose, they want to explore at their own pace, so they pooh pooh the idea of riding in a group at a certain pace ( which was pretty quick I might add) but my wife and I really enjoyed being taken care of. We did spend a couple days on each end exploring on our own by foot, bus and train around Germany.

If I had a lot more money I'd let Edelweiss guide me around a lot of countries..Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Scotland, Ireland, Italy would be high on my list and I'd go back to Europe in a heartbeat Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France and Lichtenstein were awesome.

 

[SanPete_imp]

Spaceman... good luck with your surgery. Will you be well enough to go to Daytona in
March? Sanpete... It was a good ride. Check out madmaps.com... they have maps that list good road trips all over the country, by state. I obviously ordered the Florida one because I've been frustrated with the riding down here. They're based out of St. Pete... so far so good.
I hear you about the weather... I left the beach this morning and drove to Pensacola. It's in the 20's up here right now. My wife is at our home in N. Georgia... and it'll be 4 degrees there tomorrow morning. But St. Pete will be 80 on Saturday... so another good weekend to ride is coming up. We ought to meet up sometime...

gheil, we should meet up sometime. In fact, I just closed a deal on a front cowl sold by another forum memeber (Greg Davis) who lives in Orlando. I am planning on riding over there either tomorrow or Sunday, let me know if you are interested or available to ride out there.

 

[ride4now_imp]

Spaceman... good luck with your surgery. Will you be well enough to go to Daytona in
March? Sanpete... It was a good ride. Check out madmaps.com... they have maps that list good road trips all over the country, by state. I obviously ordered the Florida one because I've been frustrated with the riding down here. They're based out of St. Pete... so far so good.
I hear you about the weather... I left the beach this morning and drove to Pensacola. It's in the 20's up here right now. My wife is at our home in N. Georgia... and it'll be 4 degrees there tomorrow morning. But St. Pete will be 80 on Saturday... so another good weekend to ride is coming up. We ought to meet up sometime...

gheil, we should meet up sometime. In fact, I just closed a deal on a front cowl sold by another forum memeber (Greg Davis) who lives in Orlando. I am planning on riding over there either tomorrow or Sunday, let me know if you are interested or available to ride out there.

gheil, we should meet up sometime. In fact, I just closed a deal on a front cowl sold by another forum memeber (Greg Davis) who lives in Orlando. I am planning on riding over there either tomorrow or Sunday, let me know if you are interested or available to ride out there.
Sanpete, I can't do it tomorrow, but could do it Sunday... Let me know.

Pterodactyl..my wife and I did a 9 day tour with Edelweiss in 2010 and got to ride in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria as well as France and Lichtenstein and without question Austria was my wife's and I favorite country as far as roads and beauty go.

I would really love to ride in Australia and New Zealand one day.

Come on down and see us Ferret. Perhaps in your winter?

Come on down and see us Ferret. Perhaps in your winter?
That would be a dream come true. May e someday!

Ferret...was Edelweiss as good as it looks and sounds?

Gheil, Edelweiss was great. Good guides, good hotels, good meals, the riding days weren't too long or too short, they knew where to go, how to get to the interesting places and good roads without wasting time. We were really pleased. Great way to negotiate foreign countries where you do not know the languages, customs, menus etc. It was pricey though for someone of my financial means. I saved for 10 years for the trip. Worth every penny to me.

Some don't want to be led around by the nose, they want to explore at their own pace, so they pooh pooh the idea of riding in a group at a certain pace ( which was pretty quick I might add) but my wife and I really enjoyed being taken care of. We did spend a couple days on each end exploring on our own by foot, bus and train around Germany.

If I had a lot more money I'd let Edelweiss guide me around a lot of countries..Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Scotland, Ireland, Italy would be high on my list and I'd go back to Europe in a heartbeat Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France and Lichtenstein were awesome.

Come on down and see us Ferret. Perhaps in your winter?
That would be a dream come true. May e someday!

Ferret...was Edelweiss as good as it looks and sounds?

Gheil, Edelweiss was great. Good guides, good hotels, good meals, the riding days weren't too long or too short, they knew where to go, how to get to the interesting places and good roads without wasting time. We were really pleased. Great way to negotiate foreign countries where you do not know the languages, customs, menus etc. It was pricey though for someone of my financial means. I saved for 10 years for the trip. Worth every penny to me.

Some don't want to be led around by the nose, they want to explore at their own pace, so they pooh pooh the idea of riding in a group at a certain pace ( which was pretty quick I might add) but my wife and I really enjoyed being taken care of. We did spend a couple days on each end exploring on our own by foot, bus and train around Germany.

If I had a lot more money I'd let Edelweiss guide me around a lot of countries..Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Scotland, Ireland, Italy would be high on my list and I'd go back to Europe in a heartbeat Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France and Lichtenstein were awesome.
They have a separate vehicle to carry the luggage...right? So you are not locked into what will fit on the bike? My wife used to ride with me 'years ago', but doesn't ride anymore. Over the years we bought too many cars...and she decided cars are nicer, more comfortable, and her hair doesn't get messed up. Not to mention the safety issue. BUT, she has told me that she'd go with me on a European tour and Edelweiss does look interesting. I don't like the statement that they ride fast though... both she and I would probably not like that...especially on winding roads that we don't know.