First Long Ride On My RTL

I purchased my 2016 RTL last summer. It had 1300 miles on it and looked brand new. What with Covid and a super hot summer last year did not ride alot but managed to put 1700 miles on it by way of day trips and running errands. I finished up the 2nd vaccine shot at the beginning of March and decided to give the Spyder a longer ride. So I made a trip from Raleigh to my friend's place in Cape Coral,FL.
I've done it by motorcycle a number of times, usually take 2 days. This time I left Raleigh at 0700, 17 March taking US1 south for a stop at Congaree National Park in Hopkins, South Carolina. As is my usual habit I grabbed breakfast about three hours into the ride, unfortunately couldn't find a local place and had to settle for a Waffle House. I find a large late morning breakfast will keep me going all day and keep me more alert in the afternoon. An early breakfast and then lunch will have me looking for a nap about 2 or 3pm.

I visited Congaree where I got a new National Park Passport book and the requisite stamp. Next I worked my way on some nice two lane till I intersected I95 and headed toward St. Simon's Island and Fort Frederica National Monument. Wasn't long before traffic came to a complete standstill but was able to jump off the interstate and detour around everything on US17 and come back to I95 south of the accident which was at the SC/GA border. Made it to St. Simons around 1615, and ran into very heavy local traffic but was just able to make it the Monument 20 minutes before it closed at 1700. Had a nice chat with a volunteer there and got stamps for both Fort Frederica and the Gullah-Geechee National Heritage Corridor. Checked into a Comfort Inn in Brunswick, GA about 1800. Total for the day of 475 miles.

After a shower and a couple beers I walked to a local seafood restaurant, had my mask at the ready for entering. But when I went in I saw that no one, staff or customer was wearing a mask, and it was pretty much at full capacity. Now I was really appreciative of having the vaccine.

My plan the next day was to take the Interstate to Jacksonville Beach, grab a breakfast and then head on down A1A to Castillo de San Marcos National Monument in St. Augustine. Had a great breakfast in a Metro Cafe and pleasant ride down the coast with fresh ocean air. St. Augustine was a madhouse, traffic and tourists everywhere. Went in the parking lot by the Castillo and cars were lurking around waiting for people to leave, it was so crowded. Then I discovered they had converted little odd corners of the lot too small for cars into motorcycle only spaces. Well I know many will say the Spyder is not a motorcycle, but it has a motorcycle
plate and I could just squeeze into one of the spots. I paid for an hour of parking figuring that would be plenty of time. Wrong! There was a line, a long line to the entrance. The covid capacity restrictions were apparently causing the back-up. I got in line when a park ranger came along and told the group ahead of me that it would be a least 2 hours from there to get in. I didn't have that kinda of time, so I asked him if I could just get the stamp. He told me they might have one in the kiosk next to the ticket booth, so I weathered some dirty looks as I walked to the head of the line where another ranger stamped my book. Mission accomplished.

I left as quickly as I could and made my way southwest on a series of state and US highways staying off the interstate. You see alot of old Florida on some of these roads. Florida 19 from Palatka to Groveland is little traveled and goes through forest and by many lakes, then Florida 33 to Lakeland. After that its pretty much US 17 till Punta Gorda, really nothing positive to say about that route except it gets you to where you want to go. Then local roads into Cape Coral. Day ended 1630. 412 miles.

A couple of observations: I can't say the Spyder makes the trip any more or less taxing than doing it on a motorcycle. I put the comfort seat and backrest on the Spyder the week before I left, it made a difference, the extra leg room and the padding was a vast improvement over the standard seat. I didn't really start squirming around on it till I was a least 300 miles into the day. But that has happened with just about any motorcycle seat I have owned stock or aftermarket (one exception the stock seat on the BMW K1200LT). Getting old or out of shape: 450 miles getting to be my limit in the saddle. I hadn't done a long ride since the summer of 2019 and I was pretty wiped by the end of the day. The Spyder performed flawlessly, no complaints. I also put the Spyderpops LED running, brake, turn signal lights on before I left, I really think these made me more conspicuous. I noticed that cars behind me seemed to give me plenty of space when I stopped.

I stayed a week then headed home, mostly on the slab this time. Total trip 1689 miles. Average MPG 32.4.

Great ride post. :clap:

Thanks for sharing. Where you'll find the Spyder really shines on long trips is when the weather is less than perfect. Windy, rainy days will put many motorcycles on the sideline but the Spyder's stability can get you through about anything but the worst weather.