Holiday In The Sun (a shakin_jake trip report)

[shakin_jake]

It’s rare for me to get enough time off away from our farm to do even a few multi day getaways yet wifey promised me a minimum of 4 days in a row that I could “get out of Dodge”. Last time I did something similar (leaving the farm for an overnight or three) was MLK weekend 2019. Yeah, it’s a shame really, that I work as hard as I do so late in my life (I’ll be 65 in November) & hard to imagine it’s been just over two years ago that I had a chance to do an overnight away from the farm. Enough of the bool sheet talk, the fact of the matter is I hopped on my Ryker headed south for the Fla. Keys a week ago. Since I don’t have a windscreen for my girl I made sure the weather was going to be dry. We live in north central Fla. and I wanted to focus on riding as much as I could since I was limited to 4 days total trip time. There’s all sorts of roads to get down to the Keys, I chose to use I-75 to Naples then I hopped off around Golden Gate to get on 41, AKA as Tamiami Trail

My ride turned out to be only 3 days instead of 4 because the day I was going to leave it was one thing after another getting in my way to leave the farm. First it was a sink that overfilled I had to mop up the water, then dry the floors with bath towels, set up a fan to eliminate moisture then no one fed the horses. You get the picture. Anyways, the next 5 days was forecast with nothing but sunshine with the highs in the eighties (Fehrenheight). I didn’t get too far the first day, making it only to Venice. The exit I chose had a Marriot Fairfield, Holiday Inn Express and a Best Western to choose from to get my head in a bed. As it were, the first two were completely booked so I stayed at the best western. I don’t mind spending money on a room for a night & IICR, *that room was $175. Not exactly cheap as chips but a bargain compared to what I spent on the return trip night in Naples at Pelican Bay. The following day found me sleeping until noon and check out time was 11. Front desk said “no problem, leave when you’re ready”. I left 20 minutes later

Back on the slab, like the day before, the wind was coming out of the south East, right in my face and w/o a windscreen, tiring to say the least. Traffic on 75 moves at 80+ in the fast lane& there were too many trucks to ride anywhere else. Speaking of traffic on I-75, it seems anymore, at least since the last national election, everyone & their brother wants to move to Fla. it’s a red state (thank God), everything is open, schools, bars, who wouldn’t want to live here, especially considering you can ride 51 weeks out of 52, but the traffic going through Sarasota, st. Pete. At times it was a parking lot, but then too when I rolled through there it was Friday afternoon and the locals were playing beat the clock. I rode to the right of the right lane when everything else was at a standstill. Sure it’s illegal to ride where I was but I’ve been known to break at least 3 traffic laws before noon everyday. Sometimes you gotta ride like you stole it

Fast forward to me getting off at Collier blvd jumping down to 41. I wanted to slow the pace up. The reason 41 is known as Tamiami Trail round where I was riding was because before the modern roads came to be, if you were in Tampa and wanted to get to Miami, you used 41. It’s actually an enjoyable ride through the Indian reservations off peak hours and sunset wasn’t far off. My plan at that point was to take Krome Ave south to US1 which meant riding through the Redlands. It’s been a few years since I’d been this way but now the road is fast and wide, to a point. New pavement, wider lanes make for quicker descent. I was leaving homestead, fla. city and now on US1, but not for long as I wanted to use card sound road in order to stop at Alabama Jacks to check out the dancing girls. I was surprised there was no band playing. After all, it was Saturday night, even though sunset wasn’t quite there. I found a place to park my rig & even though this place wasn’t jumping, lotsa harleys to contend with for a parking space. The bar was packed but I didn’t have to stand more than two beers before I grabbed an empty stool. I was planning my next destination as I wasn’t sure I’d have time to ride down to Key West and make it back home by Monday morning 8AM. That was the deal. I had to be back Monday morning 8 AM, mainly to help Helen get the horses in stalls as she didn’t want the horses running free while the fencing contractor we hired to take down the fencing along the east of the paddock, then put up new fence 25’ in from where the east end of the paddock was

I failed to mention we’re planting a mess of bamboo between our eastern property line and the east end of the horse paddock. There just isn’t enough room for the bamboo to be planted between the paddock fencing and the natural tree line that runs along the neighbors farm/fencing and our trees on the property line so the plan was to remove the eastern paddock fencing and build a new fence 25th to the west. We really didn’t want to lose the room in this paddock. Although it’s a 4 + acre paddock, we want the horses to have as much room as possible. Helen and I built this paddock ourselves 20 years ago but today, we’re too busy to do the fence work so we hired it out with a known dependable fencing contractor (Seminole fence) who ironically are ex Michiganders like ourselves. The owners hail from Frankenmuth (Zehnders, Bavarian Inn). Helen and I are city kids from Detroit but wifey got it in her head she wanted me back by 8AM to help her get the horses in the barn. As it turned out, the crew chief talked her into letting the horses stay in the paddock, even though they were going to remove 500’ of fencing. Not that anyone asked but we planted (my carpenter and I) the bamboo (15 gallon pots) on 8’ centers. Nick & I put 96 pots in the ground in one day, that was several days after I got back from this ride. Nick is 27 so you know I have to hustle to keep up with him, but I was relaying my time on the road (to ruin=:-)

It was starting to get dark riding away from Alabama Jacks. You used to have to pay a 25 cent cash toll to go over the bridge leaving there but a couple years ago they installed cameras that take a photo of your license plate then mail you the toll charge, just to eliminate the person collecting the tolls. Card sound riding towards Key Largo dumps you literally at mm 106. It was crunch time and I had to make a decision whether to run south heading to the lower Fla. Keys or make the turn north to go home. I wisely chose the latter. Why? It’s not easy riding a naked Ryker on fast roads. Thus is strictly my opinion but for me to comfortably ride this motorcycle on fast roads it needs two things it didn’t have. A windscreen to block wind and a throttle lock. Before starting out I seriously considered riding my BMW. My beemer isn’t a road bike. It’s actually an enduro, a 92’ R100airhead GSPD but it has an after market saddle, factory throttle lock, shorty windscreen. It all makes for a fast, smooth comfortable mount and one I’ve used to eat road miles and am quite familiar with. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I took the Ryker. I had to do a shake down ride with it and there it was. The throttle lock is simple enough to add, so us the windscreen, but truth be told, I just don’t do enough big miles to outfit her that way. I should sell the airhead. I don’t ride it enough to warrant keeping it but several years ago I turned it into a roadworthy motorcycle doing the right upgrades and I haven’t had much of a chance to exploit the additions. I paid 6 large for it the end of 2014 and I have another 6 in her

Before I bought the Ryker new a year ago I really wanted to buy a used 2014, 2015 RT-S Spyder The right deal never came along at the right time, so I grabbed a Ryker. The Ryker Rally I’m going to go out on a limb and say it turned out to be the best choice for me. I mainly ride local roads, and on our farm. I use the Ryker daily lately while checking up on the bamboo irrigation. Getting back to the route I used out of the Keys, I ran north on US1, but not for long as Gilbert’s Marina was coming up. I have a half as attachment to Gilbert’s Marina as we once stayed there while vacationing before ever moving to the lower Fla. Keys for good in late 85’. Gilbert’s had a band that night. I stuck around for one or two drought beers then headed out to where I left my steed, when I saw a couple eyeballing my rig. I told the guy with his girl that I left the key in it and to get on it and take it for a ride. He didn’t believe me at first until I told him you get my Ryker, I get your girl. So he took off and I’m trying to have a conversation with this pretty blonde until I realized she didn’t speak any English. It’s one o’clock in the morning & her husband showed up on my Ryker. We had a pleasant conversation in which he told me he was not only retired Miami PD, but he was also a Peter Pan refugee and met his Cuban wife only a few years ago while revisiting Havana

Knowing I wasn’t going to spend the night asleep in either dade nor Monroe county I quickly sped off retracing my Krome Ave route for I decided to run north back home using I-75 except I didn’t stay on 41 all the way into Naples. Running west on 41 I decided to turn north on 29 in Carnestown. 29 north is just a route to get you to I-75 and avoiding the west end of greater Naples. My Mother used to live in Vanderbilt Beach and I have friends there too. For whatever reason I took Immokalee road off the interstate into Vanderbilt Beach, and got a room at Pelican Bay in North Naples. Pelican Bay Inn as it’s now called has changed hands a time or two through the years. By this time it was late, late, late. The night monitor seemed to try to dissuade me from spending the night, primarily because he had just began his audit via computer and told me he would have to lose the work in order to book me into a room, plus he said the rate was $495, to which I replied , “it’s only money, I have to spend it somehow”. 10 minutes later I rolled my luggage into the room

Sunday morning saw me sleep late again for I was in no hurry, knowing I’d make it home probably in time to feed the horses, which I did. So there you have it, 3 days riding in the Fla. sun, with a bunch of night time riding too. The last fill up with fuel at the four corners (Krome/41) saw my best mileage of that trip. I bought gas before leaving Naples, did the computation and saw 38 MPG. The worst fuel mileage of the trip was 22 MPG the day I left using a heavy hand with the wind in my face All in all I had a good time. Hopefully I won’t have to wait two years before shoving off again

[Scotts8826]

Thanks for sharing. Great trips don't have to be a week long. It's a shame you lost a day and didn't make it to Key West. My big bucket list includes a trip to Alaska if the border ever re-opens. I also would like to go to Key West. I would then have visited both ends of the US. I figure dodging hurricanes in the fall would be better than spring breakers in the spring and heat in the summer. Any pictures from your trip?

[shakin_jake]

Hey Scott’s. No pics from this keys trip but here’s a shot from my last trip to the lower Fla. Keys MLK Weekend 2019

That’s Tril, one of our couriers loading my 92’ BMW R100 GSPD into his van. This is how my last holiday away from the farm ended, on Big Pine Key. I rode the GS and as luck would have it, as I was cruising past our old homestead on Big Pine checking it out late on a Friday night (maybe it was Saturday?) the charging light came on which meant only one thing- the charging system wasn’t doing its job. At the time we flew one of my wife’s girlfriends down to our farm (from Virginia) so she could pull my weight while I visited the Keys on the beemer. Jackie’s flight was leaving that Sunday, I had to get back by Monday morning, all the shops I could have parts overnighted to me to replace the diode board were closed for the weekend, my only real option was to have Tril come down to fetch me and the bike. As it were Tril was able to come the following day which I spent in Key West bumming around. I got a taxi to come pick me up in big pine late the night the bike’s charging system failed. I made the best with the time I had. The motel in Key West I stayed at had a bus for guests to drop them off downtown. I had some beers 7 food at Sloppy’s, did the tourist things walking around until Tril showed up Sunday to fetch me and the bike, haul us back to Reddick. Tril lives in Gainesville so it was a shirt hop for him back home after dropping me off (20 miles). In case anyone was wondering what kind of fee I was charged for the pick up and drop off service, it was a grand. Not bad all things considered as I didn’t have many good options & time wasn’t on my side to hang out in the Keys to repair the GS and ride back. Not that anyone asked but I couldn’t get a room on big pine the night the bike crapped out. Key West was booked fairly solid too as there was a Marathon that weekend. The taxi driver called around (an old bubba) & the only place I could get a room had a last minute cancellation. Price for that room-$500. Yeah, Key West is expensive during high season. Still, I like to ride down there, smell the salt air. I’m trying to remember all the particulars of that trip. I had a multimeter I carried with me in one of the panniers that verified the charging system was on the fritz. Me riding there and back unencumbered just wasn’t in the cards