Bike Night at Michelles Southern home cooking

We have been there 2 fridays in a row and it has proven to be a good time both weeks. They have live bands, raffles, cheap beer and good food. Michelles is located on Beach Blvd right at pottsburg creek. This is the place for a fun bike night with a local pub atmosphere.

Destination Daytona

We found out that a friend of ours was in town from Kansas and another friend just bought a new sportster. C was ready for a long ride and Ben wanted to "just ride". We were all coming from different places so we met at Reni's Rooster.We took U.S.1 south through St. Augustine and into Bunnell where we stopped for a break.

We continued south for another 20 miles to Destination Daytona.There is always alot going on there and this weekend was no exception. Daytona hosts the turkey rod run the weekend after thanksgiving and alot of the cars were gathered in the parking lot. Hot Rods and Harleys seem to go together like peas and carrots.

We decided to get a drink and something to eat before wandering around to much. They have the saints and sinners pub and some food vendors right in the lot.

After we ate we walked around. There are alot of bike/bike stuff shops everywhere. We looked at clothes, custom parts, leather and custom bikes. There was a really cool truck for sale but it was a little small for my taste.

The girls were talking about all the flashing that goes on in daytona.

C almost did it.

Sheila said "no way"

Dawn had no fears.

Sheila wanted to go to check out a leather shop that Steve said he knew right where it was. Well....... he didnt. We rode all over town and ended up back where we started, hopping on I95 to head north for home. 95 is pretty busy so we got off in St Augustine and took US1 back into Jax. It started getting a little cold so we stopped off at Renis rooster again

Total trip. 267 miles. Great riding C

Ready for the Road

We decided to take a short trip to see Ben and ride with him for awhile, get C used to riding with traffic and just spend some quality time with the open road. We were thinking about taking back roads to his house allowing her to stop if she needed to. We had to stop by the HD shop to take some parts back(something about a broken turn signal) and the short way there from our house is getting on the highway for 1 exit.When we got there she told me she thought she would rather take the highway to his house so thats what we did. There is another HD shop near his house so we rode over there and went to get something to eat. Ben wanted us to see Renee since we havent seen her in awhile and since we were close to her house he called. She was at the mall on the same road we were on so she came outside and met us so she could see my new bike.

Renee hasnt been riding with us as she has other projects in the works. wont be long before she finishes this one and starts her new one.

Renee knows I have a soft spot for a pregnant woman so she hopped on my bike and decided to flash me.

Might not do it for everyone but I couldnt miss the photo opportunity.

It was getting time to head for home so we left them and took the highway back home. C did really good on her first time out and we are looking forward to many more trips.

Trip Distance: 67 miles

Buell Blast?????????????

I was convinced that C needed a Buell Blast to learn to ride on. She really didnt think she would like them but was willing to look. I saw some used ones at a really good price so I picked her up took her to try one on. She said it wasnt the sport bike lean that she thought it was but still wasnt sure. We explained to the sales guy that what we wanted to do was get her something cheap to learn on, move her to my sportster and get me a v-twin down the road. He said "WELL LET ME SAVE YOU A STEP". He showed us a 2005 Dyna SuperGlide that had been under a cover while the owner was in Iraq. It had alot of oxidation but no rust or pitting. We have looked at Superglides for quite awhile and when he told us what they wanted for it we knew this was the bike I was supposed to own.I am spending alot of time polishing all the oxidation off but its a great bike so far

The Maidens Voyage

C has been wanting to take my bike and get me another one but first she needed to learn to ride. I took her to a vacant lot near our house and taught her the basics. First comes learning to stop. She kept stalling the bike and once she finally figured out the proper release on the clutch she was so excited she forgot to stop in time. ummmmmmm........ Bike fell down.

Fortunatley she was fine and the bike only had a broken turn signal.Nothing our friends at the local shop couldnt fix us up with. Just a few more tries and she was shifting gears, making turns and ready for the next level.



She rode he bike home and had no problems. I sent her out in the morning for a ride in the neighborhood. Told her to make lots of turns and do 10 or 12 miles before she came back. She got gutsy, left the neighborhood and tested herself. She did just fine so she was ready for a short trip.

2nd annual Starke Bikefest

Starke, Florida started having a weekend bikefest last year and this year we decided to go see what it was all about. We called Ben to see if he was interested in going with us and we made plans to head down about 10:30. Starke is about half way between Jacksonville and Ocala on highway 301 if you blink to fast you will miss it but as I previously posted if you try to get there to fast from either direction you will get an opportunity to get a long look at either Waldo or Lawtey while you wait on your ticket from either towns local athorities.

We got there about 11:30 and were really pleased with what we found. It was an on site festival, the parking was free ( didn't know anything was FREE in the biker community), admission was only 10 dollars, you can camp there for free and beers were 1 dollar during the day and when the price went up they were a whopping 2 dollars. It wasn't the biggest event we have been to but without a doubt the best bang for the buck we have seen anywhere.

There were 3 bands there, no big names even big local names but still good music. There were alot of vendors, mostly food and souveniers with some bike parts, pinstriping, neons and tattoos mixed in. We saw a lady selling t-shirts that said show you my what?

When she saw someone looking she would lift her shirt and give them a flash. The picture turned out terrible but you will get the idea. The detail is actually very good.

There is a tag on the shirt with all the information to buy one.

The website is http://www.alloutadvertising.com/ (561)-687-0365

There we some really cool bikes and a few machines built to resemble bikes.

For the true good ole boy in us all they had some hard core cage match rasslin'. For the small group of people who actually believe proffesional wrestling is real this was a deal breaker. The slaps were heard before any contact was made and you could see the guys break the blood packets. The most humorus part of all was seeing 2 of the guys who seemed ready to kill eachother cleaned up and walking around together joking and having a good time. Personally I enjoyed this more than a stand up comedian.

Ben is a real picture taking fool so I had to get a pic of him doing his thing.( wait does that make me a picture taking fool too?)

In true bike event fashion there were plenty of ladies in great outfits. all were willing to have pics taken for everyone to remember them.

On the way home I thought with all the girl watching I got to do I would flash someone myself

We had a great time and hope this event stays around for many years. Next year come on out and join us.

2007 Ride For Smiles

I have been slacking on my updates so I am going to fill it in now.
The local HD dealer helped organize a ride for smiles on FEB.10th. I dont usually do these kind of rides just because someone once told me there was so much stop and go that it was more srop and go than riding.

Ben called me on Friday afternoon and told me he had a rider/passenger ticket and was stuck working.He didnt want to see it go to waste and wanted me to ride.The ticket was for him and Renee so I asked him if she wanted to ride with me instead but she had to work along with him. C was working so I called Dale she jumped at the chance.

The ride started at Adamecs new Baymeadows location, snaked around the east side of the city, along the ocean and returning to the HD dealer. There were several hundred bikes and Dale had never experienced an organized ride so she was in awe of all the bikes riding together.

When we got back there was food catered by applebees, live music and a frisbee dog show using rescued dogs rather than dogs raised to perform.We had a great time but unfortunatley camera batteries died early on so we didnt get as many pics as we would have liked. I hope you enjoy the ones we have.

Special thanks to Ben for thinking of me and not letting his ticket sit on a shelf.

There were alot of other photo ops but the batteries died to early

Peanuts first long ride

Our 6 year old has been riding almost since we got the bike. He started out just around the block, then he moved to short rides to the store or whatever. Today he was going on his first long ride.



We made plans with Ben, gassed up and off we went. We were meeting at the HD dealer in Orange Park which involved some highway and interstate travel. He normally does a good job of holding on and balancing but today he did neither. I had to keep pushing his hands into me and putting my arm around him to keep him straight in the seat.When we stopped he told me the wind was blowing him to hard to hold on right. We decided to meet up with Ben and call mom to come get him




We met Ben at Adamecs and called C to come get him.While we waited for her we looked at bikes, clothes, parts etc. He asked a lot of questions and really learned a lot about motorcycles and HD history. THEN HE MET A GIRL.

The sales clerk in the clothing dept. talked to him and told him he looked really sharp in his jacket. He snatched it open and showed her that he had a Harley shirt too. They chatted about bikes and football and exchanged names. Finally I told him if he was going to flirt all day I was going to walk around and look at stuff. Since he isn't old enough to know that girls are better than friends he decided to tag along with us. One of the bike salesmen came and asked him if he was out riding with dad and he said yep I'm biker trash. We all got a good laugh and everyone knew that one day he would be standing in a place just like that with his own kid looking at shiny Harleys dreaming of things to come.




C got stuck in some traffic but finally made it over to us. They headed for home and Ben and I headed for Whiteys fish camp. This is a cool little place right on the St. Johns river. They are stops on many poker runs and sponsor some from time to time. The view of the river is great here and the water is as calm as anywhere i have seen on a river of this size. They have an area reserved for bike parking and the path leading from the bike parking area to the building is home to the fallen riders memorial. Thankfully there are not to many names carved into stones here but its kind of nice to see someone cares enough to mark the names forever



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Total miles with peanut in tow 25
Total trip milage 58

C on the road again

Finally C was feeling a bit better. At least enough to get out for a ride. Ben and hundred mile an hour grandma joined us and we headed north toward the Georgia line. I am the bud man so we were headed to one of the stops on my route.




















We picked up grandma and put our knees in the breeze. It was much warmer today than yesterday but it was pretty windy. Our route was hwy 9A to hwy 17 north.

















When we got on 17 we were joined by some other Harley riders for a short time.C took this as a perfect photo opportunity and snapped this pic over her shoulder.















I guess our sporty's were just to much for them and they slipped off into HB's Miss B Haven. We always threaten to stop there but it just doesn't seem to draw us in like some places do.C took this pic en route but its a pretty friendly looking place.


















Our 1st stop was Casey's hideaway right on the Georgia state line. Allot of people stop here after crossing into Florida to stretch their legs, grab a drink and strip off helmets which are required in Ga. but not in Fla. I deliver the beer to this place so we went in to make sure at least some of it was gone when i came back.



















My favorite bartender Rita was working and we stayed and visited for an hour or so. Rita loves bikes and bikers, Bikers are always welcome at Casey's but when she is working she makes sure to tell them how welcome they are.

















Rita was good enough to take a picture of all of us.



















We headed back south making our way to "the stop" and got this pic as we crossed the St. Johns river. This is one of the few rivers that flows north. Right here we are at the highest point within the city limits that isn't part of a skyscraper and if you look in the distance you can make out the skyline of the city.



















We had to make a quick stop on our way and Ben decided maybe it was time he call it a day. Since C still wasn't 100% herself she thought she might be done too. We were pretty close to our house so she jumped on with him to go home and 100 mph and I continued to the rooster.

















Today this place was a whole different place. Bikes were everywhere, people were everywhere and still there was no band. There were a wide variety of people there from all walks of life including at least 1 school teacher. We hung out for a little while and I took her home.
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This trip wasn't as interesting as some of our recent trips but it was just as much fun.Trip mileage 104.