Back From Florida (Again)

I’m back home from the earlier solo ride down to Florida this week.  We’ll both be going back down again next week, this time for Mom’s memorial service.  But, we’ll probably take the car as “nice” clothes travel better in a car.

In the post earlier this week I said that I took a different route this time.  I used I-75 from metro Atlanta to I-475 (to go around Macon, GA) and then I-75 again all the way down to Ocala, Florida.  Once in Ocala, I took Florida HWY 40 across to Ormond Beach and then took I-95 for a few miles to my destination.  The GPS said that this route was 477 miles, took 7 hours and 35 minutes of time in motion and a total of 8 hours and 13 minutes that the GPS was on.  The GPS comes on with the motorcycle and turns off 30 seconds after the motorcycle is turned off.  This route took me through the Ocala National Forest.  I saw bear crossing signs and in a whole section of the forest, the trees all leaned to west from the prevailing winds blowing in from the east coast of Florida.  It was definitely more leisurely than the normal interstate highway route.  I didn’t hear any banjo music while cutting across Florida.  I’ll be adding this ride to the GPS Files page this weekend.

Normally when we go down to Florida, we’ll take I-75 from metro Atlanta to I-475 (to go around Macon, GA) and then back on I-75 until we get to I-10 East where we head for I-295 (to go around Jacksonville, FL) and then take I-95 South to our destination.  The trip home merely reverses the route.  Yes, this route is all interstate highway but gets us there in a day.  According to the GPS the return trip home was 478 miles, took 7 hours and 38 minutes of time in motion and 7 hours and 59 minutes that the GPS was on.

What did I learn about the routes?  The route cutting across on FL HWY 40 was actually a mile shorter but sure didn’t look that way on a map.  The normal, all interstate highway route took a total of 3 minutes longer as I had run into slow traffic when I got to Atlanta.  The route using Ocala FL HWY 40 was 1 hour and 14 minutes longer, probably because of the traffic lights and a few stops in traffic on the morning I left.

I also noticed a few things on this trip or had a few things happen:

• I got hit on the left knee by a chunk of tire when someone in front of me ran over a piece of tire retread in the road.  The chunk that hit me was about the size of a golf ball and hit me while I travelling just over 70 mph.  While it hit the knee armor , I surely felt it.  I cringe at how it would’ve felt if I was wearing riding pants with armor, or even worse, shorts.
• At gas stop at a “Travel Plaza” (they attract all motorists by not using the term Truck Stop) 2 tour busses pulled up one behind the other to unload the high school kids from Iowa on them.  But they wanted to be right at the door and blocked about 15 cars of customers from leaving until they were finished.  Someone from the Travel Plaza came out and told them they needed to move to the area posted for “Truck, RV and Bus Parking”.  So much for professional drivers.
• At 2 gas stops and the Florida Welcome Center I had strangers walk up and start talking about motorcycling and asking questions about The Magic Carpet.  You don’t have that happen when travelling by car in your Ford Taurus or Chevy Impala.
• While in southern Georgia near the state line I passed a car that had a laptop propped up on the dashboard and angled so the driver could see it!  I had hoped she wasn’t watching a movie.  She pulled into the Florida Welcome Center shortly after I did and parked just one space away.  Guess what?  She was watching a movie while driving at 70 mph.
• On the way home today I was passed by a Harley Davidson Road Glide Ultra in Florida whose rider was wearing a full face helmet, armored riding pants and an hi-vis orange Harley Davidson mesh jacket.  He was definitely dressed more like an armadillo than a pirate!

Until next time, Ride Safe.