Showing Steve some florida curves

[dpep]

Saturday I got down to meet up with Steve who is has been doing a temporary work gig down south of Orlando since the first of the year. It was my first real chance to get away this year and it was a series of late and false starts for me initially. Finally, at a little after noon I rolled into the parking lot at Gator Joe's in Oklawaha, FL, our designated contact point. Gator Joe's is a local landmark on Lake Weir and serves as a bike magnet on sunny weekends which this one was.

I wanted to make sure Steve found out before returning north that not every road in Florida is a straight line. The area north of Ocala known as horse country actually has occasional bends in the hard top and even some tiny elevation changes, all in a peaceful green pastoral setting. We were even able to find a section of zigzags. Here is a shot of Steve on his Gold Wing playing with his computer in front of the little cafe at the crossroads of Orange Springs, FL where we paused for some tasty victuals.

[drejal]

any end in sight to your florida stint steve?

It was 6 weeks ago when you were down my way, and you were sick of it then! Glad you found some good roads

[Billy Ricks]

I worked in Ocala a couple of years back. Really nice country around the area. The mall we were working at had an upscale hotel across the street from it. Rudy Giuliani's campaign rolled through town at the time and his entourage was staying at that hotel. Not long after that he dropped out of the race.

I may get out to Jacksonville in the near future.

[jbs80106]

Uncanny...

the red bike looks so much like my BMW. Weird!

Nice showing a fellow GSers the nice roads in FLA....

[dpep]

I worked in Ocala a couple of years back. Really nice country around the area. The mall we were working at had an upscale hotel across the street from it. Rudy Giuliani's campaign rolled through town at the time and his entourage was staying at that hotel. Not long after that he dropped out of the race.

I may get out to Jacksonville in the near future.

Let me know when you know, Billy.

[Steve]

Well, I guess "fair is fair". Here is Don, trying to find those curvy roads on a map, in that little restaurant (great food, by the way ):



Note how he blends in carefully with his surroundings.

That form of 'camouflage' works well out on the road, too. Between the red tail pack, the yellow/green jacket and white helmet, HE IS SEEN.



Whenever I meet a new rider, I find it necessary to ride carefully, not knowing how he rides. Any notions that this was a slow rider were quickly dispelled. He said he likes to get from one set of curves to the next as quickly as possible, to minimize the boring time.


Just for the record, he doesn't slow down much for the curves. If you look carefully at the line of the dashboard and compare it to the horizon, you will see it's not much of a lean, but we were just coming out of a turn. Note the speedometer. Yes, I only had one hand on the handlebar, the other was holding the phone/camera.


Thanks again, Don, great time together.

Yes, Flori-duh (I have at least taken the DUH out of capital letters) does have some non-straight roads, but you have to travel a long way to find them. Our time together was 118 miles, my total for the day was 331.


Andre, there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it might be an on-coming train. A couple of weeks ago they were telling me I would be here "through the end of the month". Last week I learned that it would extend into May. I have told them that I am not available after May 7, they will have to find somebody else to cover the shop here if the new hire isn't ready by then.

[renobruce]

So where's the pics of the twisties?

[Steve]

So where's the pics of the twisties?

Rather simple equation there: no twisties = no pictures.

Mr. renobruce, nowhere was the word "twisty" used in ANY of our discussions.

Please note that everywhere a non-straight road was mentioned, it was a "curve".

There were a couple of spots that had a couple of curves strung together, but the fourth picture above,
the one with a little bit of lean, should tell you how much it was not a "twisty".

You just don't come out of twisties at that speed.

Or with just one hand on the bars, the other hand on the phone.

On a Wing.

.

[portdave]

Glad you had a good time. Sorry I missed it. Maybe next time.

[Steve]

On my way there, I passed a very good road:



It's Springtime, flowers and trees are in bloom:





Yes, there's a hint of a curve ahead, but I shot this for the display of Spanish Moss:



This is how I knew where to meet Don:



There was already a line of bikes when I got there. The first six in this line are all V-Stars, the first three nearly identical, except for exhaust pipes:



Also there was the first Spyder RT that I had seen. This one comes fully-equipped with saddlebags and trunk:



And then some gratuitous bike porn, if you don't mind:






.

[tkent02]

So where's the pics of the twisties?

I'm guessing that was about it.

[dpep]

So where's the pics of the twisties?

I am afraid right angles are the maximum twist Florida has. We did find a series of those strung together left and right; I will make it a point to get some shots of same the next time I am down in that area. Otherwise rolling terrain and gentle bends are the premium fare.

[tkent02]

I am afraid right angles are the maximum twist Florida has. We did find a series of those strung together left and right; I will make it a point to get some shots of same the next time I am down in that area.

Um, don't bother. Really.

[Steve]

I am afraid right angles are the maximum twist Florida has. We did find a series of those strung together left and right; ...

I think this is the section he was talking about. Just a few miles southwest of Micanopy.



.

[dpep]

Um, don't bother. Really.

Hey, it beats Kansas. Oh boy!