Florida has a lot of bike events throughout the state, but the 2 events that resonate from the rest are Bike Week, and Biketoberfest. I was occasionally in Tampa for the weekend so I called 2 good friends from the old days that were in town and decided to go for a ride to the fest.
Ivan and Hon in The Living Food Bakery
We started the trip in a small bakery in Zephyrhills, Fla. The weather was perfect, record setting high temperatures.
We rode up thru the back roads.
Selfie Hon, Ivan in the back and myself
The Ride……..
We got to Daytona Beach around 3:00 pm. It was a smooth ride with just one pit stop at Mt Dora. As we were getting closer to the final destination, we were getting one advice from all riders, “DUDE, THE TIRE!!!!”
Hon’s tire, Daytona or bust!Silvia, BlueMagic and The Yamaha
We made it ok to the El Caribe Hotel. Parked our bikes, got something to eat and relaxed for a while before heading to the craziness of Main Street Daytona. The room was all right…. enough to take a hot bath and crash for the night.
We strolled thru Main Street. The place was happening….. Every bar on the hood was packed. Live Music in most of them. People having a good time….. Welcome to the Most Famous Beach, Daytona…..
The crew at The Ban
After a good night, we are ready to head back to Tampa. We filled our bikes and started our ride back through I-4.
Going back, let the adventure begin
Most of my rides I had done everything to avoid Interstates, mainly and mostly I-4. This one is always in construction, lots of traffic, mainly riding through Orlando. Ten miles into the Interstate, the inevitable happened. What every Daytona rider pointed out to Hon, DUDE, THE TIRE!!!!!
Dude, the tire!!!!!
A flat tire and 130 miles to go!!!!!
“Hon, everybody in Daytona told you!”A picture says a thousand words…….
After a couple of minutes “brainstorming” the situation, Hon realized he had AAA for his car. He called the AAA people and gave the coordinates of his broken down “Gray Nissan”. “The tow truck will be there at 2:25 pm” was the answer from the AAA operator. It was 12:25 pm……. 2 hours of hangin’ out on I-4!
The plan was to take Silvia as close to Tampa as possible. AAA covered 100 miles. So our next stop would be Hooters on the Lakeland exit and Hwy 98. Oh well, it’s always an adventure when you ride, one way or the other!!!
Silvia getting rescued
As the truck driver arrived. He drove right thru us looking for the “Gray Nissan”. It took him one phone call and a $20.00 bribe to realize the Gray Nissan was a gray bike!!
Last man standing!!!!
At the end, everything worked out just fine. We arrived at Hooters after a 4 hours torture on the Interestate. We were due for some wings and relax for a bit.
Me and my bitch
The most unusual ending to a bike event….. taking a bitch home!!!!!!
