Weather and other circumstances permitting, I plan to roll out of here Friday morning for Daytona Beach Bike Week.
It's been 15 years since I last rode to Bike Week. I've never gone on four wheels. That would be, well, just wrong. I know a lot of other riders, mostly H-D types, have no qualms about hauling their bikes down there on trailers, but that seems to me like cheating.
The only time my BMW K1200GT has been on a truck bed or trailer was last summer when an irreparable rear tire puncture forced me to have it hauled 100 miles from Kit Carson, Colo. to Colorado Springs. It certainly wasn't because I wanted to ride in the air conditioned comfort of the recovery vehicle cab.
Google Maps says the quickest route is an 861-mile, 13:49 ride to the southeast through Memphis and Birmingham, turning south at Atlanta on I-75, down to I-10, and then I-95.
That strikes me as a particularly dreary slog and I especially dislike the part from Atlanta on to the Daytona area because I've ridden and driven it so many times.
So I'm considering adding a couple of hours to the trip by choosing a route straight south on I-55 to Hammond, La., and then east on I-10 all the way across the northern Gulf Coast. Google Maps puts it at 1,034 miles.
It gets me to warmer latitudes sooner and takes me through what I hope will be a more interesting landscape. I've been as far east from New Orleans on I-10 as Biloxi, but I've never been to Mobile or Pensacola (not that those cities are a compelling reason to pick this route).
My destination is the Holiday Travel Park at the northwest corner of I-95 and Old Dixie Highway at Bunnell, Fla. That's the scene of the B-Cubed BMW Club's 9th annual Daytona Bike Week Campout. The B-Cubed (Beemers for Bikeweek and Biketoberfest) club exists primarily to host BMW riders at the two big Daytona motorcycle events each year. It's like a rally within a major event and was created when the Space Coast BMW Club lost its campground space to developers back in the 1990s.
At least two couples from the Indianapolis BMW Club plan to be there, so I'll be among some familiar faces.
The only wild card is the weather. The Weather Channel web site calls for a cold front and rain moving through northeast Arkansas Thursday night with an early Friday morning low of 44. That means heated jacket liner and maybe a rainsuit early.
The temperature should be in the 70s by the time I get to I-10 at Hammond, La., but scattered thunderstorms are forecast there for Friday.
My tentative plan is to ride as far as Mobile, Ala., or Gulf Shores and stop for the night. Since that area is expecting rain as well, it looks like a motel rather than a campground.
From there, it's about a 400-mile ride to Bunnell on Saturday where the forecast is for sunny skies and a high in the upper 70s.
Or, I could let the rain clear out of my path and delay my departure until Saturday morning.
I seriously doubt I'll stay the whole week. The last time I went to Bike Week, I'd had enough after about three days. If I had a little more ambition, I'd ride down to Key West. Who knows? I maybe could be talked into it if any of my Indy friends suggest a ride to the Keys.
1 comment:
Ya, three days and your worn out. Or maybe bored to tears.
Last trip was from St Louis to Daytona. Started to rain as we crossed into Illinois. The Georgia Trooper pulled us over doing 85 in pouring rain and told us, "you can check into the next motel or go to jail" It wasn't that nice of a Motel.
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