This is the article that was written on this ride. Use the left menu bar to view the photos.

    Well, there is so much to say about such a big event. Where do I start? I checked into my condo on Saturday, the 13th and stayed the whole week. Everyone seems to think that it is so dead for the few days before Biketoberfest officially starts (Thursday). They are wrong. It was pretty packed the entire week. The bike vendor tents don't open until Thursday (because the city won't allow it) but the bikers were certainly there. 

    On Sunday morning, Lubia and I got up around 7:00 am and headed over to Daytona Harley-Davidson to participate in a benefit ruin for the Boggy Creek Gang  Camp. We paid our $75 donation (most I have ever paid for a run, but it was a worthy cause... but aren't they all). We received two t-shirts, and two pins to show our support.

    We lined up the bikes and headed out around 9:30. It was a very nice ride. They were around a thousand bikes or so, police escort, etc. We went all the way to the Boggy Creek Gang Camp in Eustis. The had music and lunch (Outback Steakhouse provided) and it was a good time. This camp is owned by Paul Newman (or maybe it was Peter Fonda). Anyways..... it is owned by somebody famous, and it is for terminally ill children. I gave my two pins to two kids that were staying at the camp, and they were thrilled.

    Lubia headed home Monday morning because she had to work all week. The next few days, I just spent cruising around, checking out the area. None of my friends were coming in until Wednesday or so, so I was just doing my own thing. I found a lot of places I never knew about in all my years of going to Bike Week and Biketoberfest (6 years now, both events every year). I found Miller's Custom Parts, Will's Honky Tonk and The Last Resort (all south on US-1). If you go to The Last Resort, be sure to check out the Japanese Garden...it is a trip.

    For the past few years, I have heard about this scenic route in the area called "The Loop". I asked around one day and got the directions. WOW, I am not sure if "scenic" is enough of a word to describe it. It is over an hour round trip, and probably the most beautiful ride I have ever taken. So beautiful, I did it three times. Once by myself, once with JB and once with Lubia (my wife).

    I did the usuals, Main Street, Iron Horse (beef tips and mashed potatoes), Jackson Hole, Broken Spoke etc, etc, etc. And found some new places. To my knowledge only two people in our group got tickets, JB & Austin. I am not surprised about Austin..... (just kidding, buddy).

    I met Branscombe Richmond (aka Bobby SixKiller on the tv show Renegade). I used to love that show. Remember it? Lorenzo Lamas (Reno Raines) played a bounty hunter who rode around on a Harley catching bad guys. Branscombe (Bobby) was his boss. The big Indian guy. It was kool meeting him. I got a picture...    

    I checked out of the resort Saturday morning, and headed back to Orlando to work for a few hours. The I headed back to Daytona for one last night of partying. Only this time I took Lubia (she hadn't been with me all week). We camped out at the Moonshine Campground in Ormond Beach about 3 miles north of the Iron Horse on US-1. 

    It was a blast.... Thank God the next one is 4 months away. See you guys there.

Rob

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Last modified: November 12, 2001