Road King Blog

OK, so I’ve been severely slacking on the blog.  Mea Cupla.  Mea Maxima Culpa.

In my defense, I did have to travel for business for a bit the end of the month.  I managed, however, to visit a couple dealerships and acquire a t-shirt while I was off, so it wasn’t totally a motorcycling drought.

More importantly, I got to hang out with Glen for a while (when we weren’t working like ferrets on an exercise wheel).

Every once in a while, I get the hankering for some Fish and Chips. The other day, Lisa and I were at a local restaurant , and I ordered some. Unusually for that establishment, the food was a bit of a disappointment. So I was left with an unsatisfied want, lingering in the back of my mind. Oh, the horror!

Well, it was time to handle that lingering food itch. Fish and Chips. Good fish and chips.

The best Fish and Chips I’ve had in a long while - perhaps ever - are served at the Rose and Crown Pub in the World Showcase at Epcot in Disneyworld.

So, a 100 mile round trip for some lunch? Sounds great to me. Have annual pass, will travel!

The trip itself is unremarkable - pretty much a straight haul down Route 417 to Disney. No drama involved, just point and drive and eat up the miles. That’s pretty much what the Road King thrives on, and it was a beautiful day for a ride. In no time, I was arriving at Epcot. Unbeknownst to me, I was arriving a short while after a charity half-marathon had completed. This caused some confusion, as the chap at the parking gate didn’t know that the motorcycle lot was closed for the event. So I faithfully followed the green painted line to a dead end. Fooey. No worries, though - it brought me out very close to the main gates at Epcot, and I was able to find a parking spot easily.

After a short walk in to Epcot and a fine lunch, I decided to visit a couple of the resorts for pictures. First stop, Wilderness Lodge. One of the newest resorts at Disney, Wilderness Lodge is modeled after a giant log cabin, the sort of lodging one would find in the national parks of days gone by.

Of all the resorts at Disney World, I have to say that Wilderness Lodge is my favorite. My friend Glen, on the other hand, is a big fan of the Contemporary. One of the older resorts at Disney World, it is still looking great today thanks to Disney’s devotion to upkeep and renovation. The Contemporary boasts some unique features. First, it is on the Monorail line, but it has the only indoor monorail station on the entire system. The monorail literally runs through the upper level of the lobby of the hotel.

The Contemporary is also home to one of my favorite places to enjoy a special occasion meal - the California Grill. The restaurant is built atop the hotel, with 360 degree views of the surrounding area. The view of the Magic Kingdom is spectacular, but the best part comes at night, when the daily fireworks show begins at the park. Inside the restaurant, they time the courses around the show, and the lights are dimmed. The soundtrack from the fireworks show is presented in the restaurant. If you have a table that does not have a good view of the show, there are two viewing platforms out over the roof of the hotel. It is a really amazing dining experience, and the only thing that trumps the show is the food. Absolutely fantastic.

I could have happily stayed at Disney and played the rest of the afternoon away, but I had two restless dogs at home who needed a trip to the dog park. So back up the road I went, for now…..

After a nice, brisk morning walk up Beach Street to Main and across the Halifax River Bridge, I arrived at the Ocean Center, where Harley Davidson had their expo set up.

After drooling on some of the new 2009 Harleys, and wandering through the displays of parts, add-ons, and motorclothes, I popped by the Harley Owners’ Group booth for my Daytona ‘09 pin.  I then walked back over the bridge to the vendor area at Riverfront Park.

There were a few custom builders showing off their creations.  Not all of them were willing to allow photos of their work, though.

Yes, this is a big-block V-8 powered motorcycle. 427 cubic inches, around 500 horsepower:

As I was finishing up my visit, things were starting to pick up on Beach Street:

I picked up a couple T-shirts, and headed for home.

On the way out, my sunglasses kept fogging up, so at a stoplight, I yanked them off and put them in my vest pocket.  Yeah, you can see where this is going.  On the way down 415, doing about 55, I see my sunglasses fly up out of the pocket and pass my helmet.  In the mirror I see them hit the road, slide, and get run over.

Sigh.

Gotta get some new sunglasses.  And a brain.  Might be best to get the brain first….

Matt

There are essentially two routes from my home area to Daytona.  The first is up I-4, and the other is Route 415.

I-4 is a typical multi-lane restricted access freeway, two or three lanes per side, speed limit 65 to 70 mph.  It’s not a bad ride, but it is pretty boring.

Route 415, on the other hand, is a two lane surface road, 40-55 mph, through the countryside.  It passes through Osteen, Alamana, and Samsula before arriving in Daytona just west of the I-95 / International Speedway Boulevard interchange.

The countryside on this trip is enjoyable, for the most part.  The Samsula and Volusia County landfills add a certain olfactory ambiance to the trip when there is an Easterly wind, although cold temperatures tend to mute it somewhat.  There is also some minor construction going on alongside the roadway, with “Trucks Entering Roadway” warning signs.  In Florida, those signs mean “Sand and crap on the road ahead”.  Not a big deal, but one is well advised to pay careful attention to the road surface and pick riding lines to avoid the worst of it.

Of the towns on the route, Osteen is the “big” one - it has a WalMart.

Samsula, while pretty small, has a claim to fame - the Cabbage Patch.  The Cabbage Patch is known for cole slaw wrestling.  Seriously.

The idea, in a nutshell, is to get minimally dressed women to wrestle one another in a pit of shredded cabbage and vegetable oil.  It is, apparently, a Bike Week tradition.  And why not?  One would, I suspect, be unwise to underestimate the revenue generating potential of having men pay to watch women wrestle in a giant pit of coleslaw.  Although I suspect one would never look at a cup of slaw at the local diner the same way ever again.

I saw quite a few bikes on the road heading up to Daytona along 415.  The closer Daytona got, the more bikes there were.

I worked my way down International Speedway Boulevard to Beach street, and then found a parking spot near the entrance to the vendor display tent city at Riverfront park.  Once there, I secured the bike and my gear, pulled out the camera bag, and strolled over to the Ocean Center to check out the Harley-Davidson displays there….

Coldest morning of the year, so naturally I head out for a 60 mile trip….

It is just before 9am and I’m sitting in a coffee shop warming up for the last part of the ride.