Road King Blog

A group of 5 of us linked up in Sanford to ride over to Bushnell for the PGR Honor mission for Specialist Coleman.  Our group consisted of the Rids Captain, Lee, riding his BMW R1100, myself and another rider on Harley touring bikes, and Carl and MaeLynn riding their triumph sidecar rig.  It was a warm but clear morning for a ride as we set off across the state along the back roads.  Our route took us through some scenic Florida terrain along Route 46, Route 19 and Route 48 through Howey-in-the-Hills and Okahumpka.  The bridge across Little Lake Harris is particularly picturesque.

With the APRS setup on the bike, I was able to reach the network most of the way, and produced a nice track.

Apart from one or two impatient idiots in cages, one of whom cut into the middle of our group in an unsafe manner after running out of room trying to pass, the ride over was relaxed and easy.  I was much more comfortable riding in the group after my riding time in Maryland with Sean, and the relaxed formation we were riding was a help as well.

The actual mission at Bushnell has been covered in a previous post, so I will not recount it here.  Following the completion of our mission at Bushnell, we headed out for some food and the long ride back home.  A gathering cloud mass in the West promised rain in the near future, but we figured we had enough time to grab some chow before we headed back.  The original five of us joined with another group of 5 PGR riders and we headed for Sonny’s barbecue for a little food and some fellowship.

A short while later, having been well fed and having swapped riding stories, we broke into our separate groups and headed out for home.  The storms to the West had gained ground as we ate, and a light drizzle began to fall as we mounted up in the parking lot.  To the West were dark skies laden with moisture and pierced with all too frequent strokes of lightning.  To the East, blue skies and scattered clouds.  Made one glad to be headed East….

We played hide and seek from the rain all the way home, receiving a good steady soaking on Route 19, followed by intermittent showers the rest of the way.  You have to love Florida summertime weather, where it is not uncommon to be under bright blue skies and pouring rain.  At least it kept us relatively cool on the way home.

Along the route, our group shrank down to just Lee and I as the others split off the route to go home.  We rolled into Sanford just ahead of the rain, moving out from under it between traffic lights, and then having it catch up when we got caught at lights.  Lee and I parted ways in Sanford, and as I headed South from Sanford toward home, the skies in front of my path began to look as dark and foreboding as the black skies in the rear view mirrors.  I cautiously made my way through on and off showers through the final few miles to home.  Soon, I was safely parked in the garage, and the Road King shut down for a well-earned rest.

Shortly after I arrived home, the heavens erupted with very heavy rain and intense, frequent lightning.  I was most glad I had beaten that mess home.