Friday, October 16th, was the final day of this year's Fall Leaf Ride. The weather -- having already wreaked havoc with the original plan and driving us south several days early -- showed no signs of improving; it was time to go home. Despite surrendering to the gods of weather, they were to extract even more penance from these wet and weary bones by providing me with several small rain showers to punctuate the journey to my homelands.
Following breakfast with Preacher and Mr. Sarcasm, the three of us parted ways. They would continue due south out of Georgia before turning inland into central Florida for their ride home. I, on the other hand, elected to turn inland into central Georgia and head over to I-75 for my final ride. This added several hours to the overall trip, but I had my reasons and they were good enough to outweigh the extra miles and time.
My travels took me westward across Georgia on I-16 before getting off on Hwy 358 about 30 miles east of Macon. I made my way cross-country via GA 96 through Perry before getting onto I-75 following a couple hours of delay to tend to my reasons for coming this way in the first place.
Heading south on I-75 I was in very familiar territory and enjoyed the ride, despite continuing sporadic rain showers. At 3:01 p.m., I crossed into Florida with 308 miles on the day's odometer.
At 3:30, with 352 miles on the odometer, I stopped in Lake City, FL for fuel for the bike and a much needed break for myself. There had been a pretty spectacular traffic crash just prior to my arrival so I took in the show that the police, involved parties, and wrecker drivers were putting on. Leaving the scene, one wrecker driver attempted to wedge his behemoth of a towing platform between the rear tire of my bike and the gas pumps at the Shell station where I was parked. I raised my hands and signaled that he had mere inches of clearance. The wrecker driver shouted out the window in an arrogant and condescending manner that he had "miles of room to make this turn". His arrogance was promptly rewarded as his front left wheel rim struck the raised sidewalk and proceeded to gouge concrete and chrome with equal aplomb. Being the humble person that I am I chose not to say a word...I just gave him one of those derisive looks that scream "dumbass!". By the look on his face it was apparent that he heard me loud and clear.
Back on the road the traffic was becoming increasingly dense and aggressive with every mile I traveled farther south. Watching license plates of the jackasses whizzing by me only served to confirm my earlier observation that drivers from South Carolina are the worst for aggressive stupidity, followed neck-and-neck for second by Florida drivers.
My journey concluded at precisely 7 p.m., as I rolled into my garage with 537 miles of riding for the day. This final milestone marked the end of an interesting and largely enjoyable riding experience. Despite the rain and the cold, this was still an adventure for the books that will be long and fondly recalled by all who participated.
My final stats for the 2009 Fall Leaf Ride are as follows:
- Days on the road = 11
- States traveled through = 7 (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia)
- Total miles traveled = 2,751.2
- Total photos taken = 1,652 (not counting those deleted in-camera)
Following breakfast with Preacher and Mr. Sarcasm, the three of us parted ways. They would continue due south out of Georgia before turning inland into central Florida for their ride home. I, on the other hand, elected to turn inland into central Georgia and head over to I-75 for my final ride. This added several hours to the overall trip, but I had my reasons and they were good enough to outweigh the extra miles and time.
My travels took me westward across Georgia on I-16 before getting off on Hwy 358 about 30 miles east of Macon. I made my way cross-country via GA 96 through Perry before getting onto I-75 following a couple hours of delay to tend to my reasons for coming this way in the first place.
Heading south on I-75 I was in very familiar territory and enjoyed the ride, despite continuing sporadic rain showers. At 3:01 p.m., I crossed into Florida with 308 miles on the day's odometer.
At 3:30, with 352 miles on the odometer, I stopped in Lake City, FL for fuel for the bike and a much needed break for myself. There had been a pretty spectacular traffic crash just prior to my arrival so I took in the show that the police, involved parties, and wrecker drivers were putting on. Leaving the scene, one wrecker driver attempted to wedge his behemoth of a towing platform between the rear tire of my bike and the gas pumps at the Shell station where I was parked. I raised my hands and signaled that he had mere inches of clearance. The wrecker driver shouted out the window in an arrogant and condescending manner that he had "miles of room to make this turn". His arrogance was promptly rewarded as his front left wheel rim struck the raised sidewalk and proceeded to gouge concrete and chrome with equal aplomb. Being the humble person that I am I chose not to say a word...I just gave him one of those derisive looks that scream "dumbass!". By the look on his face it was apparent that he heard me loud and clear.
Back on the road the traffic was becoming increasingly dense and aggressive with every mile I traveled farther south. Watching license plates of the jackasses whizzing by me only served to confirm my earlier observation that drivers from South Carolina are the worst for aggressive stupidity, followed neck-and-neck for second by Florida drivers.
My journey concluded at precisely 7 p.m., as I rolled into my garage with 537 miles of riding for the day. This final milestone marked the end of an interesting and largely enjoyable riding experience. Despite the rain and the cold, this was still an adventure for the books that will be long and fondly recalled by all who participated.
My final stats for the 2009 Fall Leaf Ride are as follows:
- Days on the road = 11
- States traveled through = 7 (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia)
- Total miles traveled = 2,751.2
- Total photos taken = 1,652 (not counting those deleted in-camera)
