Bike Week Part 2

I took a rare day off Wednesday. I’ve never been to bike week in Daytona and I’m determined to start doing things I’ve never done before as I start my 5th decade. Life’s too short (compared to what??).

The day was majestic: 78 degrees and sunny. I headed out about 9:30 up Interstate 4. I could’ve taken it into Daytona but I wanted to avoid all the traffic. Even though it’s midweek, BW draws a lot of people from out of town. I didn’t want to have a lot of bikers around when I stalled at the first light or ran into one of them. I caught I-95 off of 4 and got off at the Ormond Beach exit, a little North of Daytona, then came down A1A.

I don’t think I’ve even seen so many motorcycles in one place. They say about 500,000 make the annual event. I know this might be the “no sh*t Sherlock” quote of the year but man was it loud. Even though there are events all over Daytona, Main Street is the place to see and be seen. Cycles after cycles are all lined up on each side of the sidewalk for blocks. Anyone can park there but you see mostly the nicer bikes.

The attendees were mostly men in their fifties. Some brought their wives. Some brought their bimbos. I saw a group of men in their 60’s wearing t-shirts that read “The Geezers Club”. I asked if I could join but they said I had too much hair. Imagine that.

There really wasn’t that much to do unless you enjoyed drinking lots of beer or gawking at scantily clad women, neither of which I’m allowed to do. I think most of the action starts at night when the bottles are empty and inhibitions are lost. But I’m glad I went.

The highlight of my trip was, after spending a few hours on Main Street, I took A1A up the coast to St. Augustine. The ride was quite righteous. A1A hugs the east coast of Florida so going up there’s a picturesque shoreline on the right and I don’t care on the left. You had to see it. Actually, through the beauty of the Internet, you can. Beautiful blue sky up above and blue-green water and beach on the right. The Reverend U was praising the Lord.

I tried to shoot some video while I was riding but I thought “You’re 50 and you’re still stupid? C’mon!” so I only caught a few seconds before I came to my senses, got off the bike and shot the shoreline. Some of the video is a little overexposed. I accidentally hit the backlight button and it looks like we're in snow in some of the shots.

I’ve added the righteous Brothers Doobie for your listening pleasure. Enjoy.