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The single most fun day on the bike and a few before and after.

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Howdy folks. I have been undecided to post or not, but I guess the post side of my brain won out. This will be pretty short with a few pictures. A few months back my friend Tina asked if I was going to head to Jacksonville for the IBA party. At that point I knew nothing of it, but I thought it sounded like a good time. After reading of the IBA party I signed up for the Gator 1000 ride too. We have had a very long and painful winter so I was excited to be able to head South and get some riding in. At the point of registration the time for the event seemed so far away and time did pass slow. The cold weather did leave me with plently of time to get my bike in working order. My only hopes too where for dry roads to get out of Pittsburgh. When I travel South it usually stays cold till about North Carolinia. I can deal with the cold (electrics) but snow on the roads ='s disaster on two wheels.

In preperation I changed the gear oil, air filter, final drive oil, spark plugs and motor oil... oh ya and spooned on some new tires. I am self taught in the art of changing tires... It just makes it a tad easier when switching to TKC's to be able to do it yourself!

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And alas the day finally Arrived. I decided to work Monday and just take off four work days. Thats all I wanted to miss. I have a very long story about my panniers. the bottom line is that I will not have any for this trip... they are in LIMBO.... who knows... My first stop was to Athena's house to say goodbye for the week. She is the world's best Girlfriend and she accepts my scatterbrained traveling on the go lifestyle. I backpacked 30+ nights last year and heard no complaints.! She lives pretty rural and there is always a fun route to get there. This is my trusty and reliable 1100 prepped for departure. I also have a Drybag the spans the top.

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My plans for day 1 where to leave the Pittsburgh area and head to Fayetteville North Carolina where I would meet Tina. The first things I did when I started my bike where to turn on my Spot and plug "Avoid Highways" into the GPS. I still use a Garmin 2720 and have a 2610 as a backup. :) I spent the first 300 miles of the day wandering on mixed surface but mainly paved very back roads in Marryland, WV and Virginia. If you have not ridden in West Virginia, you are missing out on some Superb riding. This is what many of the roads looked like early in the day. The dirt here was very hard packed... Maybe from snow??? The shiny sections ahead where frozen icy type spots. They kept my attention!

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After 300 miles of backroads the time of day started to get late. I rerouted the GPS to Fayetteville NC and pressed the "faster time" button. From here I did approx. 200 miles on the slab. After dark I choose to ride with electronic music. It just fits so well and passes the time.

I met Tina at a Motel 6. Tina is the President of the Washington D.C. riders club and was one of the original 10 members of the Dirt Bagz, club 350.

I had done 499.9 miles for the day... yep, we can call it 500. I was pretty tired from all the mega back roads. We grabbed a pizza then were both out for the night.

The next day we needed to get to Jacksonville by two so Tina could meet some of her friends. So we super slabbed it. Tina led the way on her K1300. I really liked that it had electronic cruise control. That took out some of the mental and mind work. Yay, crossing into South Carolina!

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After stopping at a Waffle House for breakfast we quickly crossed into Georgia.

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Things seemed a little hectic in Georgia, sort of like a War Zone. There where flashing banner signs mandating that all motorcycles pull over. There was even a helicoptor and plenty of Dodge Chargers for the chase if an rider opposed the pull over! Bike week in Daytona was this week too, so they where enforcing proper motorcycles. A quick inspection of our turn signals, license and insurance and we where on our way again.!
 
At the end of day 2 we arrived in Jacksonville around 2 oclock. I was just shy of 1000 miles. Not to shabby. I checked into the Hotel and several other riders had already arrived. Its amazing how much an "OLD" 1100 attracts so much attention. I talked with a guy named Steve for quite some time from Texas, others from Indiana, Ohio etc... pretty much all over the country. Its neat how at a Long Distance event people are so gathered from all over the country. And of course...... no trailers.! I rode out to get somthing to eat then met some other riders in the small bar in the hotel lobby. So many had such facinating riding stories of the Iron Butt Ralley and other amazing feats. I felt so humble. One day I hope and will do an Iron Butt Ralley. These are invite only so I will need to work on my Long Distance resume to be invited!

I was in bed by nine. The Gator 1000 24hour ralley was to be held on Thursday. This was my first "intro" to Ralley type riding. We where each sent 10 waypoints with info and what we had to find. Every rider was given a "Ralley" Flag with there corrosponding number. Each spot had to be duplicated with your Flag visible to count. I spent the evening rechecking my GPS to make sure I had the proper locations!

Thursday March 10th had FINALLY arrived! We woke to a dismal and rainy day. It had seemed that Florida had welcomed us with a Steady, I repeat steady rain to start the day. Several riders opted to do the ride at another time. I figured I had nothing better to do, so I opted to ride! I was very impressed with the eclectic group of bikes. The oldest was a 78 Goldwing! So many varieties. Many Goldwings, also Harleys, metric cruisers, BMW's, Triumphs, Concours, STs... For some reason I was very surprised how different all the bikes where. The smallest bike was a 125 CBR, yes 125..!

Our riders meeting was at 5:40 a.m. Kneebone gave a brief talk then we where off.

I was number 85. If you look at the bikes you will see the 125 CBR!

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I was in bed by nine. The Gator 1000 24hour ralley was to be held on Thursday. This was my first "intro" to Ralley type riding. We where each sent 10 waypoints with info and what we had to find. Every rider was given a "Ralley" Flag with there corrosponding number. Each spot had to be duplicated with your Flag visible to count. I spent the evening rechecking my GPS to make sure I had the proper locations

When I did the MM-1K a few years ago, I wish I would of rechecked the GPS Coordinates. It would of saved me at least :45. So how did you do on your ride?
 
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