Florida Coast to Coast ride, my own!

[Tropic traveler]

Picked the hottest day of the year to do my personal solo coast to coast ride yesterday. 
Started out at about 9:45 am heading west from Ocala to the Yankeetown boat ramp. About 50 miles. Arrived at 10:54. Stuck my foot in the Gulf of Mexico & snapped a pic.


Headed back east, jumped down US19 to Crystal River & caught SR44 all the way to Deland. After filling up the Valk I filled up my belly at a great little Cuban place in Deland, called the Havana Cafe. We saw it at the Deland Bikefest a couple of years ago & have been back several times! 
Hopped on US92 into Daytona Beach. Parked in front of one of the closed beach access ramps & snapped the Atlantic Ocean pic at 2:30 pm. Walked down to the water & stuck my toe in the East coast salt water. No way was I going to ride the Valk out in that mess! Too much soft sand & crazy people out there.


Got back on SR 40 west towards home. Hit the house {& the pool!} at about 4:15. About 270 total miles with very little backtracking. It sure was nice & hot out, nearly every temp sign I saw was in excess of 100. Valkyrie ran flawlessly...of course! 
When it cools down maybe I'll convince Kim to try a coast to coast run with me.
 

[FLAVALK]

We gotta hook up. Winter Springs here. Just north east of Orlando. I've been to all those places. Good ride

[JimL]

You would mention Cuban food, now I'm hungry!  Having spent most of career in South Florida prior to moving to TN in 2002, I lived on Cuban food much of my adult life.  Nothing like a café cubano in the early afternoon after a great meal.

[Tropic traveler]

We gotta hook up. Winter Springs here. Just north east of Orlando. I've been to all those places. Good ride

That's a definite must do.
I'd like to do a Pine Island to Titusville {Hwy 50} run sometime. Bypassing Orlando would be one thing we would need to work out!

Then a Clearwater to Vero Beach {Hwy 60} run..............................................

[Tropic traveler]

You would mention Cuban food, now I'm hungry!  Having spent most of career in South Florida prior to moving to TN in 2002, I lived on Cuban food much of my adult life.  Nothing like a café cubano in the early afternoon after a great meal.

  Jim,  not much for the cafe cubano, but the food is great!!

[Robert]

I know that we are a bit apart but I might be interested in getting in on that ride. I just added a thermometer to my bike and this may not have been the time to do it, it was 110 while riding and sometime would go down to 100. 95 was like driving into a blow drier it was so hot not one spot of relief.
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[JimL]

That's a definite must do.
I'd like to do a Pine Island to Titusville {Hwy 50} run sometime. Bypassing Orlando would be one thing we would need to work out!

Then a Clearwater to Vero Beach {Hwy 60} run..............................................

If you guys ever plan a US-1 run to Key West, I would be tempted to drive down from TN!

Jim

[Tropic traveler]

"If you guys ever plan a US-1 run to Key West, I would be tempted to drive down from TN!"

US1 all the way down would be a miserable ride in a lot of places! Traffic sucks especially in south Florida.
We rode to the Keys last year straight down US27 to 997 {Krome Ave} picking up US1 in Homestead. That wasn't too bad. A bit of bad traffic around Haines City {near Disney } but other than that a nice ride. Kim rode my Valk & I rode my Rocket 3. That was the ride that convinced me we needed to be a two Valk family!  Sold the Rocket a couple months later.
The year before we rode US301 to US41 down the west coast & other than the section from Naples south across the 'Glades it was terrible trafficwise. Kim was a real trooper, she rode her Shadow Spirit 750 all the way down & back!

 
Last years ride
Leaving.


Arriving in Marathon 8 hours later.


The Keys are a great place to ride. You gotta spend a few days down there exploring the sights. Next time we go we are going to stay in Key West. We didn't go down this year with the kid graduating H.S.,  starting college and all. Late April/early May is the best time to go for us. Warm but not yet the start of rainy season. Perfect riding weather.
Maybe we can put something together for a Valk gathering in the Keys one day.

[3fan4life]

What about riding A1A down the coast??

I've always thought that it would be a good ride.

I love riding A1A from Daytona to St. Augustine.

[sugerbear]

we'll be heading gown that way in june of next year. can you recommend a nice(cheap) hotel in key west?
or would we be better off staying outside key west and doing day runs down?

it'll be four people two bikes.
not drinkers just want to enjoy the beach and the sights.

thanks

[Robert]

If you go down to Key West you can find some B&Bs that are really nice and not to expensive. Most are cheaper than the hotels and the accommodations are better not to mention most time include breakfast.

[JimL]

"If you guys ever plan a US-1 run to Key West, I would be tempted to drive down from TN!"

US1 all the way down would be a miserable ride in a lot of places! Traffic sucks especially in south Florida.
We rode to the Keys last year straight down US27 to 997 {Krome Ave} picking up US1 in Homestead. That wasn't too bad. 

Robert, thanks for the clarification...you are correct US-1 North of Homestead would be a stop-and-go nightmare, since I lived in Fort Myers my perspective of US-1 starts where US-41 intersects just north of Homestead!!

[Probie (Scooter57)]

You would mention Cuban food, now I'm hungry!  Having spent most of career in South Florida prior to moving to TN in 2002, I lived on Cuban food much of my adult life.  Nothing like a café cubano in the early afternoon after a great meal.

Don't know how far you are from the Atlanta area but there are many good Cuban restaurants around here and more popping up.

[Tropic traveler]

Sugarbear, if you stay in Key West at a small hotel make sure the place has "on site" parking and not "street parking". Some of the older refurbished places have no parking lot & make you park on the street. That aint gonna do, I wouldn't leave the bikes out on the street overnight.
We usually stay in Marathon, haven't tried KW yet. The wife has some family ties to the upper Keys from years gone by. Two members of her family were lost in the Labor Day 1935 hurricane in the Islamorada area & we snoop around trying to find out more about them. We ride both directions from Marathon which is smack in the middle around MM50. Last year we stayed on Key Colony Beach, the year before we stayed at the Banana Bay Resort gulfside.
I hear there are good hotel deals to be had now as long as you stay away from the special events like FantasyFest or Sport days in lobster season. 
 
 

[rjc6886]

Then a Clearwater to Vero Beach {Hwy 60} run

If you did that the other way around, hit me up. I'd like to do that as well.

[sugerbear]

thanks tropic traveler, we've about decided to stay in the "pines" area. only 30 mi from KW and very close to bahi honda state park. may have found a place.  the barnacle b&b.
maybe