Bike Week 2005 – Daytona Beach, FL

Mike, Mark, & Ole's Update

The latest news and information on Bike Week 2005.

3/3/2005

We're all packed and the bikes are staged for the trailer. We gained one more road dog. Ole and my riding buddy / neighbor, Mark decided to come along to Bike Week. Mark will load his bike in his van and follow us down to my Mom's house in Ormond Beach. I guess we'll load up tomorrow morning and head out by 9 AM. I'll take some pictures in the morning and post them from the road. Keep checking back!

I almost forgot, Will set us up with the uLocate and Telenav. To see where we're at in near real-time, go to uLocate's website send an email to my work email address and I'll send you the user name and password immediately. We are labeled "Will's i730". You'll be able to track our progress on the road and find us if we turn up missing!

3/4/2005

Due to the late start, we're going to stop in Ringgold, GA which is about 14 miles South of Downtown Chattanooga. Mark is tired and driving alone, so we thought it was best to get a room. I'm not really a doctor but I am staying at a Holiday Inn Express tonight. Keeping checking the map!

We're loaded and on the highway. We got off to a late start and left Bloomington around 10:30 AM. Mark is following in his van and fortunately his Fatboy fit in the back. As you can see from the pictures we could only get two bikes in Ole's trailer. Here's the photo album of the load.

Don't forget to check our current location at uLocate. I created a guest account and the username is: bikeweek and the password is: bikeweek. We're labeled "Will's i730", make sure you select that from the "Show" menu to see our progress.

3/5/2005

It's about 4:30 AM Bloomington time and we're about to head back out on the road. Here's the album from the Holiday Inn Express in Ringgold, GA from last night.

3/6/2005

It was a beautiful day today. It was probably in the low 70's but with the ocean breeze we needed our jackets. We started out at Alfie's for breakfast, then headed straight down A1A to Main Street. We actually ran past main street due to traffic. Instead we crossed the river on International Speedway Drive, then headed up Beach Road, then crossed the river onto Main Street. After a brief stop on Main Street (ask Ole about it), we decided to head for open road. The bikes were overheating in the stop and go traffic. We then headed back across the river to Beach Road, then headed straight for the "Loop". It was a perfect day and the Loop was a perfect ride. After about 60 or so miles of riding, we ran to Publix and bought some FAT Porterhouse Steaks. Ole and Mark went to bed at 9 PM EST. They need to rest up for tomorrow. I plan to take them North up A1A to St. Augustine about 40 miles. After lunch, we'll cut over to US1 and head back to the biker camps to party!

3/7/2005

We left Ormond Beach first thing in the AM. We headed North on A1A about 45 miles to St. Augustine. After a couple beers (and snacks) at the Mill Top, we briefly toured the Nation's Oldest City before catching US1 to head South back to Daytona. It was about 57 miles back (go figure). We stopped at Dave's Automotive on US1. My mom's boyfriend works there and he got Dave let us park our bikes at his shop. It just so happens the Broken Spoke was directly across the street. We had a great time down there. We hit Boot Hill Saloon, Wild Bills, Iron Horse, and finished at the Broken Spoke. We then headed to Woody's and ate BBQ for dinner. It was a great day and a fantastic finale for Mark.

I should point out that there may be a couple of questionable photo's in the Bike Week Day 2 album. Ole wanted me to add some sort of cautionary statement about the pictures. Personally I think they're very tame. However, if bikers and beer maids offend you be forewarned.

3/8/2005

I have a quick update for you. Ole and I spent the day on Main Street. We ate carnival food and watched the bikes and freaks go by. Here's the new album from Day 3. Mark left around 7AM this morning for Bloomington. We'll miss you Mark!

3/9/2005

Not too much to report today. I woke up at 6AM and was on the road by 9:30 AM. I headed South on A1A to Main Street. I idled up Main Street, then rode the Loop back to Mom's house. As I rode through the Loop, I started seeing the rain. Due to the 51 degree weather I was wearing my full face helmet and couldn't tell it was raining until I saw it. I rode into the garage just as the hard rain approached. I rode about 36 miles. Ole was polishing his chopper. Looks like we'll be stuck on four wheels today. Rain is forecasted until tomorrow morning.

3/10/2005

It was another cool but beautiful day in Daytona. Ole spent the morning washing his truck and trailer while I rode down to Port Orange and back (about 35 miles round trip). When I got back to the house, Ole was finishing up his truck, so we jumped back on the bikes and rode down A1A to Main Street. After tooling around in traffic, we ran back North to Flagler Beach. It was a good time. I estimate Ole and I rode about 70 miles or so. We took a few pictures today but mostly of our bikes, so no updates for the album today. We have tickets for the Supercross race tomorrow night, so we should get plenty of pics.

3/11/2005

Ole and I started the morning off next door at Alfie's with some eggs benedict. Then my mom donned her leather jacket, boots, and gloves and Ole and I took her for a ride around Daytona. We went South on A1A, past Main Street, then West on International Speedway Drive over the Halifax River, then North on Beach Street back to Granada Blvd to A1A to my Mom's house. I guess we rode about 20 miles. My Mom was a great passenger, it must of been from the 25 years of riding with Emmett. Ole and I then ran down to the Speedway and got stuck in terrible traffic. After a full day of riding, we parked the bikes in the garage and drank 1 or 2 beers. It was another great day in Daytona!

3/12/2005

No riding today. Ole and I tag teamed my bike and washed, waxed, and polished it. We then loaded the trailer and hit the trail. We missed our families and was feeling home sick. Not to mention the traffic has increased 10 fold and is beginning to get dangerous down here. To date 6 people have died in motorcycle related accidents. Just yesterday a lady was killed on A1A just down the street from my Mom's house and in front of Stella's Bar (where Ole and I frequented this week). A truck on the shoulder of the road backed right over a lady on her bike as she headed North on A1A. Her fiancé swerved missing the truck. He then beat the hell out of the female truck driver. His girlfriend died on the scene. That was enough to get us on the road headed home. Don't forget to track our long drive home at uLocate. I just finished adding the last of the pictures to the Bike Week 2005 Photo Album. It may take a couple hundred miles to completely upload over 1XRTT, but keep checking back.

3/13/2005

This is the final update for Bike Week 2005. We left Ormond Beach on 3/12 around 11:30 AM EST. Due to the late start we had to stop overnight in Ringgold, GA. We had a wake up call at 4:30 AM CST and was on the road by 5 AM. We made it back to Bloomington around 1:30 PM CST. We had a great time but it's very nice to be home.

Bike Week Links

Images from Bike Week 2005

Here are all the pictures Ole and I took during Bike Week.

The Official Website for Bike Week 2005

Virtual Tour of Main Street

A view of my mom's beach and town house

First select Town and Country Lane, then scan to the right of the Lifeguard station and behind and to the right of the Catamaran, you'll see my mom's townhouse. Kind of a shitty picture but this is where we'll be staying.

The Loop

The Loop is fast becoming a favorite ride for motorcycle enthusiasts and my mom's beach house happens to be right in the middle of the path as it passes down A1A, between Ormond-By-The-Sea and Ormond Beach. This will probably be the second ride we take. The first will be down Main Street, Daytona Beach.

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