Middleburg Christmas Parade 2008
Last night, Scarlet made her parade debut. Beatiful as she is, no, she was not the parade queen. Not even a princess. However, we did ride with a local ABATE chapter in the 2008 Middleburg Christmas Parade. The group rode in the parade in order to encourage awareness of motorcycles on the road, and since ABATE has traditionally been a very cruiser-oriented group, they’re trying to encourage more sportbike riders to join as well (hence our appearance — with some friends — in the parade).
For me, this whole parade was just a blast. I’ve never lived in a small town like Middleburg that actually reroutes traffic to have a little hometown celebration of this nature. There were several local schools with cheerleaders and drill teams, Shriners, Church organizations, horses, dogs, classic cars and more. Most of the “floats” were actually car/motorcycle trailers decorated almost like life-size dioramas, with lights, tinsel, trees and music. There were Nativity scenes, Snoopy’s doghouse, Santa and elves, outhouses… and lots of blinky lights!
The parade route was only a mile long, but the families (particularly children!) came out in droves. The kids were by far the most fun part of the whole experience. It seems most kids, regardless of age or gender, love motorcycles. And they love them even more when you rev it up for them on command. They’d squeal and clap when we revved it up for them (and then inevitably, a few would ask us to pop a wheelie for them, which we just couldn’t do under the circumstances).
While there were a few other women riding passenger in the group, Brenda and I were the only female riders, which many of the kids seemed to notice. At one point, two women standing with a group of little girls noticed, shouting “It’s a girl! LOOK! They’re GIRLS!” and then proceeded to scream and cheer, like we were some sort of celebrity or something!! Admittedly, that was kind of cool, because you hope that the underlying message they were trying to send to their little girls was “See, you can do that too!”
Following the parade, we reconvened with the rest of the group, then headed out to grab some dinner. It was exceptionally cold and windy, and no amount of layers seemed to keep the cold out, but it was still a great experience, one we hope to participate in again next year.
Miles Ridden: 102
Toys for Tots Ride
Well it was a chilly morning, but I ventured out this morning to participate in a ride for Toys for Tots, sponsored by a local dealership (North Jax Motorsports). This was a combined effort of three dealerships (under the same parent company) doing three rides from three locations, culminating in a meet at the Conch House in St. Augustine.
It was a balmy (hah) and breezy 42 degrees when I left home, and by the time I reached the meeting spot (a mere 15 miles from home), I was already frozen to the core. Upom arrival, I was a little disappointed to see only 3 or 4 bikes, however before we left, we had about 17 in total.
The ride route was a familiar, yet favorite of mine, snaking down US17, across the Shands Bridge to 13, continuing south along the river and into St. Augustine. All told, it was just over 90 miles, and while cold, it was gorgeous.
The ride was, for the most part, without incident. We did have one rider (an older gentleman on a cruiser, whom we later found out, has only been riding for about a month). He apparently had no clue what staggered formation was, or how to ride in a group, which made his maneuvers unpredictable, to say the least. Still, once we realized he was somewhat of a less-than-skilled rider, we simply gave him a wide berth, and kept a relaxed pace.
Once at the Conch House, I was thrilled to see well over a hundred bikes, and even happier to see how many sportbikes were in attendance (since charity rides of this nature are typically attended more heavily by cruiser riders).
Lunch was delicious, conversation with friends was, as always, fun, and it just made for a nice, relaxing day. The ride home was quick (and cold), just a straight shot up US1.
Kudos to the sportbike community for making such a great turnout for this event.
Miles Ridden: 144
Bears for Bears Ride 2008
Well this morning when I got up, I was afraid my riding plans for the day would be rained out. But after several hours of rain, it let up, and the sun came shining through, so off I went to meet up with my friends for the Bears for Bears Ride, sponsored by Abate of Florida (Black Creek Chapter). This was a poker-run style ride, collecting teddy bears and other small, stuffed toys, to be donated to local law enforcement agencies, for distribution to traumatized children and those in need.
I met up with my friends down in Fleming Island, with the sun shining, and a balmy temperature of 81 degrees. Due to the sunshine and the heat, I wore a mesh jacket, thinking it’d stay nice and toasty all day. Oh how wrong I was!
Not 20 minutes after we set out for the next stop, we hit a few drops of rain. Ok, no big deal, we thought. We paused for lunch at the next stop, and upon our departure, were greeted with a bit more rain. The rain was light, so not altogether unpleasant, but it did cool things down quite a bit.
Once at the next stop, however, the rain got a bit heavier. At this point, I indicated I might just head home, since riding in the rain for extended periods isn’t a whole lot of fun. But my friends were certain the rain was clearing up, so we set off for the next stop. It was between these stops that we got soaked to the skin.
At the next stop, we were able to see just how many teddy bears and stuffed toys they’d collected for the cause — literally hundreds and hundreds of them (they easily totalled over 500). It was amazing. However, as the afternoon wore on, the clouds darkened, and while the rain let up, I decided it best to head home before it got too dark (both due to my now-freezing condition, and the dark smoke visor on my helmet). I bit farewell to my friends, and headed back out on the road. 45 miles later, just before darkness fell, I arrived home, safe and sound (but more than a little wet, uncomfortable and miserable). Still, all in all, a fun day spent with friends.
Nee, on the Bears for Bears ride, 2008
Miles Ridden: 154
