Indy to Pensacola, Florida

2,000 miles on my 1992 Honda ST1100

I have been riding to Florida on my motorcycle every November on for the last 3 years. This year was especially exciting because I bought a new, for me, bike a few months before we left. The days leading up to the trip were a flurry of prep work, packing, and double checking everything.

Day 1

When November 13th arrived, I jumped on the bike around 8am and headed over to meet Daryl. The day wasn’t looking too great. The sky was dark and we were experiencing the occasional drizzle. As we geared up for our first 500 mile leg, we found the weather improving dramatically, and by the time we fueled up and hit the highway, it appeared we were no longer in danger of rain. The ride would take us largely down the “super slab” of I-65 from Indy all the way to Florida. We considered US-31 but after a bit of research discovered that there were far too many small towns and our travel time would have doubled.

As we rolled down I-65, we checked our coms and started a long playlist on the ipod. A few weeks before we left I purchased an Autocomm headset and intercom unit. This combined with a Midland 75-822 cb gave me flawless performance for the entire trip. (Look for a write-up of the Autocomm in the near future)

We decided to take a more leisurely pace this year and stopped every 75-100 miles to break for a few minutes, and fueled up the bikes every other stop. Daryl’s V-Strom is a beast, but doesn’t pull the 45mpg that the ST does, so we had to make more frequent fuel stops than would normally be necessary.

There were no real incidents or adventures for the entire 600 mile trip. Temps ran in the 30’s for the entire day, the bikes ran beautifully, and the roads were fantastic. We rolled into the Birmingham area shortly after sunset and spent the night at Daryl’s Mom’s house.

Day 2

After some breakfast and a few cups of coffee, we jumped on the bikes and rolled out for leg 2. The ride through Alabama was fantastic. Temps rose into the 70’s as we rolled South. The scenery included barely anything but rolling hills decorated with the spectacle of late autumn. As we approached the Florida state line, we jumped off I-65 and followed US29 into Pcola. The ride is always interesting as there are still visible signs of the past hurricanes that have pummeled the coastal area. Crossing the bridge to Pensacola beach was fun. Traffic was sparse and I twisted the throttle off across the bridge. We stayed at the Holiday Inn on Pensacola beach. The person who checked us in gave us the best room in the place with a 180 degree ocean view. To the left we had open beach all the way to the pier, and to the left, we could wander all the way to the national seashore. Temps as we arrived at the hotel were in the upper 70’s. Unfortunately, that was the last warm weather we would experience.

Day 3 - Air Show Day

Saturday morning we dragged ourselves out of bed in time to go grab some photos of the sunrise. I captured one of my all time favorite shots of a surfer preparing to grab some waves beside Pensacola pier at sunrise. Our excuse for riding down in November is to go to the Blue Angels at the NAS base. This is their last show of the year and is typically a lot of fun. This year’s turnout was estimated at over 120,000 people. More than we expected since the temps were only about 60 and it was windy all day. We were fortunate enough to get front row seats just to the left of show center. We arrived at the gate shortly after opening and after grabbing our seating tix, we wandered the static displays for a while. The wind blew at 30 knots all day and caused the Jet truck high speed pass to be cancelled. Every other exhibit went as planned. Other than the Blues, I especially enjoyed the Masters of Mayhem and their wall of fire. After the show, we hung around for quite a while to let the traffic dissipate. (There’s nothing like walking your motorcycle for miles trying to get out of air show traffic) As we were wandering the static displays we noticed they had removed the barrier to the tarmac and we were actually able to walk right up to the Blues on the flight line and snap some very memorable photos like this one of Daryl in front of Blue #5. In addition to the rare opportunity to spend time up close and personal with the jets, I also had a chance to break in the new DSLR camera with a 300mm telephoto lens. On Saturday alone, I took over 1,400 pictures with my Olympus E-510 and only used 1 1/2 rechargeable batteries.

Saturday evening we went to dinner at the famous McGuire’s Irish pub and had to take a number for the 1 hour wait for a table. While waiting we were checking out some photos we had taken and attracted the attention of the demo crew who executed all the pyrotechnics of the air show. They were a fun group and it was pretty cool to hear them talking about their fiery adventures. It was these people who ignite and lay out the wall of fire that you see in the Masters of Mayhem picture. We also met the pilots of the little gyrocopter and the jet powered sailplane. The food was excellent and my 16oz steak really hit the spot after spending 12 hours outside.

Day 3 – Relax

Sunday was a nice relaxing day. We had planned to ride out East to Appalachacola, but lacked the ambition. We ended up riding out to a local state park out on a peninsula across the bay from the NAS. While the mileage was negligible, it was a good time and we managed to grab a few interesting photos like this Heron.

Sunday afternoon we checked out the beach and collected some shells. The extreme winds of the previous day had washed up multiple large and, in my experience, rare shells. Included in these finds were conch shells and whole sand dollars.

Sunday night we went to a local eatery which I cannot remember the name of. They were about to close when we walked in, but kept the kitchen open long enough to get our orders and a few beers. I got a fish sandwich that was delicious. Along with a few beers, it made for a great meal.

Day 4 – Leaving the ocean

All good things must come to an end, and we only had so many vacation days for this trip. The wives will beat us if stay gone too long. After spending a few hours chilling out on the beach, we jumped on the bikes and headed for Birmingham. Little did we know we were getting ready for some trouble. After riding for a few hours we hit a rough patch of pavement and Daryl got hooked in a rut and nearly thrown off the bike. We figured it was just some bad road and kept on trucking. Other than being completely exhausted from 2 days of playing hard, the ride was otherwise uneventful.

Day 5 – Barber Motorcycle Museum

Tuesday morning Daryl discovered a low rear tire and aired it up before we left for the day. We rode over to Daryl’s friend Jay’s house for breakfast. After wasting away a few hours chatting and eating, we said goodbye and rolled down to the motorcycle museum. While I’ve been there on a previous trip, I’ve never had a high end camera to take photos with. This made the experience much more fun and I came away with some fun shots. Taking good shots was very difficult as the lighting is arranged to prevent good exposures from being taken. Using some creative angles and custom white balances, I was able to get a few nice shots, but most were just for fun.

The museum was cool, but I have to say that I probably had more fun on the very twisty private access road leading away from the museum. The ST1100 is a beast of bike and is as happy stretching it’s legs on the straights as it is carving up some corners. I let her rip and laid the bike into the turns at top speed through the access road. It was a blast. I haven’t had such an adrenaline rush since riding the Dragon.

Wednesday afternoon was spent riding up to Vulcan, the giant monument overlooking Birmingham. For a scant $5 you can take the elevator up to the top of Vulcan and get the best available view of the city. The day was cold, and the wind was blowing hard. After about 10 minutes of freezing and trying to snap a few photos, we took a trip through the museum and headed for Mom’s. The remainder of the night was a blur of eating Milo’s burgers. If you’ve never had a Milo’s burger, let me tell you, order at least two because you’ll feel compelled to go order another. They are hands down the best fast food burger out there.

Day 6 – The Ride Home

We planned an early start to our day on Wednesday so that we could be home before dark. Temps were running in the 20’s when we woke up and it looked as though it would be a clear, but chilly ride home. As we loaded up the bikes Daryl noticed a low rear tire again. Of course we suspected a slow leak, but I had brought a CO2 filler and we figured we could limp it home. About 30 seconds out of the driveway I noticed at a stop sign that a 10 inch patch of his rear tire was worn to the belts and would probably not get us out of the county, forget across 4 states. We turned around and started calling local shops for a replacement. Apparently the V-Strom 1000 takes a somewhat obscure tire because after hours of calling we had come up empty. Fortunately, as a last resort, he called a shop in the opposite direction we needed to travel and they had one in stock. We rode straight there and waited while they mounted it. Four hours behind schedule and, for Daryl, $250 poorer, we finally hit the slab for the hard push home. Way behind schedule we rode pretty hard and stretched out our rest stops. Taking turns at lead, we twisted the throttles harder and harder trying to get as many miles behind us before dark settled in. As the sun set the cold became noticeable, but not unbearable as we had dressed for the weather. Unfortunately the wind kicked up and we spent the last leg of the ride fighting 30mph cross winds and temps around 20F. I did discover an interesting use for adhesive toe warmers. They make fantastic grip heaters in a pinch and last for several hours. The slab riding went smoothly and we arrived home just in time to get ready for work in the morning.

All in all, this was a very memorable trip and has inspired me to explore new and interesting locations next year.