There was a great turnout at the Rally - over 10,000 I'd say and y'all know I don't exaggerate numbers and hate when the Rallies do. I thought I'd see more bikers there since we put it in the calendar of events and the e-mail update for this weekend, but then again it was pretty hot. I saw thirty or forty bikes while negotiating downtown streets. Here's a link to some pictures: http://tax.orl360.com/view.php?gid=1 If y'all haven't heard about The Fair Tax, there's a couple of links in our link box and we're startin' articles on in it the August issue of the magazine.
From Orlando I jumped on the 408, the East-West Expressway, to the Turnpike to I-75 north to Ocala. Jeez, what a mess that is. Hot concrete super-slab, but hey, I wasn't in a cage. I promised Derek and Ray at Harley-Davidson of Ocala and Wayne and the Big Ragu of the HOG Chapter to
make it up for their Christmas in July Poker Run. Good turnout - over 250 Poker Hands sold and it benefits the kids at New Horizon. Santa even made an appearance. I know he was sweatin' his ass off, just like everyone else. It was over 95, but I drank plenty of water (Thanks, Wayne), a couple of beers (Thanks Kellie and Andi) and listened to some tunes from One Flight Up, hung out with Patrick and Leslie and got to meet lots of our readers. That's always fun.I got a burger for just two bucks, the beers were $2 for a 16 ounce ice-cold draft - thanks for takin' care of bikers. Talked to a lotta folks about our benefit for Support Our Troops, Inc. on August 12 (link to our flyer) and got lotsa promises. Shoot, we have three poker runs startin' in the Ocala area that day - we should have a good turnout. Anyhow, I hadda good time, took lotsa pictures and we'll have the article in the September issue of Dixie Biker.
I left around 3 or so, people were still ridin' in, but I was draggin' ass from the heat all day. I took the Hwy 326 by-pass to one of my least favorite roads - Hwy 40 through the Ocala National Forest. I've seen where other people ride it and write about it and say how great it is. Hogwash. It's a piece of crap road just like the interstates. It's straight, has a couple of sweepers, but now it seems as if you're always stuck behind an 18-wheeler, an RV or a truck towin' a boat. I can tell people lotsa of better roads to ride. But Hwy 40 isn't one of them. And it's dangerous. During parts of the year there's always lotsa critters to watch out for, cages blastin' by ya at 
ninty mph, plus the cops have been out with radar alot this summer. And here's a picture I took at the intersection of Hwy 19 today. Bet that ruined their day. It was a recent accident, too, cuz the operators were standin' by the road talkin' to a State Trooper. Bummer. At least they seemed to be alright.I got back home to a surprise. Boots had gone and picked up one of our grandkids, Cody, for a sleepover, so I had a swimmin' partner tonight. It's always good to jump in the pool and wash off the road grime after a couple hundred miles of ridin' in our summer heat. And to have one of the grand kids makes it even better. Guess I'll hafta do some story readin' tonight.
Word from the bikers today:
"Man, it's friggin' hot!"
"I need another beer (or water or soda)!"
"Boy, the Harley dealers are makin' some deals to get rid of these 2006 models!"
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