Bike Week 2009 - Wednesday, March 4

Brillant sunshine, but cold. 36 at sunrise and it topped out at about 60 degrees. Sherry, the GM of the White Eagle Lounge had called the day before sayin' she needed some more magazines so I figured I'd get up there early and deliver some. But instead of takin' the ten ride straight over, I figured I'd go to her place up Hwy 1 from Ormond Beach to check out how the traffic was and see what was happenin' on the Ormond Strip. Man, that was a big mistake.

It was about 10 o'clock and it was relatively easy drivin' through Ormond Beach and north on Hwy 1 past the Deadwood Saloon, Broken Spoke and Finnegan's Tavern area. But holy moly when I got within a half a mile of Destination Daytona, traffic stopped. . .
In addition to the normal lane closure so bikes could get over into a bikes only lane, they'd closed off the right lane for some reason before I-95 so everyone was tryin' to jam over into the left hand lane. What a mess.

And it wasn't too much easier for the folks headin' south on the other side of the highway.

After about thirty minutes I made it through the quagmire and continued north the five miles to the White Eagle. US 1 was wide open with little traffic and there were lotsa folks headin' south. I managed to get this guy on an old WL model just crusin' along.

The White Eagle had a pretty good crowd on hand even though it was only around 11 am ...

... and folks headin' south on Hwy 1 had clear highways. Many of them are Bike Week veterans, however ....

... and pulled in at the White Eagle for a cold one before hitting Daytona.

Then, rather than run the gauntlet through Destination Daytona or the Ormond Strip, they'd take off down Old Dixie Highway towards Daytona.

Many folks don't know it, but the eastern portion of The Loop will lead you directly to Main Street 12 or 13 miles south of the White Eagle. It is a relatively traffic free ride and only has 4 traffic lights until Main Street. How 'bout that.

I didn't continue down Old Dixie Highway through Tomoka State Park, though. I turned off on Walter Boardman Lane to head back to the house, get rid of the truck, catch up on some paperwork for our April magazine and go out later on the bike.

Though it was chilly, Spring is in the air here and the oaks covering Walter Boardman are puttin' out their new leaves so the 'tunnel' effect is already there. The swamps on both sides of this portion are dry, however. We need some rain!

At the stop sign I hung a right on Highbridge Road to head over to the ocean ...

... where there were lotsa of folks ridin' or takin' advantage of a kodak moment ...

After finishin' up work, I saddled up and headed south on A1A-Oceanshore Blvd-Atlantic Avenue towards Main Street. I figured if I was ever gonna do Main Street today would be the day since a hundred thousand folks were out at the Cabbage Patch for some chilly cole slaw rasslin'. Big mistake.

Ridin' down A1A I noticed lotsa vacancy signs. The one below is only two blocks from Harley Heaven at the Ocean Center and three blocks from Main Street ....

... and traffic was another absolute nightmare. Over thirty minutes wearin' out the clutch and cookin' the valves in the stop n go ...

... and the vendors had already cut their prices! Normally we all shop on the last Sunday because that's when the prices are cut to the levels below. Folks must be holdin' on to their wallets pretty tightly.

But some folks must be doin' okay cuz I saw these young guys pull outta the Hilton on thier 'next gen' bobbers. They were screamin' north.

After sittin' in the traffic I decided to blow off Main Street. No pictures this year! And kept right on goin' up to Hwy 92-International Speedway Blvd. I stopped at the top of the causeway to take some pictures including this one of the Main Street Bridge (that's Seabreeze Causeway in the background) ...

... and these folks headin' west up the ISB bridge ...

At the bottom I took a right and headed north on Beach Street and shot the west end of the Main Street bridge while waitin' for the light ...

Okay, a new plan. I'll head up to the Ormond Strip and see what kinda evening action they have goin' on. So I took Beach Street all the way north - no traffic! - to three blocks north of Hwy 40 Granada Blvd., hung a left and rode the three blocks up to Hwy 1. Hung a right and headed north to the Ormond Strip and avoided all the traffic at Ridegewood Avenue and Granada Blvd.

"I really haven't had a chance to get a pictures of the hotties workin' the beer tubs," I thought to myself as I headed north. "Maybe tonight's the night ..." Not.

I got past Nova Road, rounded the bend and saw traffic backed up all the way to the Tomoka River bridge. Holy crap! I ain't messin' with that tonight. Besides, I rationalized, it's cold (it was around fifty and the sun was settin' quickly!) and the girls are all gonna be wrapped up tight. Maybe tomorrow. I pulled over in to a cutover through the median and shot a couple of pictures. This group was blastin' by at about 60 mph only to ...

... hafta hit the brakes hard a hundred yards up the road!

I wasn't gonna get involved in that mess for the second time in one day. I got back on the Dixie Glide, fired it up, took one more picture ...

... and joined the tail end of this group headin' south. It was back to the house, got in the garage, unloaded all my junk from the day's adventures, had a conversation or two with Mr. Cuervo then got in the hot tub.

Tomorrow is Willie & Company's Old School Show and I can't wait. It's supposed to warm up!