Southeast MA – Jacksonville, FL
Mon – Tues, March 9-10, 2020
(~1335 miles)

Aside from a couple local RTE’s, I hadn’t been out riding much since the VOID rally in October, because “life”. In January, I signed up to attend the annual Iron Butt Association banquet in Jacksonville, and secured a shared hotel room with a friend. But I still didn’t ride much and remained focused on work and other projects – really too bad given the epic riding weather we’ve been experiencing in the northeast this winter. But I knew the trip was waiting for me there in March, to get a head start on the riding season and to afford an early taste of Spring weather by spending a couple days in the Sunshine state.

Last year’s BBG ride-in to Jax via Key West had been an epic blast with good friends. One day I latched onto the idea of following it up by attempting the IBA Lap of Florida ride. The LoF is an 1800+ mile ride around the state of Florida, including out-and-back ventures to Pensacola and Key West. The “normal” version of this ride must be completed in a reasonable 44 hours. Lacking the extra time, and feeling like a bit more of a challenge, I focused on the “Insanity GOLD” version, requiring completion within 32 hours.

With a week or so to go before the trip, I finally opened BaseCamp to begin looking at the routes and timing. I was definitely not feeling in top riding form, and my head had been out of the game for a few months. I had to wonder if I should even attempt the LoF ride, right after zipping off 1200 miles to get down to Florida in the first place. I had hoped maybe to entice my riding buddies into this quest, but had waited too long to float the idea and allow them time to plan, so this would have to be a solo endeavor. I also wanted to ensure I’d have a full day to hang around in Jacksonville (Friday), so working backward from there, I’d need to start my Lap sometime on Wednesday. That meant bugging down to Florida by Tuesday evening, and an extra night away from home, if I wanted to split that into two legs. The three-day weekend had suddenly morphed into a six-day mission.

I hemmed and hawed, up until the Sunday before, when I began actually packing up the bike and getting my head out of my ass. Both of these things felt good (*grin*), and the weather window for this trip was looking great compared to my previous trips, with mild temps in the 40s/50s early in the week along my southbound route, and clear skies predicted all week in Florida. Char gave her blessing to leave on Monday, and my buddy Ken offered a place to sleep in New York state to help shorten my initial ride down by 200 miles or so. So the decision was finally made to attempt the Lap, and I could finally get excited for the trip on the day before I had to leave. 🙂

Note that at this point in time, the COVID-19 virus outbreak was still primarily affecting countries overseas, and seemed like a distant problem. Just another story on the news, with conflicting information about severity and so, in my mind, nothing to be concerned about yet.

The ST was more ready than I was for this trip. I saddled up and headed out Monday afternoon a bit later than planned, with the aux fuel tank and hydration system mounted and road food stashed. To avoid the rush hour traffic through Connecticut, I made a last minute decision to take the Mass Pike straight out west to New York and visit a few lighthouses along the Hudson River on my way to Ken’s house. Sunny and in the low 60’s, the temperature dropped noticeably at elevation through the Berkshires. I was surprised to see a couple of the small lakes by the interstate were still frozen over.

I exited on I-87 south for a few miles to Coxsackie, then took NY 385 to parallel the Hudson for several miles. I spotted the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse out on the river just past the village of Athens, and pulled a U-ey to get the shot.

I picked up 9W in Catskill and motored down into Saugerties, into a pleasant little area near Esopus Creek. I reached the end of Lighthouse Road, where I found “Trail Closed” signs on the locked gate for the path to reach the Saugerties Lighthouse. The sign indicated the way was closed due to “seasonal circumstances” (flooding I assume). Well damn it, gotta keep moving since I was losing available light and had two more lighthouses on my route.

Shortly down the road, I took stock of the situation including available light and arrival time at Ken’s house, and decided to bail on the route and head straight for the barn. Night had already fallen with March’s full Worm Moon huge in the sky when I arrived to a warm welcome from Ken and Felicia.

I presented my gratitude for tonight’s offered lodging in the form of a four-pack of world-renowned Trillium micro-brews, picked up from the Canton, MA brewery the day before. We ate some take-out and chatted round the table for a while before hitting the hay, around 21:30.

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I woke up just before three, quietly dressed and got packed up on the bike. The night was clear and in the high 40’s, quite pleasant but still requiring full heated gear for the constant interstate speeds I’d be hitting. I’d been testing out some three-fingered “lobster” gloves from Rukka on some cool-weather local rides last year, and had been pretty happy with their performance.

I’ve been a big believer in lobster-style gloves for warmth since using Pearl Izumi gloves for cycling years ago. These Rukkas are made with Gore-Tex, so should be as waterproof as anything else out there, and I was able to operate all the necessary controls and electronics with them, albeit somewhat clumsily. I’m even more impressed with the gloves after this trip. They kept my fingers much warmer than the Gerbing heated gloves I usually use, even in the colder temps in the 30’s we would see on the way back home later, at full highway speeds. I’m thinking of trying heated liners paired with these at some point in the future, but that may be overkill.

I’d planned my southbound route hitting the same fuel stops that our group had used for last year’s BBG. I pulled into the familiar QuickChek store in Hanover NJ after an hour’s ride, and was greeted by the same pump attendant from last year. I know this because he asked me if I wanted to see a “real motorcycle” and pulled up a photo on his cell phone with a shiny custom chopper – the same photo he’d shown me last time. 😉 Nice guy, but he needs a new joke. I warmed/woke up inside with a coffee and breakfast sandwich, chatting with one of the cashiers who was curious about my “tactical-looking” Klim gear.

I hit the road around 04:45 and made good time in light traffic down the rest of I-287 and west on I-78 across Pennsylvania, keeping toasty and feeling great to be on the move. My fuel stop in Harrisonburg VA was uneventful, and I began to see the first flowering trees of springtime. The temperature finally began to rise up through the 50s, then past 60 degrees in North Carolina. I took I-77 south straight through Charlotte in mid-afternoon and traffic was light enough that I didn’t need to use the express toll lanes.

At my Fort Mill SC fuel stop, I changed gloves and stripped off my heated layers. I reveled in the warmer air and felt much more relaxed on the bike for the remainder of the day. I-26 moved along quickly, but was a bit busier than I was used to seeing. I chalked it up to rush hour from Columbia, plus all the motorcycle trailers heading down for Bike Week in Daytona. Joining I-95 south was actually a relief, as the trucks/trailers could all maintain a steady speed across the flat terrain, allowing the rest of us to predict their movement and keep things moving along.

I hit my last fuel stop in Kingsland GA just before reaching Florida, then quickly covered the final 50 miles or so to my hotel in Orange Park, just cross the river from the Ramada host hotel. I planned to start and end tomorrow’s ride at a gas station by the IBA hotel, so I could finish and get off the bike to rest fairly quickly. I checked into the Quality Inn around 19:30, cleaned up, then walked across the street to stretch my legs and get a sub from Publix. I ate while double-checking my route for tomorrow, then got everything prepped for a quick exit in the morning, hitting the pillows around 21:30 once again.