Jacksonville
Thurs March 12, 2020
(~0 miles)

Hopes of checking right in to my room were dashed at the front desk, when they told me the room was still being occupied and they didn’t expect it to be ready until after 3pm. OK, I’d somewhat expected that and was prepared to conk out in a nearby patch of grass or a lobby couch for a couple hours. I turned away from the desk and ran into a few of the nicest people you’d ever hope to see after a long ride: Jim and Janet Owen, talking with Hoagy Carmichael (LD personality and fund-raiser extraordinaire) and his roommate.

After getting a look at me and hearing I was running on no sleep, Hoagy, whom I’d only met in passing, immediately pulled out his room key card and insisted I use their room to get a shower and crash out on one of the beds. Touched by the generosity, I accepted the shower but told him I’d feel funny using one of their beds and would just find a place in the hotel to lie down. He gave me the card, insisting I use whatever I need in their room, and told me to just get it back to him later. After the long ride ending with an unceremonious close-up look at Jacksonville pavement, this gesture of brotherhood lifted my spirits and settled me down, knowing I was among friends for the next couple days.

I requested additional towels for Hoagy’s room from the front desk, then parked around the side of the hotel by the closest entranceway and went in to freshen up. Boy, I felt like a million bucks after that hot shower! It was shaping up to be a beautiful sunny day. The room faced the hotel courtyard and pool area, and I spotted several lounge chairs that looked like they would do very nicely for a nap in the shade.

First, I stopped by the conference rooms used as a workspace by the IBA during this event, and found my friend Roy getting his BBG ride-in certified by Howard. Deeming this good timing, I retrieved my receipts and sat for a spell with Howard while he verified my ride and and told me a couple of good stories about his own Lap of Florida ride.

Certification confirmed, I headed for the pool and found myself a shady lounge chair. The warm air felt good lying there beneath the fully leafed-out trees. So relaxing. I set my cell alarm for four hours, inserted my ear plugs loosely, wrapped my fleece over my eyes and conked out. I didn’t sleep deeply (the chair wasn’t THAT comfortable), but I managed to drift off and awoke about 2.5 hours later. There were several more riders hanging about the hotel by now, and I greeted familiar faces as I walked back to the front desk to check on the room. Still not ready, OK. I found Hoagy, thanked him heartily for use of his room, and returned the key card. I headed back to my chair to try sneaking in a few more winks, and drifted off for another hour or so.

After waking up for good, spent time socializing by the pool and in the lobby. People were talking about the coronavirus (COVID-19), which had apparently been declared a pandemic while I was still out on the bike yesterday. Some folks were insisting on touching elbows rather than handshakes – I confess, at the time it seemed absurdly over-reactive and my instinct was to brush the whole thing off. Conflicting information being disseminated by the government, media outlets, and inter-webs didn’t help to lend the situation much credence. Char had told me that things were getting “a bit crazy” (a la runs on toilet paper in the stores), but said she’d fill me in after the trip so I could enjoy the rest of the weekend.

The room was finally ready at 15:30. My roomie Marc had already arrived and checked in while I was wandering around. We met up with Ken, Roy and some others in the hotel bar and had a nice cold beer. Our friend and local ST owner, Ashley, came by to chauffeur several of us to dinner at Miller’s Ale House down the street (same as last year), where we had a decent meal and a few beers. I was feeling peckish and ordered the steak fajitas, which were OK.

Then it was back to the hotel bar for a few more rounds before bedtime. I’m sure I met several new people that night whom I thoroughly enjoyed talking with and whose names, by now, I have mostly forgotten. 🙂 I greeted fellow northeasterner Gerry, upon his late arrival to the front desk, completing his Saddlesore down from Connecticut.

---

Fri March 13, 2020
Had a great sleep in a nice bed at last. Feeling much more human-like, I headed for the hotel cafe for the great breakfast buffet that’s included with our room rate. Had a nice leisurely meal with friends and met some new folks as well. Following breakfast, most of the day consisted of sitting out by the pool, absorbing the sunshine, shooting the shit, and watching the courtyard wildlife. There was a resident group of randy ducks, a squirrel with half a tail (whom someone dubbed “Unlucky”), lizards everywhere, and a few scary-looking caterpillars as well.

We walked over to the nearby Steak n Shake for lunch. Still full from breakfast, I got a malted strawberry shake in memory of our Rock n Ride rallymaster’s mom, and was actually able to enjoy the entire thing, not being on a rally clock. It was delicious! We hit up Whole Foods next door for road food & supplies, then it was back to the pool.

I donned my trunks and dove into the chilly but comforting water, then drip-dried in the warm air while shooting the shit over the next couple hours. It had been a great relaxing morning and afternoon with friends, even as tidbits about current events and the coronavirus made their way into the conversations. I pondered the tale of Nero fiddling while Rome burned, and thought that life was mostly likely going to take a serious 90 degree turn once I got home. For the moment, I just relished that sunshine and relaxing vibe.

15:30 was beer o’clock – a keg of Yuengling cracked open in the hotel nightclub room just for the IBA attendees, as much as we wanted until it was gone. Although the Jacksonville event is always sold out, it seemed actual attendance might be a bit down from last year, most likely as folks were starting to make personal decisions to stay away from large gatherings. There were still plenty of riders hanging around, however, and I enjoyed a chat at the bar with Eric Buskell, the infamous “Homer” from last year’s IBR, hearing part of his Alaska mishaps first hand. He tells a good story.

At 16:00, the IBA staff got onstage to begin handing out certificates for folks who did ride-ins to Jacksonville, as well as those who completed the local SaddleSore/BBG rides on Thursday. I thought I’d done a fairly respectable 3000+ mile ride-in, including the LoF, but this is no ordinary crowd. One gentleman had completed an I-40 End-2-End ride, plus a 100CCC (coast-to-coast-to-coast) “on his way” here. Another guy I know rode down to Texas from Minnesota, completed a long Saddlesore  within that state, then continued on to Jacksonville.

Once all the awards were given out, we were given welcome news that our banquet would be ready a bit earlier than expected. In the meantime, a few of us decided to head outside to ogle the bikes, particularly Tim Masterson’s 250cc Janus Gryffin that he is prepping for a possible IBR run.

By the time we returned, we were at the very end of the long dinner line, but there is always plenty of food and things move quickly once the buffet is ready. The chicken/beef w/sides meal was very good and the dining room seemed pretty full. After the meal, Howard and Mike presented a few more certifications and recognize some particularly noteworthy rider achievements from over the past year. Too many to list here, but Tony Osborne’s 100K mile year (including 67 documented BBG’s IN THE SAME YEAR!!) was a particular stand-out of not-quite-right-in-the-head-edness.

With no guest speaker to rival Paul Pelland‘s hilarity of last year, Howard gave a presentation on many of the different types of certification rides that are available on the ironbutt.com website, and gave us a preview of some new database functionality coming soon to the Iron Butt E-store website, that will make it much easier for members to search for and list their completed certifications.

Following that, the banquet broke up and it was back to the hotel bar, to meet more interesting people and tell more lies until we gradually all retired for the evening. Roy, Ken and I had formulated a loose plan for the ride north together, after stopping in Daytona for the IBR finisher’s lunch, so it would be back in the saddle again tomorrow.