Oh man... it's an end to two glorious days on the motorcycle.
Lots of backroads, lots of dirt roads, lots of heat, lots of bikes taking dirt naps, though the only time the KLR hit the ground this time, I wasn’t on it. I’d parked it precariously, in a hurry to help a downed rider, and it fell due to everything in that part of the world being sand 😂
I left Valdosta in a pack of 5 riders on Friday morning. We had all just met that morning as part of a larger ride put on by Dixie Dual Sports, called the Florida Traverse. It consisted of two separate but intertwining routes, on a mixture of dirt and backroads labeled as the ADV route, and another that was pure paved backroads.
Rider 5 bailed after the 2nd sandy road and took the street route the rest of the way on his Super Tenere. Rider 3 went down in a sandbed on an Africa Twin, Rider 4 was following too closely on a Desert-X and ran over him. Rider 3 tried to walk it off, but wound up riding back to Ocala to go to the emergency room (he was a local).
He later found out that both bones were broken in his lower left leg, and I know from experience you can’t walk that kind of stuff off. Rider 2 and I (both on KLRs) continued on until I got a flat tire.
Crazy luck, but I got a flat within eyesight of a friends place in Fairfield, Fl. They helped me out with a safe place to pull the rear tire and a ride to the dealership for a new tube. It was so much easier than doing it on the side of the road, and I sure appreciated it.
Saturday, I ran solo. I made sure to have some riders behind me so I’d eventually have help if I had issues, but there were none. It was just a bunch of neat sights and great adv riding, all the way to Everglades City.
Florida is a beautiful state, and running dirt and backroads through the “breadbasket” is an amazing experience. Orange groves, farmland, and lots and lots of sand :D
My final odometer tally after the weekend of riding and coming and going, to and fro was nearly 1100 miles.
#motorcycles#florida#klr650#adventurebiking
Kirk Smith, PhD
electragician
cobic
Cobic
Biking Japan
