"Ride Through the Glades"

[RWasson]

The Everglades Chapter's Ride Through the Glades is an 80-mile loop run, with lunch in the middle, this Saturday, April 10th. Meet at the entrance to Everglades National Park about 10 miles west of Florida City and be ready to ride at 10:00 a.m. For lodging info or detailed directions, contact the Chapter Instigator, the Original Nightrider himself, Roy Wasson at rdwassonappeal@bellsouth.net or roywasson@bellsouth.net

[RWasson]

Report on the Ride--'Gators and All!

Here's a report on how the ride went by Everglades Chapter member Tommy Rosegger:


AMCA EVERGLADES CHAPTER SPRING RUN:
EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK
“Ride Through the ‘Glades”

Submitted by:
Tommy Rosegger

My preparations for the Spring Run of the Everglades Chapter of the AMCA began about a month beforehand with the purchase of a single rail trailer. The several hundred mile ride down Highway 27 from Lakeland to Miami has too many dark, desolate stretches of road to attempt the trip on 50 year old iron and so my gal pal Sharon and I loaded up the truck and trailer after work Friday and aimed it southward to participate in my first AMCA Chapter event ever!

We followed a good night’s rest at the Knight Rider Inn with a hearty breakfast at Denny’s, after which we were finally ready to ride! Sharon and I were among the first to arrive at the Visitor’s Station of Everglades National Park, although a small contingent of riders had already gathered. As we parked to walk over and greet our comrades, I fully expected the park’s loudspeakers to begin playing the Beatles at top volume, for surely we were in the middle of a British invasion. Four out of five gathered bikes were tall, sleek, menacing-looking Triumphs, dominating the parking lot in a variety of colors and differing states of polish. As I inspected their nifty front brakes, replete with vented air-scoops for cooling, I could not help but wonder if their brakes slowed their machines more efficiently than the primitive scrubs on my old Harley. I was decidedly outnumbered by the British rides, but not for long! Within minutes, Jim and Cathy tooled into the lot with their 1964 panhead police bike and 1992 XL 1200 in tow and Doc, riding in on his 1949 pan, wasn’t far behind. Howard Cole, our lone Japanese rider, decided to brave the day on his 1971 Suzuki 250 that he’s owned since 1974.

The stage was set and the rider’s briefing underway when, wait; look what the wind blew in! It was none other than Jim, our secretary, along with his wife and 1970 Heritage in tow. Lil’ late dude! Nice guys that we are, we invited the Buttaccio clan to join us for the riders’ assembly anyway and we were finally ready for our illustrious President Roy’s introductory speech. As he announced our tour guide (appropriately named “Everglades Marty”) whose charge was to keep us all on the right track lest we get lost and spend several nights fighting mosquitoes and panthers, I couldn’t help but to notice on the map that there was just a single road leading the entire way to Flamingo, our luncheon destination. Whatever!

All right guys, finally time to fire ‘em up! There was no embarrassment here in front of the small gathering of tourists; everyone’s step-starter required no more than a stroke or two to see fire and we were off. Well, let me tell you folks, Everglades National Park scenery was a particular delight for this rider to behold. When I’m not restoring antique motorcycles in my spare time, I am a Senior Environmental Scientist with a consulting firm and I have an intimate knowledge of the flora and fauna of the State of Florida. I cannot recall ever seeing over 20 miles of uninterrupted cypress swamps and wetlands. Perhaps the most striking feature from my habitat management perspective was the complete absence of nuisance plant varieties such as Brazilian pepper, Melaleuca and Australian pine that are so prolific in South Florida. I quickly understood where at least a portion of our $5 per head entrance fee was applied because the park grounds were immaculate and, unlike the residents, all of the vegetation was native!

Riding weather was perfect and I soon fell into my favorite slot just a few paces behind Jim on his gorgeous orange and cream 1970 Harley with fishtail exhausts, by far my favorite ride of the day. I just loved that bike and the way that sound waves are compressed through those fishtails! Slightly more than half way to our destination, we pulled off at Nine Mile Pond. This rest area sounded so much more palatable than Snake Bight Trail; besides, we didn’t want to give the women on the ride any bad ideas. We were heartily greeted at our rest stop by a 7-8 feet long lizard, also known as the American alligator. Although guest rider Sharon has lived in Florida since 1997, she excitedly informed me that this was the first alligator that she’d ever seen. She and I only recently hooked up and I quickly determined that if she and I are going to become a regular thing, I’d have to get her out of the house more often!

The ride was delightful but as we approached Flamingo, as evidenced by the numerous campgrounds, things began to get just a little bit hectic. Inexplicably, Prez Roy doggedly charged to the head of the pack and began frantically flapping his right arm, exercising a movement that resembled a cross between an MTV Rap video and the twitching tail of a road-kill squirrel. What’s up with that? I was not the only one confused by this vigorous ambidextrous hand signal; some broke right, some broke left, and I made a mental note to ask Roy if he thought that he might have been a pom-pom girl in an earlier life!

We quickly reconvened with no harm done and those riders with thirsty mounts, yours truly included, purchased a spot of gas for the remainder of the ride. Upon arrival at the Flamingo Restaurant, Roy was given an opportunity to redeem himself and to demonstrate why, in no uncertain terms, he was the hands-down best choice to be the leader of our Chapter. When restaurant staff firmly advised us that existing personnel could not accommodate a party of our size, he handily and summarily dissected management staff so thoroughly that they meekly slinked off, tail between legs, in order to prepare our grand banquet table that was ready within minutes. A surgeon could have learned from that lesson!

Our business meeting and award ceremony were conducted while awaiting our food and Doc stole the show, winning trophies for both oldest machine (1949 Harley Davidson Panhead) and longest ride in (50 miles). Treasurer David Porter won “oldest biker” at age 74. Yours truly and Sharon also snagged a pair of trophies for longest trailered ride in (271 miles) and lucky hat draw; couldn’t have gone to a nicer gal! The food was delicious and moderately priced considering that the only food alternative within a 50-mile radius was raw osprey eggs. The business meeting was brief and uneventful . . . .
While the details of the ride make for interesting writing, for me, the real story of this trip was the many fine folks that I met for the first time. I felt an instant bond with Jeff and Jim who confirmed my long-held opinion that antique cycle riders are some of the finest folks in the world. I was completely enamored by Roy with his childish chuckle, and by the kindness and respect that we all showed each other. We all come from different walks in life, but we share a common bond, undying fondness for the internal combustion engine mounted inside of two wheels.

We picked up the pace slightly on the return ride because traffic had increased notably. The miles seemed to fly by and we were back at the Visitor’s Station in no time at all. The day was perfect and there were no significant mechanical or other breakdowns. Well, the Suzuki’s electrical system did protest within minutes of the finish line, but you might grumble too if someone sat on you all day. And, this article would not be complete if I failed to acknowledge the classic Harley oil leak on my 1956 flathead K Model that spattered poor Sharon’s stark, lily white tank top with a wonderful pattern of black-dotted 50 weight. And how was your day?

[AdminGuy]

Great stuff - Roy, Tommy, I really enjoyed reading that. Thanks!