Members,

I have received several emails regarding when our next ride is? I received
this email today (see below) and thought, why not!

So mark your calendar for Saturday, November 10th. They only have a one
hour registration window, registration is at 9am and last bike out is at
10am. We have a couple options: Leave early, around 7am and have breakfast
in Clewiston then return back to the start point. Or leave at 7:45 and
drive straight there. Just think about it for now. I will send out a
reminder email the week before the event.

I will be out of town from this Saturday, October 27 until Sunday, November
4th. Doug J and I are riding in the Sarasota Ride for Kids if you would
like to meet us there (we are leaving from Orlando). Registration opens at
8am and closes at 9:45am. You would either have to stay over night on
Saturday or get up very early on Sunday to make it. I will not be answering
my email after Saturday until my return, so if you think you might join us,
call me on my cell phone (954-579-1563).

Ride Safe,

Greg Mathes
Club Coordinator
Gold Coast Honda Rider’s Club

Sarasota Ride for Kids www.rideforkids.org
Sarasota County Technical Institute
4748 Beneva Rd.
Sarasota, FL 34233

Written by: Greg Mathes ( Club Coordinator )
Photography by: Carlos Guerrero (Club Photographer)

Members,

Here is the ride report from Jeff regarding the Coast to Coast Ride a couple
weeks ago.

Greg Mathes
Club Coordinator
Gold Coast Honda Rider’s Club

If Steve McQueen would comment on Satuday’s ride it would be “I think the
Coast 2 Coast Ride is the best thing that has ever happened to motorcycling.
The participants were taken on a visual ride in what I believe is finally
the definitive motorcycle ride in Florida. To me it is an unforgettable
ride, and I was very happy to be a part of it in some small way.”

Surprise. Steve McQueen was not there!!!! But 200 plus other riders were
there, including six from the Rick Case group. I am certain that all will
subscribe to the McQueen quote.

This was the third such ride in the last three years and it comemmorated a
similar ride by “Cruising Al’s” parents ridden exactly 24 years ago.

If you travel from Tampa to Daytona on I-4 you could do it in about 130 very
boring miles with a turn or two included. This ride took 204.0 miles. The
difference was 135 right and left turns, the longest stretch without a turn
was about 3 miles. Other than the first 100 yards on US301 and the last
mile near Sunrise Park in Daytona this ride was on almost forgotten but very
picturesque and surprisingly hilly side roads, routs, trails and byways. I
recall one road was named “Road Less Travelled”. This trip required a good
navigator.

We were given 2 pages of instructions. The instructions had the odometer
readings in tenth of a mile. At the start we set the odometer to 0 and all
was well until about 30 miles out when we missed a turn and of course that
required constant subtraction from the figure on the instruction sheet, or,
following someone who you thought knew were they were going - Duh. The GPS
could only confirm where you are. There was no way in the world to plan
this route and program it in on a GPS.

The weather forcast came true. Clear, dry and light wind all the way. Most
participants arrived the night before. There was a get togather of a sort at
the “Wing House” next to the Red Roof, the designated host motel across from
the Florida Fairground on US301. The Wing House is an imitation Hooters
with an extra heavy dose of grease and (motor?) oil on the wings and the
greasiest curly fries east Coocomonga California. Inside it was loud - How
loud was it? The waitress hands you a megaphone to place your order and a
pair of ear plugs (no charge). I had to shout my order four times. That
was the low point of the trip. But, not being a food critic, I paid the
bill and swore a few swear words.

Following the ride, there was a reception and award ceremony at the Bill
France Daytona 500 Experience. Awards were given for the oldest rider (79,
02 Goldwing), youngest - 18, (99 Kawa something or other), oldest bike -
(1942 BSA Military) farthest away - (New Brunswick Canada) and many other
fun categories.

All in all, this was a great trip in good company. The ride raised over
$5,000 for a good cause (Hodgkins Lymphoma and Lukemia). We saw and met
some riders from previous years.

It was the first trip after I installed my Autocom Intercom. Works great.
It was a great way to communicate with my bride and the day ended without a
sore throat from shouting over the ear plugs and road noise. If you ride
with a passenger - get an intercom!!! Next step is to integrate my two way
radio and my Ipod.

All S. Florida riders chose to stay in Daytona for the night and return on
Sunday. We, your humble rider and passenger, was only about 50 miles away
from my own bed, so, we braved the darkness and made it home by 10 p.m.

And that is the story of the Third Annual Coast 2 Coast. Try to do it next
year - mark Saturday October 11, 2008 in your Calendar.

Jeffrey

Written and Photography by: Mark Hendrix

Carlos, Ernesto and I left Rick Case on Friday Oct 12th on our way to Tampa for the Saturday AM start of the Coast2Coast III trip across the state to benefit Leukemia. We took a slight detour to pick up Doug Johnson at his Warehouse. We headed out across Alligator Alley and got off @ SR 29 and headed north to immokolee. WE caught up w/ SR 82 and headed west with another slight detour at Doug Johnson new house in Leheigh Acres. By now we were hungry so Doug led us to Maine’s Seafood. We hooked up with I-75 north and away we went. We split up at I-275 because Carlos, Ernesto and I wanted to go over the skyway bridge and Doug had another house to check out in Tampa. It was quite a sight as we headed over the highest bridge I had been on with my bike. Carlos peeled off as we got into ST. Pete and Ernesto and I continued into Tampa to the Red Roof Inn. There we met Jeff Joffe and his wife Hanna.There was quite a scene at the hotel with bikes and antique cars everywhere.

Saturday morning we awoke to a cool 65″ perfect day. We left the starting point @ 9am with Doug, Jeff, Hanna, Carlos, Ernesto and me. It wasn’t long before we hooked up with another group that helped to lead us through some of the most beautiful scenic roads in Florida. Moss covered trees, the smell of fireplaces burning and what turned out to be a gorgeous day. We split off from the group to get some lunch @ Sonny’s BBQ. We had a litle excitement when my bike wouldn’t start but Carlos and Doug came to the rescue and push started my ST and off we went. We arrived in Daytona beach to finish the run, then checked into the hotel, to relax.

Sunday morning we stopped at the Cracker Barrel for breakfast, then headed home. I peeled of in Sebastian to spend the day with my 84 year old Father-in-law who was in the hospital with pneumonia. The rest of the group headed on south to home. Another great ride to talk about for a long time.

This past Saturday, members of the Gold Coast Honda Rider’s Club journeyed to all the way to West Palm Beech for a Poker Run.  Ok, don’t laugh, by the time I returned home, I had gone 250 miles seeing a sight not normally seen here in South Florida, more to come on that.  But first of all, I want to welcome Xavier C. to our club.  Xavier is only 17 and just finished his motorcycle endorsement.  By the end of today, he would see many different type of road conditions that would put an experienced rider to test.  Xavier was awesome!

Twelve motorcycles (16 people) meet early Saturday morning for a 7:15am departure.  Doug J. had volunteered to lead this ride.  This gave me the opportunity to ride in the back and observe the club.  With Doug and I having CB radios on our Wings, lane changes were a breeze.  We departed Rick Case Honda around 7:20 taking the Sawgrass until it turned into 10th Street.  Right across I-95 to the Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  After stuffing ourselves, some more then others, we jumped onto I-95 north towards Palm Beach Harley Davidson and the start of the Poker Run.

I-95 greeted us with some moderate levels of traffic, but even worse then that was the construction.  Uneven pavement, lane changes, merging traffic, etc.  It was all there.  Luckily, we only had to endure this for 20 miles or so.

We arrived at the start of the Poker Run with just minutes to spare for the last bike out.  When they saw the large group of motorcycles Doug was leading, they had no problem waiting.  I guess money talks loudly.  After registering and paying the entry fee, we were all given a nice poker run t-shirt along with a coffee mug.  Free bottle water was available here as at every stop along the way.  We met up with some other members who had chosen to arrive on their own.  After reviewing the directions and a separate trivia challenge, we were soon departing.

The trivia challenge consisted of counting how many railroad crossings you crossed, flashing lights you passed, number of schools, name of an airport, etc.  It really made the journey interesting.  There would be no way to complete this quiz if you were riding single.  The first stop was about 20 miles into the ride and we all compared notes about what we had seen.

Since we were the last group out, we would normally arrive at a stop just after a large group was leaving.  This was nice, because we would normally have the stop to ourselves.  I am not sure how anybody else did in their poker hand, but ours was a bust.

Now to the sight you don’t normally see here in South Florida.  There was a 20 mile span we covered where the road was covered by a tree-top canopy.  It was a reminder of riding in the mountains without the hills or curves.  Down here, we take what we can get.  Part of the ride was along the east side of Lake Okeechobee.  On one bridge we could actually see the water over the dike.  Each stop along the way provided us with water, soda, and additional door prizes.  One gift was a “Forever Flashlight”.  That is one that does not require batteries, you shake it to work.  A great addition to your hurricane kit.

We arrived at the end point a little past 1pm (we were greeted with a packed-gravel road).  A great BBQ dinner with all the fixings awaited our hungry appetites.  The food was very good and after lunch, motorcycle games were scheduled.  Unfortunately, my wife and I had to be home by 3pm, so we departed ahead of the rest of the club.  Doug J. was kind enough to lead the members back to Weston.  We also raised almost $100.00 for Ride for Kids.  Thanks to Lee S. and Matt in parts for the door prizes.  To date we have raised over 600.00.  I will try and get an exact dollar amount for an upcoming letter.

Wishing you all the best that motorcycling has to offer.  Riding season is approaching South Florida, you can already tell there is a slight change in the weather.  It’s now only in the low 90’s rather then the mid 90’s.  Take this opportunity to get your bike in for an inspection, oil change, tire change, etc.  Don’t wait until the last minute.

Ride safe,
Greg Mathes
Club Coordinator
Gold Coast Honda Rider’s Club