Actually we had a good coupla weeks away , but if you look at the facts ....... it don't look good !
BAD STUFF.
Plane arrived late and by the time we were at the hotel there was no hope of making our first race at Ocala (which was where the big twins were running .....
Next day , evening race at Volousia - so we got there at lunch just in case and to see a bit off practice ..... nowt going on ! rained the night before so called it off at 9am in sun and when we got there it was bone dry, but empty !
Next day over to Daytona to the new dirttrack course to watch Boastie Qualify , to be told he'd highsided out - poss cracked ribs etc . DOH .
Sat in the stands that night in biting wind watchin the frost come outta our mouths and wishing it would end ... which it did ... at about 11 or so ! only the AMA rug and sweatshirts we bought saved us from death . half the spectators went home .
Did 3 autojumbles in one day cos they were full of chrome shit for Baggers (touring Harleys).
Picked up a Ducati from Ducati Daytona (thanks guys) and realised it had a rear seat the size of a postage stamp , Rach not impressed . After 5 mins of riding in Florida , i was not impressed ! you're not allowed to filter thru the traffic !!! Wot !!!! F.K.N HELL . might as well have a harley then ! $%%^$%&&$ bollox , ruins riding that does , so i ignored it and rode up the middle and kicked the traffic outta the way like u should . They don't like it up em .
Went down Main st and parked it up amongst the hogs , locked our helmets on ... and left the keys in the seat ! came back n they were gone . FERC IT. Ran around a bit like a headless chicken , then saw the card in the ignition recess , read it and it was from the police - meet em at the corner of main and olive , nice ! they had the keys but i had to explain how an english guy in florida had a Ducati on California plates ... one lecture later i had em back !
Then i rode it 300 miles to Miami - on a dead straight road , kin torture . Here Miami Ducati have it back ! (great shop that one !) so if you wanna ride in the USA , go to California where u can filter !
Down in Miami we head out to the Keys (key largo) to Gilberts resort , which is ok till you get inside a room then it sucks big time being very run down for top money too ! that nite Rach says she want's to go home.... so i book us out and find another much nicer place for less money ... and it catches fire ! So at 3am we pack our car and move across the road as Floridas best fight the fire , by 7am we can move back in as only the resturant burnt down !
Still this week is all about Rach on the beach .... except there are no real beaches on the Keys ! yes those picture perfect beaches are all concrete covered in sand ( not so comfy!) Rach not impressed again , so it's off to Miami beach which as you all know is miles of real sand ... so we're driving up and down looking for a space or car park - and 3hrs later we still are ! A little thing called spring break has spoiled our fun , thousands of college kids got there first ! it was chocka block . so we went home . Rach . Tears .
GOOD STUFF .
No hire car for us , so they upgraded us to a Chevy MPV , leather n nice .
Volousia was a real nice sleepy town to visit , no tourism nice diner etc - good day spent exploring round the lakes there .
The racing at Daytona speedbowl was great watched the classics and twins races from the infield and saw Springer kick ass on the XR750 TT race bike , then got to meet him in the pits ! the pits were great (see our pics). We got invited by Ducati to watch the 200 race with them in Ducati hospitality which was great and we met some nice guys , who explained about filtering in the traffic , later we waved to them as we shot past up the middle of the traffic on our streetfighter - oh how we laughed !
At the track Boastie was in good spirits considering the long trip for nowt ! and Jan and Tom were buzzing around like they were on speed with excitement ! and the racing was great , tooth n nail stuff . Chriss Carr came over n said hi , after hearing the english voices ! He was looking good in the heats but they kicked his ass in the final , the smooth track not suiting many there.
A good facility though without a doubt and you've got to wonder how many new tracks are being built over there in the last ten years ?
We went to the bike auctions at Stetson university and there was a good bike show too , All classics , had to stop myself coming back with the Astro in the pics !
Found a XR chaincase for $20 in the swapmeet too !!.
We did 1000 miles in the hire chevy which was nice as it was new (200miles old!) and gas was nowt per liter .
We had a great day out at the Kennedy space center and saw the Shuttle out a few days before it's launch .
We went up a very tall light house and took out a boat for the day amongst the Mangrove swamps ! and saw a Man-o-war in the water - spooky but very delicate .
By the time we got to Miami the sun was properly with us , and when the hotel was crap the lady on the next table turned out to be the president of the Chamber of Commerce and she found us a much better one for $40 less per night ! Nice .
The Resurant that burnt down was well nice and we had a nice meal in there the night before !
We did some Rach stuff up n down the Keys the highlights of which were ... a Airboat ride across the everglades in a crocodile reserve , a dolphin show (and sealions , parrots etc ) Alligator wrestling ! and a hundred mile road trip across the Keys to Key west , only 70 miles from Cuba !
We got about four hundred pics out of it and some of em are here http://www.flickr.com/photos/redmaxspeedshop/sets/72157623870173206/
and there are some videos here
The videos so far are , Airboat ride , Auctioneer , Daytona flattrack , and flat oot round the banking at night !
So it was good and bad , just how you want it if you like telling a good story ! or remembering it in the future !
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