[El_Shorto]

What a trip this was!
I started the trip friday morning at about 7:30 AM, which allowed me to beat all the nasty weather from the tropical depression that rolled through later in the day. I live in Casselberry, FL, which is out near UCF for those of you familiar with Orlando. I started up SR 436 and jumped on US 441 in Apopka, which I took all the way up to Ocala. From there, I got on US 27 and rode through the gorgeous rolling hills of the area. Lots of horse farms and some very cool tree-arched roads. In Perry, I caught US-98 and followed the coastline through Apalachicola and on into Pensacola by way of the beaches. From there, it was a straight shot through town to my buddy's house for a nice relaxing weekend of debauchery with Naval Aviators. The weather for the trip was really overcast, about 90 degrees and quite humid, so not the prettiest weather for the ride, but it was comfortable enough and the scenery was great. Even saw some sharks in the water when I stopped on the Ochlockonee Bridge for pictures! Total ride time was about 11 hours and 45 minutes.

The ride home was an entirely different story.

There was a big parade going on US 98 in Gulf Breeze, so I was forced to detour on I-10 to Marianna, where I had planned on taking US 237 south to Panama City and catching the exact reverse route home to Orlando. Well, just about DeFuniak Springs on I-10, I stopped for gas at a very nice Shell truck stop. If you've stopped there on I-10, its the shell station thats set back from the main road by a little branch road by about 400 yards. Well, all was normal, I gassed up the GZ, strapped on my helmet, checked my bags and started her up. As I was pulling out and left from the pump, some idiot in a tricked out white honda civic plowed into my back tire, RIGHT NEXT to the gas pumps! I had heard tires squealing, but by the time I turned my head to look, he was already on top of me. So the bike comes crashing down on top of me and I went sliding about 15 feet into the curb under the bike (thankfully the parking spots in front of the gas station were empty, would have sucked to wind up under a car). The guy in the honda tried to back up and run, but a police officer had seen the whole thing and by the time the guy had his car back in drive, the officer had his gun drawn and was standing in front of his car yelling for the guy to stop. I assume only his want for life stopped him from running. Either way, I was banged up and so was my bike. Several people helped me up and I waited for the paramedics to come while giving statements to the officer. The paramedics got there and informed me of my injuries: a dislocated pinky, a severe laceration with road rash on my left arm, a bad road rash on my knee, a sprained left ankle and a dislocated toe. (i think I also have a fracture in my foot, but I have to wait until tomorrow to find out). After telling them I was about 9 hours from home, they told me that they could patch me up enough to limp home without going to the hospital, and I accepted. Hurt like hell when they snapped my finger back into place, but I survived.

So my ride plans changed significantly. As soon as I made a once-around my bike and checked that all the crucial parts were in working order, I decided that the interstate was the fastest way to get home. I was in a lot of pain and just wanted to skip scenery (weather was beautiful on monday for my ride home, but no time for frills with broken bones). So I jumped on I-10 and rode straight to I-75, took that south to the turnpike, then SR-408 and home through town. Total ride time (minus the 2 hours I lost at the accident scene) was 8 hours.

The final total of the trip was as such: the guy who hit me is being charged with aggravated vehicular assault, hit and run, speeding, driving without a license, and attempred vehicular manslaughter. The bike sustained heavy cosmetic damage to the gas tank, front fender, rear fender, rear light housing and both left turn signals, as well as breaking my clutch handle clean in half. No damage to the frame, engine, transmission or tires. Thankfully I have uninsured motorist coverage on my bike because the moron didnt have insurance...or a drivers license. I did find that with all that damage, the bike still ran perfectly and actually took to cruising at 65 on the interstate exceptionally well. Didnt run very hot and still retained excellent gas mileage. All in all, a wonderful ride until the accident. If you have the occasion to drive US-98 along the panhandle coastline, I highly recommend it. US 27 between Ocala and Perry is also quite pretty.

Also, I know it's been said a thousand times, but guys, wear your helmets, leathers and make sure you have insurance. I know for a fact that my head bounced and scraped on the pavement several times, as well as my leather jacket and padded jeans getting holes torn clean through them. I shudder to think how much worse my injuries would have been if I hadnt been wearing that equipment. I understand that it gets hot riding long distances (especially in florida when it's 95 degrees and full sunny), but I can solidly say that the proper attire and equipment saved my life. The insurance, well thats a no-brainer. Take it easy guys and gals! Off to fix up my poor baby now (I plan on doing the front sprocket mod while I'm fixing everything else too, nice to have a little extra legs next time out!)