The Extra Week

When we booked our slip in Daytona, we booked for a month. This got us a reduced rate on the slip and who doesn’t like a bargain, right?

During week 2 of our stay, we decided that as long as we aren’t / weren’t on any schedule, we would stay here for another week. The dock office was agreeable so we signed up.

Later in the day, Mona was looking at the calendar and realized 2 things. First, my birthday would now fall during our Daytona stay and secondly, much to her horror, we would be here for “Bike Week”.

I know y’all know what that means but until you experience the constant low rumble of shiny chromed and painted American two wheelers rolling through the air, you can’t fully appreciate the impact on the senses. It’s like the first spring weekend day in rural Minnesota or Wisconsin when all of a sudden a line of freshly polished bikes go by and set off your car alarm. But in the case of Bike Week, the noise invades your consciousness for the entire day and well into the night.

Confession: when I was younger, I had a number of modified cars, trucks and bikes that featured some pretty wild exhaust systems. I’m sure that I was responsible for many poor souls in my home town being awakened at all hours as I passed through… I never had a chance to apologize for those transgressions…. And now… Paybacks are a B!tch, Baby. I have to just smile and bear my cross…

The number of bikes here is pretty amazing. All shapes, colors and brand names. Most are somewhat stock with a couple of chrome add-ons. But some are highly modded and reworked. A lot of hard earned cash has gone into the individualization of these things.

We’ve seen High Riders, Low Riders, Long Riders and everything in between. There are far more 3 wheelers than I expected. You used to see maybe one 3 wheeler bringing up the rear of a group, usually ridden be a veteran rider who maybe aged out of his 2 wheel baby but still wanted to be part of the scene. Now we see groups of 3 wheelers riding like it’s the preferred vehicle. And a good number of them are powered with V-8’s. Good old American Iron.

Good news, haven’t seen one electric bike… unless you you count E-bikes…

The other event that happened this week was my birthday. I usually spend my birthdays sitting under a palm tree and this one didn’t disappoint. Palm Trees and Eighty Degrees! Enough about that.