It usually gets to be about this time of year when I start dreaming about being some place warmer where the days are not 50-60° and gloomy (yes I know if you live anywhere farther north than the deep south 50 is not cold, but it is to us). One of our favorite spots to go this time of year is the Florida Keys. We have made more than a dozen trips down there over the years but a few years ago we did something different and road our motorcycles from Auburn Alabama to Key West Florida.
You may be saying big deal, who cares, but if you have never ridden a bike, or haven’t ridden more than about 50 miles at a time on a bike, it was a pretty big deal to us. It is about 850 miles from here to there, and by car, usually takes us two days if we stop in Orlando. That means long driving time in short light, and cold. It was a great trip, and goal achieved, but one of the best and most memorable trips we have taken down to the keys (other than this one). We didn’t make it all the way to Orlando the first night, and we only made it to Islamorada the second night, so it was a whole lot of very sore riding by the time we made it to Key West, but a memory I wouldn’t trade for anything.
So there are a few shots done with a point-n-shoot a few years ago, one while I was riding next to Deb while she was on her Honda Shadow VLX 600. I was riding a Honda Nighthawk 750 at the time and loved to take pics of Deb while she was riding (of course). We took many trips on these two motorcycles but this one trip to the Florida Keys was one of our favorite, and in one of our favorite spots in the country.
8 responses to “Long Ride to Florida and Key West by Motorcycle”
[…] Southeast The South is full of good company, good food, and good riding. Start in Virginia with the Shenandoah Valley; then move on to some rides in the Smokies in North Carolina and Tennessee. More stellar riding can be had around Charleston, South Carolina, in northern Georgia, and in the Florida Keys. […]
Hi
A very inspiring site, I enjoy motorbiking myself and have not yet made my first long ride, the furthest I have gone is about 100 miles, although reading your story has certainly got me thinking about taking the plunge and doing my first long ride.
Ian
[…] This image was actually taken by me on my motorcycle riding next to Deborah. I love that this image was taken with a disposable 35mm film point and shoot camera. It’s always been one of my favorite out of almost a million images, and it was literally just a snapshot in time when we rode down to the keys on our bikes. […]