The following is Scott Fais' weekly blog detailing discoveries made while traveling through Florida and along the road of life.
My mom sports one rule to live by: "Don't put your body parts places they don't belong."
The end result? By following her advice, you won't get hurt. Makes sense, right?
Although we were allowed to ride bikes, climb trees, water ski and snow ski, riding a motorcycle was on the taboo list.
I was a little hesitant on accepting this week's story assignment. In order to get the "full effect" and bring you the complete experience, I knew climbing aboard was something I couldn't avoid. But using mom's advice, we played it safe.
Instead of riding on the back of the bike with a 30-pound TV camera on my shoulder, we utilized a "chase car," just like a movie set in Hollywood. Editor Bill Coughlin took a break from producing our "This Day in Central Florida History" segments and climbed behind the wheel. He drove while I shot video from inside our news car. "Billy" as I call him, did a great job as we tagged along with the local "Hogs," literally.
Members from the Orlando Harley Owners Group rode with us as we experienced the new Olde Florida Ride. The route designed for two-wheeled site seeing starts in the Daytona Beach / Ormond Beach area and then ends at the Orlando Harley-Davidson Historic Factory Dealership.
Amanda Blyth with Orlando Harley-Davidson told me the goal of this year's Bike Week is to return to the basics: get out of the bar and get on your bike.
"The whole concept of bike week was that you could come down to Florida in March, when it's dreary and miserable up north, and you could ride around and enjoy the beautiful Florida countryside," Blyth explained.
And that is exactly what we did. A dozen bikers from the Orlando Harley Owners Group and one Ford Escape from "the Newschannel" traveled 185 miles round trip in pursuit of capturing the essence of the "Olde Florida Ride."
Billy and I joked we were joining a bikers gang. In fact, we met a hardcore biker.
"Some call me 'Dirt Bike,'" Jeff Kerutis boasted. However, the "bad boy" image of this furniture maker was quickly shattered.
"More of the bad boy bikers are clean cut in a sense," Jeff explained. "They (bikers) are business people. They (non-riders) are very surprised to find out what these people do. They still have the personification of being the bad boy biker, because it is their escape on the weekend."
Using no main highways, freeways, toll ways or turnpikes, this ride cuts through forests, swamps, grasslands, farmlands and towns so small, you would be hard pressed to find them on a map.
Rider Chantel Natale said her favorite part of the trek was just "being free" of the phone, the computer and other hassles of life. In fact, Chantel asked herself, could she move from suburbia and become a country girl?
"It's beautiful," Chantel said. "Could I live this life? You know, away from everything? It really seems like that would be a good choice."
Chantel wasn't alone. Many of the riders told me once we left civilization behind, they were able to realize what the Sunshine State looked like 100 years ago.
"It's all about winding curves, hills, panoramic vistas and not sitting in traffic," Blyth said summing it up.
About three hours into our ride on the back roads, we stopped high atop Sugarloaf Mountain, the state's second highest point above sea level at 312 feet.
"This is why we do this. You can see all the way downtown," Bart Farmer exclaimed. Bart is one of the men responsible for mapping out the Olde' Florida Ride.
He's right. The view was amazing. And so was the ride. It was here where I climbed aboard my first motorcycle.
Thinking of mom, I wore a helmet as I climbed aboard a double seater and went for a spin with an experienced biker. Billy gave me a smirk as I hopped on and we headed down the mountain. It was great. I held on tight not only to the handles, but also to our new HD-ready AG-HVX200P. The "littler" hand-held camera is light weight and perfect for shooting in tight situations (see the slideshow above where I am crammed in the backseat of the car).
When I returned from the ride, Billy quietly asked, "What would your mom say?" as he took the camera from me.
Good question. What was mom's reaction when I finally told her? She actually got excited and wanted to know what I thought! Apparently mom rode a few motorcycles when she was younger. In fact, my grandmother also expressed enthusiasm for the ride. Needless to say, I was stunned.
You'll find the "The Olde Florida Ride" stunning too. The trail can be enjoyed on a bike or in a car. And it's always available and requires no admission ticket.
As for getting a tattoo? Billy wanted me to come back with a skull from the tattoo parlor we passed. I sided with a pair of leather chaps instead.
Until next week, safe travels.
-SCOTT
Getting a tattoo is something Scott Fais’ mother still forbids. Drop him a note about your favorite experience at Bike Week or other great places to take a ride. Drop him a line atsfais@cfnews13.com.