The Journal. Los Angeles to Daytona...

Day 16 – This is It – Daytona to Orlando

This was our last day of riding as the bikes were needed to be returned today, glum. We left the Leather and Lace clubhouse with clear blue skies above, grabbed a glorious breakfast at the same country diner we had dinner at the night before and afterwards rode on to Daytona, our real end destination, Orlando is just the drop off for the bikes. Daytona has a special place in the hearts of petrol heads. The home of the International Speedway which opened in 1959 and whilst hosting the Daytona 500, the whole area to the beach is a mecca for people to stop, as was our pull to do the same.

It’s Saturday and many bikes were on the road, or was my alertness to bikes more acute as I was preparing to hand mine back, not sure, but the sun was out and we were heading to the beach.

Greeted by clear white sands and rolling blue waters we took pictures, talked with locals who like so
many on our trip, queried as to our journey, and headed to the legendary speedway. I had not been here for over twenty years and the grandstands are massive structures towering above the car lots, and obviously the track. You can now take guided tours of the track and grounds, so much is the popularity of the circuit.

Heading down the 4, West, which seemed strange as we had been driving east for the last two weeks we rode to Orlando. Bikes checked back in, we bid farewell to our trusty bikes and off to our hotel to offload and sort belongings out. The evening was spent having dinner at the Fish on Fire restaurant, a real opportunity to have more than one beer, as there is no riding in the morning as well as a much deserved lie in, we ate good, chatted lots and picked out the highlights from the trip and what would be the next road adventures.

For this trip we had covered 3,160 miles from Los Angeles to Orlando, we deliberately avoided taking the straightforward route, instead seeking the back roads, the people, the culture and hospitality and we were not disappointed. The bikes were superb, possibly not everyone choice, but hey ho. I am not prejudiced in any way when it comes to bikes, so long as it has two wheels. More two wheel journeys are already being muted and my experience of such road trips is that they are addictive, so many roads and so little time.

Laner
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