Anyone ridden to Florida and back?

V

Varrus999

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No this is not another route thread! I can use mapquest, google maps..etc.

Was planning on at least overnight (or 2 or 3 or 4 night) trip this year but was looking for twisties. Now I have a friend who might ride down for a wedding and another friend who needs to fly down to pick up his bike and then wants company to ride back up with. So being a good friend I might just do this. So if you've done this run, chime in! Where did you stay after the first stint? I know it will take two days to get there. And of course there are multiple routes when using google, so route advice is not unwelcome!
 
Am doing it with Viper84737 on June 23. You know about the Blue ridge parkway and tail of the dragon right? Those are pretty much the best you'll find East of the rockies by most accounts.

Contact Viper, he's in charge of our map planning and can give you all the deets on the windiest road he could find down and up.
 
There are a ton of good rides on the way south (I say this as I just left South Carolina). The Dragon is okay but other roads are way better riding, less traffic but stuck without an over-hyped PR machine. I you have the time, take US219 all the way down to Virginia. Excellent road, way better than the interstate but be warned - you pass through lots of little towns.
 
did it back in 1997...toronto to key west on my kz650/78. stopped in at daytona for bike week.
 
I keep hearing that Georgia has amazing roads, though I've never been on them. Blood Mountain and Lookout Mountain were highly recommended to me by a few different people. I will say Savannah is one of my favourite cities, I'd recommend a stop there if you have the time.

North of that, I'm sure you've heard of the good roads; Skyline Dr, Blue Ridge Parkway, Deals Gap area. Just keep in mind that the good roads take a significantly longer time to get anywhere than taking the Interstate. For instance, getting to Deals Gap takes me at least two and a half long days if I do the 219-Skyline-BRP route, I can Interstate it in one long day though.

Deals Gap is only a bit more than half way if you're going to Miami. If you're short on time, pick your nice roads carefully.
 
revrandy said:
There are a ton of good rides on the way south (I say this as I just left South Carolina). The Dragon is okay but other roads are way better riding, less traffic but stuck without an over-hyped PR machine. I you have the time, take US219 all the way down to Virginia. Excellent road, way better than the interstate but be warned - you pass through lots of little towns.
Click to expand...

Everyone keeps on saying this, don't know if I agree. For absolutely non stop corner after corner after corner, I have yet to find a better road in that area. There are many nice roads around there of course, I just haven't found anything as tight and twisty as it.

I will agree with the traffic though, on a Sunday afternoon expect to get stuck behind a few people. Did it the same day at 7:30 in the evening and it was dead empty without a single copper
 
antii-florida_rivalry_rags.jpg
 
Folks on advrider.com tried to come up with America's 10 best routes. I summed them up in a file and assigned either a map link or a Wikipedia link to them. Please pick through the collection for the states you plan to ride through; you might find a few interesting places/roads.

http://bearcare.ca/moto/10_best_motoroads.html
 
revrandy said:
There are a ton of good rides on the way south (I say this as I just left South Carolina). The Dragon is okay but other roads are way better riding, less traffic but stuck without an over-hyped PR machine. I you have the time, take US219 all the way down to Virginia. Excellent road, way better than the interstate but be warned - you pass through lots of little towns.
Click to expand...

What about taking the 119 where it splits south of DuBois? Same same?
 
A.K. said:
Folks on advrider.com tried to come up with America's 10 best routes. I summed them up in a file and assigned either a map link or a Wikipedia link to them. Please pick through the collection for the states you plan to ride through; you might find a few interesting places/roads.

http://bearcare.ca/moto/10_best_motoroads.html
Click to expand...

Awesome "cheatsheet". Thanks for posting this....riding down to Florida as well so eavesdroppin on this thread. :D
 
Two days? LoL, heheh... good luck.
It's 1500 KM to Atlanta (almost 1000 miles) one-way.
And Atlanta is 1/2 way from Toronto to Miami apparently (!) I dunno, I've been only maybe 100 KM south of Atlanta.
But I did the Atlanta run twice - once on a CB900F and again on a CX500T (Turbo).
Both very comfy, but it's a long haul in 2 days.
Many hours at 120 KM/H ++.
If you want to do any nice roads at all, and relax yourself even a little bit, you should do 3 days w/ 2 overnights.
Beware of dry Counties in Kentucky.
Coming home, trust me, you're totally glad to see that big bridge when you reach it.
But Toronto is still at least another 4 hours to go!
I-75 is good for just making time - but you guys are going to have to take I-75 to do FLA in 2 days.
There are better roads if you stay east, crossing at Niagara Falls or 1000 Islands.
Take a route that includes the Blue Ridge Parkway (just look at it even on Google Earth - you can see that squiggly road from space).
The US is big.
It can take more than 4 hours just to do the state of Virginia!
Damn, maybe I need to do an Atlanta run...
L8R
 
Gryphon said:
Two days? LoL, heheh... good luck.
It's 1500 KM to Atlanta (almost 1000 miles) one-way.

L8R
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LOL I was thinking the same thing! It's a wishful thinking if they think they can get there faster than a car. My dream is to ride my 350cc motorcycle from Toronto to Alexandria,Virginia where I have family members. My motorcycle's top cruising speed is 115 to 120 km/h to keep the small engine safe, I calculate it's going to take me 2 days just to get there one-way, and that's not even half the way to Florida. I can only ride stints of 4 hours since the bike's seat is not that comfortable, rest for 1 hr and then continue. I plan on doing 500 km a day. I am not riding late at night, I also have to take into account rain, that's more delay for me.
 
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Thanks for all the input.....I'll probably take the Blue Ridge PKWY route...it doesn't seem to far off...even if its crowded it's one place I'd like to check off my list!
 
Gryphon said:
Two days? LoL, heheh... good luck.
It's 1500 KM to Atlanta (almost 1000 miles) one-way.
And Atlanta is 1/2 way from Toronto to Miami apparently (!) I dunno, I've been only maybe 100 KM south of Atlanta.
But I did the Atlanta run twice - once on a CB900F and again on a CX500T (Turbo).
Both very comfy, but it's a long haul in 2 days.
Many hours at 120 KM/H ++.
If you want to do any nice roads at all, and relax yourself even a little bit, you should do 3 days w/ 2 overnights.
Beware of dry Counties in Kentucky.
Coming home, trust me, you're totally glad to see that big bridge when you reach it.
But Toronto is still at least another 4 hours to go!
I-75 is good for just making time - but you guys are going to have to take I-75 to do FLA in 2 days.
There are better roads if you stay east, crossing at Niagara Falls or 1000 Islands.
Take a route that includes the Blue Ridge Parkway (just look at it even on Google Earth - you can see that squiggly road from space).
The US is big.
It can take more than 4 hours just to do the state of Virginia!
Damn, maybe I need to do an Atlanta run...
L8R
Click to expand...

I've done long runs before...Toronto to Vancouver and Toronto to Cabot Trail...I'm pretty good at putting miles on - but you give good advice I should probably factor in an extra day or tell the dude I'm riding back with to meet me somewhere North of FL...
 
I'm about 3 hours from Tampa now and I've learned something: take four or five full days to get down in order to really enjoy and relax and see things. I did it in 3.5 days and I'm wishing that I took an extra one.
 
I rode down in 3.5 days 3 nights in a combination of interstate and fun roads. The interstates weren't fun, but it allowed me to get down in a reasonable amount of time while still having a good time.

I'd suggest going through the Tail of the Dragon and getting some stickers and t-shirts to say that you did it. Same idea as PD13 -- you have to go at least once.

Depending on the time of year, be prepared to be really hot! Georgia and Florida are helmet-optional states. I thought it was really wierd seeing people ride with just the wind in their hair.
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