MEMORIAL DAY RIDE

I trust you all had a relaxing and fun Memorial Day. Some people I know went to the beach, and some had back yard Bar-B-Q's with family and close friends. I on the other hand elected to go on motorcycle ride organized by the local chapter of The Defenders motorcycle club. The defenders are mainly made up of law enforcement, ems, fire and military. On this Memorial Day, they set up a ride to Bushnell, Florida, the site of Florida's largest National Cemetery. At present, there are over 84,000 veterans buried at this location, dating back as far as the Civil War. The riders met at a rest stop on I-75 and were "kick-stands up" at 8:30 am. There were hundreds of motorcycles entering the interstate under a police escort. It was an awesome sight to see as we pulled into the cemetery and people waved. The bikers parked along the roadway taking up thousands of yards of asphalt. Everyone walked to the ceremony area looking at the identical grave markers in perfect rows. Civil War, WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Korea, Gulf War, all branches of the military, men & women of all religions. It was a humbling experience to look at these markers and know that they died to keep this country...you & me...free. It has been said many times before...""Freedom isn't Free". These people paid that cost, and I for one, am grateful.

There were the very old veterans there and then were small children. People from all ages and walks of life coming together for this brief moment. You watched all that was going on and you realized that there could be some hope for patriotism in our country when you see grandparents and parents bringing their small children to this ceremony and giving them the understanding of what it all means and that one day it will be them that carries on the tradition. I didn't take any of my pro-cameras with me, now wishing I had. But with my little point and shoot, I spotted this little Brownie. She was looking over her uniform and was very proud of her merit badges. She planted her American Flag in the ground and stood reverently as the VFW Color Guard prepared to present the colors. I wondered if one day this little girl would become a soldier and protect our country because of what she learned today. If so, like all of our men and women in the armed forces and in law enforcement, I prayed for their safety. After the songs were sung, the speeches, the fly overs, the bag pipes playing Amazing Grace, a 21 gun salute and taps echoing over the grounds, we walked quietly back to our bikes and mounted up.

We were off to have lunch and laugh over the incredible mess made on our bikes by the "love-bugs". I hope you had a good Memorial Day Holiday. If you did, next time you see a serviceman/woman or a police officer, thank them for protecting your right to have a day like Memorial Day.

Be safe, Cyaz

Woodys

After that incredible week end, it is pretty hard to take a bike ride and top that. But, braving any rain...ya'rite...and the smoke, I headed down south to go check out a couple of trailer dealers. While at the Leesburg show, I got the itch to look at "Toy-Haulers". That's a RV travel trailer that has a drop down rear wall, that allows you to dive your bike inside. Anyway, on the way back, I stopped in a little township called Ellenton and a place there called "Woody's River Roo Pub & Grill". This is a cool little out of the way place that sits on the water. It is a marina and boat bar, but...the rascally bikers have discovered it and on any given weekend. The place is full of weekend warriors. You can always spot a biker friendly bar when you see a special parking area just for bikes! When I got there, there were about 30 bikes already in the lot. The seating is mostly out door, with a limited amount of in door tables. The patio is pretty cool though. All the tables have umbrellas and there are mist fans blowing. There are a few tables out around a Tiki Bar on the jetty where the boaters moor.

In the main patio area, there is a stage, and they have live music. The whole scene is pretty laid back and comfortable. The food is pretty good. Most things I saw coming out looked good and was of a good portion.

Over all, a nice spot and someplace I will be going again. I think I will start my own reviews of these places. I give Woody's a 4 wheels rating.

Until next time...cya!

Leesburg Bikefest Was a Blast!!

Well my long awaited 4 day trip to the Leesburg BikeFest is now history. It was a blast. Good music, food, drink, good looking bikes and better looking women!! I took an RV and had a nice base of operations. I couldn't begin to tell how many bikes of every kind, were there. I now it was into many thousands! Some of the big big makers showed up with some pretty cool looking designs. One Rats Hole entry is seen here. I saw this red trike on the road and it is loud and fast!

There were a lot of the custom builders there, showing off some new designs and concepts. First, I don't know how you could drive some of them, let alone afford one. Some of the price tags would knock your biker boots off!

The streets filled up fast each day. Bikes only on Main Street were they would park on each side on the street and then down the middle of the road. This was the case for about a dozen city blocks. That's not counting the side streets, parking lots and private parking. It was jammed packed from morning until late night. But, always well controlled and organized.

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And then there was the Ms. Leesburg Bikefest contest on Friday night. Not to shabby. I wasn't able to get there soon enough to get up front, so I had to settle for breaking out the 200mm lens and shoot from afar. I still managed to get a few good images.

I didn't post all 12 of the gals...you can see more on my website, http://www.mwsphoto.com/ .

There were stages set up everywhere! On the main stage Saturday night was "Quite Riot", a band out of the 80's that is still making music today! They put on a pretty good show with some new music as well as some old hits.

I can write enough about how much I enjoyed this event. The entire "old Main Street" district is converted to a biker city. The event staff counld not have been any more freindly or helpful. There were every food concession known to man there too. I hope to make it an annual trip each year. My next toy needs to be my own "toy-hauler RV trailer". c-yaz!.

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