"Check out this article."

It started innocently enough. My brother sent me a link about Hans Stuck driving again at the 12 Hours of Sebring race.

Only a couple of months before Hans had come up at random in a conversation I had with my brother. A number of years ago when my brother and I both owned BMW ///M powered cars BMW had put on a party for owners of those cars. We had gone and BMW had provided in a great way. One of the things BMW had done was to provide access to meet, greet, and get to know its factory team of drivers. My brother used one of the posters BMW provided to collect their signatures. He had all but Hans Stuck. Somehow he had just missed getting Hans to sign even though Hans was there and a lot of fun to talk to.

Now Hans would be at a known place and a known time that was accessible. On any given year I have a number of friends who would be there. Unfortunately time was short and timing would be critical if we were to get it done at Sebring. I put out a feeler to a couple of listserve groups I'm on to see who was there or going to be there. None of the usual suspects was going this year. Then a guy I barely knew from one list contacted me to say he was there.

This started Thursday night with me posting but I hadn't heard back from Jeff at the track until I got up Friday morning. If my brother had the poster with him at work he could get it shipped down in time. Conversations between me and Jeff continued until he uttered that fateful phrase. "I can get you in." By then it was Friday afternoon. The race was the next day starting at 10:30 am.

I quickly checked Mapsource. From my house in Dandridge, TN to the race track at Sebring, FL showed 750 miles. Estimated time for the trip was 11 hours. I had just changed the oil on my bike that very morning and checked over the rest. I knew it was ready to roll. I told Jeff I was coming and hoped to leave within the hour.

As quickly and smoothly as I could I jammed some clothes into a small bag. My compact tent, brand new sleeping pad, and what passes for a sleeping bag for me; a sleeping bag liner. A few other items including my camera made their way onto the bike. I had only put about 200 miles on the tank of gas so I had close to 200 more before I would need to fill up. I rolled out at 3:00 pm figuring when I stopped for gas it would be "dinner time" by default.

The ever notorious traffic in Asheville, NC slowed me some but I was going counter to the majority of the early rush hour traffic. Before long traffic was moving briskly and I watched the arrival time estimate wind backwards on my GPS.

The highlights of my trip were: I-40 E to I-26 E to I-95 S to I-4 W to US-27. Of course as I grew most tired and closed in on the track things got more complex.

Turn left onto Road
Turn right onto SE Lakeview Dr
Turn right onto Kenilworth Blvd
Turn right onto Midway Dr
Bingo. Sebring International Raceway

If my GPS ever died on one of my trips I'd be in real trouble. I never even look at a map and rarely check the route my GPS plans for me. I find I have some interesting minor adventures that way. It didn't die and I arrived at the track at 3:00 am. I did not have a ticket or pass so I couldn't get in. I found a grassy parking lot I could access and tossed my small tent up next to the bike. I only managed about 2 1/2 hours of sleep before activity picked up and woke me up. Not sure I was allowed to be there I packed up. The dew had drenched everything. I stowed things on the bike and moved around some to watch people and wait for Jeff to call me. I set up over at the registration building so I would be easy to find.

Watching people come and go was good entertainment while I waited. Most of the people I saw I suspect were just fans. Some were members of race teams, and clearly there were a number of young girls who would be working various hospitality tents. I'm sure I made a spectacle myself dressed in my red and blue Aerostich suit sitting on my giant GSA. At least one photographer took a shot for his son. I know this because he asked permission and took the picture even though I assured him I was nobody.

I called Jeff at 7:45 since I couldn't wait much longer. I was tired and sitting on the bike some more was not on top of my list of things to do. Jeff came and rescued me within minutes. He handed me the credentials and a t-shirt similar to the race teams' to help me blend in. Motorcycles were excluded from most of the track. Thanks all you morons out there on bikes. Jeff gave me a ride on his golf cart to the Patron Highcroft Racing trailers where he was part of the team. He introduced me to Chris who loaded me onto another golf cart and took me to their hospitality tent and got me a huge breakfast and COFFEE.

As my tired mind started to become more aware I realized the vintage race was just ending. My camera and I headed quickly for the track exit those racers would be using. Without much comment these are the cars I managed to capture. Each links to a larger picture. If you use the links on those pages you'll find yourself lost in the pictures so using the back key is helpful.

Yes, I am partial to vintage BMWs if you noticed more of those. The guy figuring prominently in my pictures made this more of a chore than it needed to be. He seemed to think the drivers would let him stand inches from them as they passed by. The drivers wisely moved farther and farther away from him and thus me.

As the main event approached I tried various vantage points. I wasn't feeling up to hiking around like I really wanted. In fact I never ventured over to "the other side" as I found several race teams called it. A surprising number of people I spoke with had never ventured over. If I'd had more sleep and general rest I most definitely would have wandered around over there. I include some rare photos of the BMW race cars on the track. Albeit resting. ;->

Next to race control the building is 3 stories tall and there's a small space on a stairway on the back to see turn one and part of the front straight.

It wasn't long before I could get another close up look at the BMW race cars. Well, one in particular.

I wandered around the paddock area randomly throughout much of the race. I watched a little but mostly watched the activity in the paddock to figure out who had big problems. I could get updates in Patron's hospitality tent and saw that their car was doing well. Unfortunately they quickly lost radio contact with their car. Eventually the car suffered a catastrophic failure in its gear box but it was fairly late in the race and they'd done quite well. I'll have to check the standings but I suspect they finished more laps than many cars that finished the race. My tired brain never took a picture of the car with bodywork on. >sigh<

I slept some more after the race in spite of the wild parties going on. Sunday morning was quite a bit drier and it didn't take long for my tent and bike to dry in the sun. I snacked a little, packed up my stuff, and rolled in to lend a hand with packing up the team. Nobody challenged me taking the bike in now. The team didn't require me to help but it makes me feel better to help out the folks who made my trip so much more fun. By Sunday morning I hadn't spent money on anything but the gas and food for the ride down.

It wasn't until I was away from the race track that I closed my helmet's outer visor for the first time that day. When I parked my bike by the trailers I stuck my helmet onto the mirror. It was left facing the sun and the sun had completely crazed my Fog City visor liner. I couldn't get it loose without much effort so I was committed to riding with the outer visor up and only my flip down sunshade inside my helmet. That was dumping way too much dust into my eyes and when I hit some rain I was really unhappy. I had had my fill of interstate coming down and with my visor problems I quickly set my GPS to avoid interstates once again. I have friends and family in Daytona Beach and that would be right on the way. Just a couple of shots along the way.

My first stop in Daytona would be at Chuck's. I haven't seen him in a year or so and figured a nice visit and the use of a knife to remove my crazed visor would be just the ticket. His house looked empty so I called his cell phone. He was out of town for several days but offered the use of his house anyway. He told me where I could find the key to his Aft Cabin on the intercoastal. About the time I discovered the key wasn't where he said it was he called me back to say his friend George had the key since he was taking care of things there. In no time George showed up. He got me in and comfortable then asked if I needed a ride anywhere. It was raining again so I told him if he'd take me to a drug store and somewhere to eat I'd buy dinner. I got my drugs (acid reflux and I forgot my pill box when I packed and left.) He declared he was taking me somwhere to get some home cooking. Then he took me to his mother's house and fed me something straight off the stove. It was delicious, his mother was a hoot and wanted me to take her for a ride some time. I'm pretty sure at nearly 85 years old she couldn't get aboard my 38" high back seat. George then took me out to shoot pool and have a couple of beers. George is a little camera shy.

The next day I visited a helmet shop to see if I could get a new face shield and fog liner of some make. My rare helmet made it impossible to find one though. I ate breakfast next to a Harley shop then stopped in to see if they had one of their new Bluetooth communicators I could check out. They didn't. A1A is a great road in my opinion so I set out to follow it as far up the coast as possible or until I got up as high as Myrtle Beach.

The first notable place I spotted was St. Augustine. It was still sprinkling on and off so I just shot a couple of quick shots from the handicap parking area and was on my way again.

This was on the road approaching the St. John's River Ferry. A nice little ride for $3.00 and a chance to stretch my legs again. By this time I was starting to think lunch would be good. After chatting with a few people on a short ferry ride I rolled up to Amelia Island.

In a few of these pictures I think I was trying to show something on my GPS. Sun glare made that tougher, other times my flash would fire and give me glare. I've had better trips shooting my GPS. My shadow wasn't as constant a companion as I would have liked. The weather was a little drizzly at times.

I stopped for lunch on Amelia Island at a place called Slider's. It was oceanfront so I sat out and watched the ocean go wild. It wasn't perfect out there but still nice enough. I ordered a grouper sandwich and took my waitress' suggestion to go with fried. It was delicious and I got steamed vegetables instead of french fries to make up for it. The group at the next table asked about what I was wearing and then what I was doing. They acted like they would enjoy doing that. I picture them doing that in a limo but not on a bike. Still it was a nice conversation.

Staying off the interstates really lets me see much more of the countryside I'm driving through. I love some of the stately old houses. I passed at least one I would have called an antebellum mansion but the road carved within a few feet of the front porch and the roadbed was some 15 feet lower. No chance to get a picture safely.

Next up was a brief stop at Tellulah Gorge in Georgia. I had hoped to find a place to get some food at this tourist stop but most places are still closed for the winter season. The gift shop was open and the woman working it chatted with me for a while. She told me where I could hope to get good barbecue "just 20 miles up the road." Hm. 20 miles was more like 30 but I found the place. It was in Georgia just below the NC border so I had high hopes of finding a good vinegar based sauce. No such luck. Dang.

Pretty soon I was following 441 through the Smoky Mountain National Forest. Back on familiar territory for me. I'm nearly home now.

Considering the amount of gear I have on board my bike looks pretty neat. Only my sleeping pad is too large to fit inside a side case. If I go wandering and doing a lot more camping this summer I will have to carry a few more things. That'll take some more planning. I also want to rig up real cruise control. I've been waiting hoping to spot a really good solution but the only complete solution I've seen falls short and costs dearly. HEY BMW, PUT CRUISE ON THESE THINGS ALREADY WOULDJA?

One quick self portrait still in the park and I'm done.

For those folks who know what to do with it: GPX file from my Zumo 550

I know if you download the gpx file you can load it on Google Earth. For me it stops letting me do anything with it in short order.

This is saved from Google Earth: Googe Earth kmz file