I'm getting married next weekend, and instead of doing a "normal" bachelor party, my friends and I decided to do more of a "Bachelor Weekend"... We'll be heading to Clearwater Beach, and doing some deep-ish sea fishing! We also decided that we'd rent some scooters while there, and instead of spending money to rent what i already have, i decided to bring my Ruck with me... this meant i had to make a 3 hour ride from Ocala to Orlando to get my Ruck to my friends house where we'll be leaving from... woohoo!


For those that don't know my Ruckus, heres what i'm traveling on...



Absolutely nothing done to the motor... or back-half of the Ruck other than a lowered seat frame. The front has been 'lightly' dumped in anticipation for what i'll be doing to it. Theres a few other mods here and there, but they don't matter really.

What REALLY matters, is the path my journey will take me this weekend... First leg, is me riding the Ruckus from Ocala, FL down to Orlando, FL.... it is about an 80 mile ride to one of my destinations... while there, i'll be riding all around Orlando running some errands, saying hi to family, etc...

The second leg, is going to be loading the Ruck up into the back of my buddies pickup truck, and driving to Clearwater Beach/Tampa area, where we'll be riding around and enjoying the weekend... while there, we're going on an all day Fishing Charter sorta thing, and hopefully catch something interesting Then its back to Orlando, and then i'll be sorta re-tracing my path to get back to Ocala...

Heres a map of my ride from Ocala to Orlando... or roughly how i plan on going




The map shows me going back north towards orlando, but before i go there, i'll be riding down to casselberry/maitland area, back up to lake mary, then back down to casselberry for the night...



Alright, so here we go on the WEEKEND!!!


First of all... after doing this whole journey, I have a whole new respect for people that long-distance ride their scooters... it may seem "foolish" to some, or "gay" to those who aren't comfortable with their own sexuality or something... but it REALLY takes a lot of balls to ride long distances on something this slow... dealing with people in cars on a motorcycle is tough, but turn that motorcycle into a scooter that can barely get out of its OWN way, and things turn WAY more interesting... i also learned a lot about proper seating position, and how a small angle change in how the seat sits in relation to your legs and butt can affect which parts go numb, and which get really sore... lol!


Now... on with the trip!

When i woke up in the morning, it was really foggy out... so i decided to do a nice little photoshoot of the Ruck...















A little later on in the day, after i was finished packing, it was time to head off! So, i grabbed my new backpack, and took a pic for luck...




Then, it was off on the ride!

I just took a bunch of random pictures on the way to Orlando... didn't really stop for any 'posed' shots or anything. Its blazin hot, and i was trying to get to Orlando before it got TOO hot.. lol!












Self portrait at 41mph... lol!








After a while in the countryside of Florida, i got into a town called The Villages... people are DYING to get into here... haha! j/k... its a VERY cool retirement community, with Golf Cart access to almost anything, and Miles and Miles of roads and more golf courses than you can shake a stick at... Its really a neat area, especially a small village called 'Sumter Landing'... if its still like this when i'm older, i'm moving to it... anyway, just a bunch of golf courses and stuff to look at for now









Almost every major intersection in the place is a round-about... REALLY fun to take the scooter through.. weeee!




The Villages Polo Club... NICE place!








Small sampling of the main street in Sumter Landing... Yea, Golf Carts are everywhere...












And back on the road again...










Then i came into 'historic' Mount Dora... this is a really neat small town with lots of shops and stuff...






This was about halfway in the journey, and just to be safe, i filled the tank up... i had plenty to finish the trip, but why risk it, especially when i'm going into a stretch where there are no gas stations for a looong ways.




I also spied a Met getting its drink on apparently...












If you've ever heard of the Zellwood Corn Festival, here's where its held at...






More golf...




After that golf pic was taken, i came over a crest and into the heavy traffic of Orlando... So i decided to stop riding one-handed with the camera, and put it away to focus on the road and the dumb-ass cagers.

But, i did eventually make it to Orlando It took me about 3 hours and 15 minutes total, only stopping for gas... not bad!

Once there, i headed over to my Dads place in Maitland (Can be seen on that map above)... I had a great lunch with him and my Mom, and ran a few errands with them. After that, i rode north to Lake Mary to see my sister, which was about a 30 minute ride with the horrible traffic... On the way there, i stopped by a fountain, and took a few glamour shots of my Ruck









After leaving my Sisters place, i was able to ride over and meet up with the S2ki Weekly Meet at Uno Grill in Lake Mary... it was a perfect chance to hang out with everyone, since i rarely ever do anymore since i moved to Ocala








Everyone was laughing that i rode this dinky little scooter all the way from Ocala... haha! I gotta say though, at this point i was really happy with the ride, and was looking forward to the return ride actually...


Anyway, after i left Uno, i headed over to my Best Mans house for the night... we'd be leaving the next morning from his place...

Before heading to bed though, i got the chance to laugh at his cat, who LOVES to watch racing on TV... go figure.

 

Alrighty! After a good nights sleep, i'm feeling very refreshed, and ready for the ride to the coast!!! ... sorta... this time the Ruck was able to hitch a ride in Daves truck






And we're off to Clearwater Beach! Its just north of Tampa Bay...




Came across this "new" Camaro... poor thing was already heavily smoking pulling away from stoplights




Entering Clearwater Beach..






The fastest this Ruck has ever gone... haha!







Once at the Beach, we found our hotel, and then decided to head over and collect the scooters that my friends were renting for the rest of the day... So, we unloaded the Ruck, and i rode over there while my friends drove their truck. On the way there, i had to stop at the store and grab some sunscreen... got a sweet shot on the sidewalk...




Here we were renting the scooters... my Best Man wound up with the Zuma...



But the Ruck was cooler




We then rode around for a while, eventually stopping at a little hole in the wall restaurant to eat lunch...






Lunch there wasn't TOO bad... could have been better, but whattya expect from a touristy pos shack with food in it?

After lunch we went back out for some riding... before we left, i parked over by my friends Zuma... i really like the Ruck better. Not to mention, the Ruck was easily able to outrun it... could have just been a crappy tune or something, but i wasn't impressed with it... and i REALLY didn't like the noise it made. I think i'll stick to 4-strokes for a daily ride, and then if i build something for weekend racing or something it'll be a 2-stroke...




Back out riding...





Found another cool spot for a glamour shot...




We also found this neat little boardwalk thing...




After that, we were done with the scooters, and gave back the rentals, and i parked the Ruck... the rest of the night we found a kick-ass all you can eat buffet with crab legs and stuff, and chowed out.


The next day, we woke up and were ready to do some FISHING!!! Yay!


On the way down to the truck, we noticed something quite random though... someone had left a condom on the hood of Daves truck... lol! I would love to know the back-story behind THIS one... hahahaha!




So, we drove to the marina with it on the hood... didn't stay on there long though. lol!





On to the BOAT! We really didn't feel up to spending a thousand dollars chartering a small boat, so we spent a bit less, and chartered a HUGE boat, with 40 other soon-to-be best friends... lol! Yea, its not the boat you'll catch sailfish off of, but you'll catch fish, and still have fun doing it. The boats name is 'Gulf Queen', and its a really neat boat. All aluminum construction, and powered by some honkin' Detroit Diesels... lots of powah!









Then, we set sail for a spot about 20 miles or so offshore!






If i only had the $$$
















Nice rainbow on the way out...




GPS location of roughly where our first fishing spot was offshore... and yes, 'they' have 3G there... haha!
















My biggest fish of the day... a 22inch Grouper! Yay!




The Capt'n doin his thing...




Heading back in!




All the stringers hanging up that everyone caught... lots of the same little fish, but a few REALLY nice ones in there










Our catch waiting to be cleaned...




Dave getting attacked by the pelican when he tried to take its picture... haha!




After the boat trip, we went down to the beach to relax in the water and watch the sunset... It doesn't get much better than this! The water was PERFECT! and the Sunset didn't let us down

 

The next morning, we woke up and lazily made our way back to Orlando... it was a GREAT weekend! Mine wasn't over though, i still had a 3 hour ride ahead of me once we got back to Orlando... haha! And yes, i was STILL looking forward to it

While out in Clearwater, i happened to set my backpack down on the Ruckus, and i noticed that it fit PERFECTLY in the footboard. Also, it has a cool plastic zippered pocket on top that is in the perfect location to hold things, like phones, wallet, camera, etc and still have it easily accessible... AWESOME! This also meant that i wouldn't have to hold the bag on my back, so i'd be a lot more comfy yay!




I didn't take a lot of pics on the way home, because i took the same route, and its more of the same basically... but i DID stop in Sumter Landing once more to snap a couple more pics, and take a riding break...












And thats that! Once i got home, i fell down on the couch... lol! Before i fell asleep though, i gave the stuffed Domo that i bought at 7-11 while in Clearwater to my doberman, Riley... she loves Domo... haha!









And thats it! A great weekend of Ruckin' around, and my first sorta long-distance ride with my Ruck...


... also, this ride is a "last hurrah" for the little 50cc stock motor... once i get back from my Honeymoon, it'll be getting a slight displacement increase

Hope you enjoyed reading about my little adventure... Later!

 

 

nice road trip!

 

Nice trip John! Glad you made it home safely.

Congratulations on the Big Day!!

 

I think I enjoyed the trip almost as much as you did through the pics and commentary
Enjoy the honeymoon and congratulations

 

My ass is sore just reading about that venture. Glad to hear that you had a good and certainly, a memorable time.

 

John...I need to get with you on that S2000 vinyl you have on the ruck...that thing is cool...I want a couple


poor little Domo BTW LOL

 

great trip ... i recognize a lot of those road/places


Looks like you had a great time. I had a very similar batchelor party experience.


Hope to see ya soon