Tampa R3T Riders Head East in Search of BBQ

I don’t know what it is about seeing a row of Triumph Rocket III motorbikes lined up waiting to roll out, but I sure do like it. And that’s the sight I witnessed this morning in Ruskin/Sun City Center, Florida: Three nice Rocket III Tourings ready to go.

It was brisk when I rolled out to the meeting place—not even 60 degrees yet. The sun was out and the skies were blue—the makings of a perfect day to ride!

I met PreStaged and PaddyO at about 9:30 and my wife rolled up to snap a couple photos. We we’re in the road after a brief discussion about tires and oil (just kidding!).

We departed the Home Depot parking lot in Ruskin/Sun City Center and headed east on the 674 through towns such as Wimauma, Balm, Ft. Lonesome, and Streamsong. This is truly “Old Florida.” Lots of phosphate mining in that area.

We turned north on Hwy 37, then east on Hwy 630. Almost immediately, we turned north on Old Highway 37 and passed through the tiny little town of Bradley Junction.

At Pierce, we went east on Pebbledale Road, them almost immediately turned north on Bonnie Mines Road.

We continued north on Bonnie Mines Road until we hit the 60 and went east for a few miles then turned south on Agricola Road/Hwy 555 right before Bartow. We crossed SR 640 and then turned east at the 630 until we hit Highway 17/98 at the small town of Historic Fort Meade. We rode south for just a few miles to the town of Bowling Green where we stopped to eat at Smokin’ Joe’s BBQ.

It was there that I apologized for all of the railroad crossings—we must’ve gone over a dozen or more! That’s phosphate mining for ya...

Leaving the BBQ place, we went south toward Wachula, turning west onto the 62 and rode across toward Parrish at Hwy 301. That was 40 miles through some cow pastures and citrus groves. Really nice.

We turned north at the 301 and ended up back in Sun City Center at the 674. We all filled up at the WaWa gas station there and said our goodbyes.

This was a nice ride with little traffic, truly great weather and miles and miles of farmland and citrus orchards The entire ride took us under 3 1/2 hours for the 120-mile loop. I enjoyed it very much and I hope they did, too.

I headed home as the other two mapped out the Tail of the Gecko ride. Can’t wait to hear about that!

It was beautiful weather. We’re gonna be blessed with this Fall-style weather until about March.

PaddyO dropped his warm layers at the BBQ joint and I put away my sweatshirt for the rest of the ride.

It was 70 degrees when I rolled back into town. Now THAT is the Florida weather I’ve been waiting for!

As dandiego noted, it was a beautiful day today. This is the kind of weather that makes people come to Florida. I covered 69 miles, mostly interstate, to get to the meet up point. It was 58 degrees when I left the house. I am a Southern boy, so when it is in the fifties, out come the electric socks and glove liners. At 80-85 mph on the interstate, I don't want to get cold. I will confess though, the thermostat was not turned up very high on the electrics. It was a pretty ride through the countryside and pastures. The barbecue was very good and the fellowship with PreStaged and dandiego was even better. My bike is stock with regard to tune, intake, and exhaust. I know that Prestaged has after market pipes and the derestricted tune. I suspect dandiego has done something as well. Dandiego and Prestaged were in front of me, and when they gave it the gas, they really took off! While they had me on performance, I had them on mileage. I got 34.5 mpg on the way down on the interstate, and 40.9 (!) upon filling up after getting to the point where dandiego headed home and Prestaged and I went on to the Tail of the Gecko. I have never gotten that kind of mileage before. A synergistic effect of being with other Rockets, perhaps? While the Tail of the Gecko was pretty and most of the road was barely over one lane in width, the turns were mostly 90 degrees so it was hard to have a lot fun. All told it was a great day and, altogether, I covered 306 miles today. Thanks guys for a great day.

I will be extending an invitation soon and introduce y'all to some real twisties that are available up in my area.

PaddyO said:

My bike is stock with regard to tune, intake, and exhaust.

Click to expand...

Oh, c’mon, Paddy! You have the most modded R3 I’ve ever seen! LOL. PreStaged and I were envious of your light set-up! And everything else you’ve done to that R3T.

Nice riding with you, gents.