I was wide awake during a recent lunch break, a consideration that got me riding the Bonneville around Key West in the middle of the night taking pictures. First stop: Key west High School Auditorium, home of frequent plays and concerts. This year work got in the way and I managed to miss their Christmas event.
Key West High School has been going through some ructions lately when a popular teacher got himself in hot water with some risque teaching techniques. A former teacher of the year and winner of the Wolkowski award the teacher was found to be using suggestive language to elucidate aspects of English grammar. His fate hangs in the balance but the bets are he is going to be fired, and they have had protests and endless letters to the editor and all that sort of thing. Then he, or his lawyer, it wasn't clear to me who said it exactly, made the devastating statement that he had to descend to the gutter to educate minority kids at their level. That statement pretty much settled his hash amid further howls of recrimination and accusation.
Then I rode over to Higgs beach, my favorite nighttime destination and stopped by the African Cemetery for some peace and quiet. Instead it turns out some sonar operating intellectual has discovered there may be more bodies buried underneath parts of the neighboring dog park... That's a conundrum no one wants to deal with. The cemetery is a symbolic fixture here to represent the Africans who died after being rescued from a Havana bound slaver. They were brought to Key West where the Post Master (the only vaguely Federal official available) looked after them while the Feds ignored these people. Eventually, a much impoverished Post Master got them on a ship back to Africa, those that didn't die in the whole miserable fiasco.
The cemetery is completed and is quite beautiful- it's definitely worth a look and a meditation if you get to Key West. Then I took this picture looking east up Atlantic Avenue. The red light is at White Street, at the end of the Pier. I took all these pictures hand held and either in slow shutter speed mode or on the "P" (professional auto) setting.
I was going to take a picture at the southernmost point but there were some people there farting about, so I left them to it as I will always have another opportunity, and I stopped instead at this worn out apartment complex at the end of Whitehead Street. I run a standard bike with factory mufflers so it's not disruptive around town at three in the morning. 
I find this building evocative, with its bare cement stairs, boarded up windows and palm trees. It looks like something African to me, but the inevitable Key West sign gives away the true location.
My 2007 Bonneville has has almost 47,000 miles on it and runs like a train. It is the best motorcycle I have owned in 40 years. Seen here looking down Whitehead Street toward Olivia Street.
I ambled round the corner on Truman for a picture alongside these lovely Conch cottages.
Some guy and his girlfriend were unloading a truck rather nosily in Polish I think, or Uzbek so I crossed the street for a shot of this church, one of dozens scattered across the city.
The Bonneville is an easy ride, easy to start with a light clutch and effective brakes. It is handy and not too heavy even though it's close to 500 pounds. This ease of use and simplicity leads some people to describe it as bland, and in a world filled with extravagant super bikes an air cooled 60 horse power twin doesn't amount to much in the bragging stakes. However it looks good, it runs a s smooth as silk and it can out perform most cars on the road and it fits easily into a moped sized parking slot. It is the ideal Florida Keys ride, powerful enough to cross the state or the country, easy enough to encourage daily riding.
I am convinced some engineer at the Hinckley factory in England sat around one afternoon day-dreaming of a new bike. "What do you suppose Michael would like?" the engineer asked himself. "Why, a new Bonneville of course..." and so they built it starting at the beginning of the new century. And very glad I am too, because it does make an excellent machine to tour Key West, as you can see.
Key West High School has been going through some ructions lately when a popular teacher got himself in hot water with some risque teaching techniques. A former teacher of the year and winner of the Wolkowski award the teacher was found to be using suggestive language to elucidate aspects of English grammar. His fate hangs in the balance but the bets are he is going to be fired, and they have had protests and endless letters to the editor and all that sort of thing. Then he, or his lawyer, it wasn't clear to me who said it exactly, made the devastating statement that he had to descend to the gutter to educate minority kids at their level. That statement pretty much settled his hash amid further howls of recrimination and accusation.
Then I rode over to Higgs beach, my favorite nighttime destination and stopped by the African Cemetery for some peace and quiet. Instead it turns out some sonar operating intellectual has discovered there may be more bodies buried underneath parts of the neighboring dog park... That's a conundrum no one wants to deal with. The cemetery is a symbolic fixture here to represent the Africans who died after being rescued from a Havana bound slaver. They were brought to Key West where the Post Master (the only vaguely Federal official available) looked after them while the Feds ignored these people. Eventually, a much impoverished Post Master got them on a ship back to Africa, those that didn't die in the whole miserable fiasco.The cemetery is completed and is quite beautiful- it's definitely worth a look and a meditation if you get to Key West. Then I took this picture looking east up Atlantic Avenue. The red light is at White Street, at the end of the Pier. I took all these pictures hand held and either in slow shutter speed mode or on the "P" (professional auto) setting.I was going to take a picture at the southernmost point but there were some people there farting about, so I left them to it as I will always have another opportunity, and I stopped instead at this worn out apartment complex at the end of Whitehead Street. I run a standard bike with factory mufflers so it's not disruptive around town at three in the morning. I find this building evocative, with its bare cement stairs, boarded up windows and palm trees. It looks like something African to me, but the inevitable Key West sign gives away the true location.
My 2007 Bonneville has has almost 47,000 miles on it and runs like a train. It is the best motorcycle I have owned in 40 years. Seen here looking down Whitehead Street toward Olivia Street.
I ambled round the corner on Truman for a picture alongside these lovely Conch cottages.
Some guy and his girlfriend were unloading a truck rather nosily in Polish I think, or Uzbek so I crossed the street for a shot of this church, one of dozens scattered across the city.
The Bonneville is an easy ride, easy to start with a light clutch and effective brakes. It is handy and not too heavy even though it's close to 500 pounds. This ease of use and simplicity leads some people to describe it as bland, and in a world filled with extravagant super bikes an air cooled 60 horse power twin doesn't amount to much in the bragging stakes. However it looks good, it runs a s smooth as silk and it can out perform most cars on the road and it fits easily into a moped sized parking slot. It is the ideal Florida Keys ride, powerful enough to cross the state or the country, easy enough to encourage daily riding.I am convinced some engineer at the Hinckley factory in England sat around one afternoon day-dreaming of a new bike. "What do you suppose Michael would like?" the engineer asked himself. "Why, a new Bonneville of course..." and so they built it starting at the beginning of the new century. And very glad I am too, because it does make an excellent machine to tour Key West, as you can see.
We wandered off around the grassy open space and I saw this woman straining to talk to me, so we obliged and ambled over to engage her in conversation. Actually it was her 5 month old puppy who wanted to harass Cheyenne and so they got together while the woman and I exchanged pleasantries. Not what riepe means by pleasantries, because she was a nice visitor from Michigan and I limited myself to giving her some useful tips about where she might walk her rambunctious dog to let off steam properly.
Apparently having lived in Fort Myers for a summer she decided Florida was too hot a place to live and she fled back up north to the Rust Belt. I started out explaining how Ft Myers, where I tried living for a while until the Fundamentalists chased my sorry atheist ass out with pitchforks, is hot and sticky whereas the keys aren't nearly so tough. Then I thought better of it- no point in encouraging people to come is there? Not even babes with cute dogs.
However yesterday was not a day to be churlish and everyone should have been in the Keys enjoying a glorious day. As it was there were thousands out on Highway One cluttering up the roadway. They were racing the Ragnar Relay, some sort of benefit for multiple sclerosis according to their website. 
There were 325 teams of 12 runners and three volunteers, which if my mathematical calculations are correct amounts to about 5,000 people sweating and being supported in their sweating on the public roadway.
It seems they left Crandon Park, Key Biscayne (in Miami) between 7am and 5pm in series of staggered starts and the idea was to run all day and all night to Key West's Southernmost Hotel on Duval Street.
Cheyenne and I were happily ambling around smelling this and that.
Others were rather more intense in their movements.
And they are going to be busy next week too for the seafood festival in Bayview Park in Key West January 15th. I went last year and got bored standing around in line to eat seafood, widely available anyway, standing up. It wasn't my idea of fun but lots of people love it.
Galloping around the Keys in running shoes is apparently lots of people's idea of fun. I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I would rather eat crushed glass than be seen motoring around looking like this:
Teams called Soul Mates, Dim Wits, Breastees and Testees and so forth were all listed as running the race. Silliness in a good cause.
This is more my idea of travel through the Keys, though I would look really stupid with ape hanger handlebars. I've never considered airing my armpits to be one of life's little pleasures. 
This cluster at Sugarloaf Middle School was one of the checkpoints, and they did stop cars from time to time with flaggers but they were astonishingly unobtrusive and kept the traffic flowing.
I have to confess I was quite proud of myself, when I was the first person at the table to notice that Chuck (left) and Wayne (right) were dressed like twins. I thought they looked rather cute but apparently the nearly matching outfits are a faux pas, amongst people who care about such things, including the wearers.. 
I had a Guinness which came with a proper glass, my wife had a Red Stripe Light while Therese had herself a Corona which came in Mason jars. Chuck ordered a Yuengling which was off the menu for some reason.
Service came with cheerful northern brashness which was rather nice for a change though my wife was grumbling about not getting her extra hot sauce as I recall. I was happy enough at my corner of the round table and the view was splendid.
We also got some fish in two orders of fresh tacos, which went down well.
And the quesadillas brought heft to the table. 
The Lobster Rueben was a runner up, skipped to allow for more tacos I think. We had a table full of food. The Boys In Lime look rather more serious in this picture than they were in real life.
