Occasionally, someone submits something that I need to find space for in the limited pages we can afford to print each month. And Joe’s poem I felt would be enjoyed by all who read and ride. Thank you for the submission, Joe, this is exactly how we all feel about “The Ride.” Enjoy the read, try a new highway and don’t forget your sunscreen!

TALE OF TWO
by Joseph J. Vandruska
Orange City, FL

Pack my bags, get ready to go.
Harley’s idling, ready to roll.
The route’s been planned, from dawn to dusk.
Rest stops here and there, for both of us.
Open road ahead, sites to be seen.
As we continue on, feeling serene.
Waterfalls, mountains, people and towns.
As the old Harley don’t let me down.
Heat from my bike, while sitting at a light.
Heat from the sun, and its glare so bright.
Pass through cold pockets, chill the skin.
The tunnels through the trees, rays of light filter in.
A smile on my face, the excitement I’m feeling.
Tears from my eyes, winds rushing by.
Keep gas in her tank, food and drink in my belly.
The headlight takes over, when daylight is gone.
So, my Harley keeps moving along.
A tent and bedroll, when the day is done.
The Harley’s resting now, so am I,
But in the morning, we’ll be ready to fly.
Me and my Harley, till the day I die.

by Jeani G.

On January 18th a celebration of life was held for Russell “Grizzly” Grandshaw, or as many of you know him, the “Beef Jerky King”. His beloved Linda “Mother Nature” hosted the beautiful event at the Seminole Fraternal Order of Eagles #4147 in St. Petersburg, FL.

Originally from upstate New York, Grizzly was a Veteran who proudly served in the US Navy as a Hull Maintenance Technician Fireman (HTFN). He settled in Pinellas Park Florida where he owned and operated a successful roofing business and he and Linda became longtime residents and motorcycle enthusiasts. Grizzly was larger than life … he always had a welcoming, infectious smile for friends and strangers alike. He loved to cook and often did so for community and charity events where he’d feed hundreds of people, as well as get-togethers with friends! Grizzly made the best beef jerky by far … unique in that he thinly sliced sirloin bottom round and smoked it in actual wood-burning ovens.

Gator Ken and I first met Grizzly and Linda about 26 years ago at Nova Campground in Port Orange during Bike Week; we had so much fun riding, watching concerts, cooking and telling stories around the campfire, that we all kept the same campsites for many years and became fast friends. Our group of campers included Foot & Kim, Doug & Connie, Al & Sharon, Steve & Bev, Ed & Jeri, Billy & Susie, Fred & Mary, Shovelhead & Deb, Brenda & Eddie, Junkyard, Buzz, Dawn, Tina, Frankie and too many more to mention. Over the years, we’ve lost several friends from this group, but they all live on within our hearts and memories.

It was really nice to see and catch up with our Nova Campground crew albeit the circumstances … so many wonderful memories of the great times we shared … ride free Grizzly, you’re forever in our hearts! More pictures from the day can be found on Thunder Roads Florida Facebook page – just look under photos for the album called “Grizzly’s Celebration of Life Jan2025”.

By Lulu

Each month one of our ad client’s that has a monthly or weekly Bike Event is scheduled for a Twisted Tea Party. In March, right after Bike Week we scooted over to Sorry Charlie’s for their Thursday night Bike Night that features live music. We had a special treat as Keg Country was singing the night away. We played strongest woman and strongest man games; beautiful Katye sampled several types of Twisted Tea for the crowd including my new favorite Twisted Tea Lite. You can’t get it everywhere, but you can at Sorry Charlie’s!! The next party will be at Goodfellas Beer & Wine in Edgewater on Saturday, April 19th, from 7-10pm, live music, beer bucket specials, food truck and $3 Twisted Tea that night. Come out and play. More photos from Sorry Charlie’s party are on Thunder Roads Florida Facebook.

by Jeani G.

If you’re looking to spend a great time with friends or to meet new ones, take a country ride out to Long’s Log Cabin Bar, a quaint hometown bar tucked away in the center of Welaka. This historic bar is Biker/Veteran owned by Waylon and Tonya who are just wonderful people, and they truly support their locals, Veterans, bikers, and live music.

We stopped in on February 15th when the band Penta rocked the stage with their brand of classic rock, 70’s/80’s and funk sound. The place was absolutely packed with locals and folks from afar. There were three birthday parties going on: Brandi, Paul, and Mary Jane. Lots of folks hit the dance floor, while the staff cheerfully served up ice cold beer, cocktails and great munching bar food, pizza, and wings.

They also throw amazing, themed parties – we attended their March 4th Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras party where dressing in Mardi Gras flair was encouraged … it was so much fun – lots of bright-colored outfits with masks and beads galore! They served delicious homemade jambalaya, gumbo, and corn bread. JW Gilmore and the Blues Authority Band entertained the crowd all evening, with lots of folks tearing up the dance floor all night long.

There’s always something special going on: Mondays pool tournament; Tuesdays Texas Hold ‘Em; Wednesdays Karaoke (1st and 3rd Wed each month) – sometimes Trivia night, sometimes acoustic music; Fridays and Saturdays live music and Sundays Sports. They. Be each week’s schedule on their Facebook page and the bar is located at 699 3rd Avenue, Welaka; or give them a call at (386) 603-5040. Be sure to take a ride out sometime soon and let them know Thunder Roads Florida sent you!

By Lulu

In 2001 Des Hockley started Ultimate Seats. Des is originally from Australia but resides in Flagler now. 16 years ago, they opened a showroom in Ormond Beach at Destination Daytona. His son-in-law, Dave Frank, is VP of Operations, and was kind enough to sit for an interview. Dave was selling MC windshields when Des’ daughter Jennifer was vending seats at a rally site when they had an instant connection. Now they are proud parents of two and Dave stepped into the family business. The business has grown over the years and now employs 35 at the factory and 6 in Ormond Beach at their showroom. The showroom at 348 Destination Daytona Lane is filled with every style for every brand of motorcycling. Every brand includes, Can-Am, H-D, Honda, Indian, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Victory, and Yamaha. The warehouse is filled to the ceiling with boxes of new seats ready to be installed on your ride. Their seats are sold worldwide! They even have heated seats if you need one! Customized seats can be ready to be installed within 3-4 weeks. And what a difference a new seat can make! Prices range from $500-$1100 for ready to install models. T.J. has had Ultimate Seats on his 2 previous bikes over the last 10 years and swears by the comfort, craftsmanship, and quality of the brand. When he recently bought his new 2024 Road Glide, Dave immediately offered to build him a custom 2 piece so he can have a solo look when riding alone. The new seat is awesome and came complete with a matching back rest for rider and passenger. If you are looking for a sweet seat visit their showroom during Bike Week 2025. The store is open 9am-6pm Monday-Friday, during Bike Week Sat., 3/1, Sat 3/8 and Sun 3/2. Visit their website at ultimateseats.com.

This information I copied from their website, very informative reading about their seats!
The correct nose angle design prevents you sliding forward; you sit in our seat not on it.
Quality parts, materials and workmanship are # 1
Base pans: (lifetime warranty on Rigid Urethane Pans)

Our base pans since 2005 are built using a revolutionary process of injection molded fiber reinforced rigid urethane which provides a solid yet semi flexible support for our memory foam one piece molded cushion. Our pans are very strong and light weight and include rubber contact pads to the bike frame. This lifetime warranty does not apply to our ABS base pans. Our ABS pans have a one year warranty. Every bike model has a different shape and fit base pan, so we build a base pan mold for each and every motorcycle model to ensure an exact fit.

Our base pan locating and attachment brackets are all steel parts and are black zinc electroplated for the best corrosion resistance, our rider backrest lower posts, upper posts, hinges, and other exposed seat brackets are either black zinc plated, or chrome plated to a brilliant finish.
Our fasteners are stainless steel for a no rust lifetime.

Whenever possible our base pans install on the bike to the OE mounting points.
Foam and covers: (one year warranty)

We manufacture our controlled density memory foam in molds which are built for each and every seat, so the moldings are always exactly the same shape, size and specification.
We use the finest available highest grade marine vinyl for our seat covers, looks, and feels like leather but have much better resistance to the weather elements.

A full leather seat is not an available option as we found they do not weather well.
We do not use plastic between our foam and cover like original seats because this holds heat in the cover, our seats offer you a cooler ride.

Our seat cover panels are designed and cut using a computer-controlled state-of-the-art machine that maintains tolerances to half a millimeter.

Cover panels are meticulously hand sewn together by our in house trained skilled sewers.
Our decorative studs are solid brass and chrome plated and will not tarnish.
We also offer many options of colors and embroidered logos for your personalized seat.

We guarantee our seats are the best and back it up with our 14-day trial period.
If you’re not happy for any reason you can return the seat for a full refund.
Enjoy the ride again on your Ultimate seat.

By Lulu

Some nights you just don’t want to leave the party! And that was our February Twisted Tea Bike Night at OBs. We had lots of old friends including Willie from Tropical Tattoo, Glenn from Smiles Night Club in Palm Coast, Teddy and Joann from Astor, Rainman from Canada, Royce & Lori from New Smyrna and way too many more to mention. But the place was packed with folks we didn’t know, and the Twisted Tea was flowing! Deadlanders really put on a show bringing the girls on stage to dance and the lead singer meandering through the crowd singing, even sharing the mic with Matt, the drummer for Penta. Feed the Obsession BBQ was serving some “sweet meat” everyone that tasted it raved. Can’t say enough about the OB’s crew, the place was packed, and they did their best to keep up with the crowd and still keep a smile on their faces! I don’t know what I would do without the help of Gator Ken, Jeani, Don and Lisa with giveaways and photos. And a special thank you to Katye for sampling the tea and looking stunning! Next party is at Sorry Charlie’s in Samsula on Thursday, March 13th so ride in and join the party!

In March 2007, we had our first Thunder Roads Florida hit the streets! Can’t believe the years that have passed. Can’t believe the places this “rag” has hauled me! The Playboy Mansion, Sturgis for multiple trips, Ohio Bike Week, Lonestar Rally in Texas, Laconia in New Hampshire, Harley Rendezvous in New York, Peterson’s Ride to Key West, Thunder Beach, Cotee Rive Bike Fest, Thunder by the Bay, and the MOST amazing Rolling Thunder’s ride to DC. All these adventures have made the work worth the effort! Then there are events for so many charities you can’t even imagine Then there are all the amazing people we have met and witnessed do wonderful things to help people…it’s been quite a ride. Got a chance to know a lot of folks that are riding in the skies now and miss them Grizzly Adams (Dan Hagerty), Robbie Knievel, John Parham from JP Cycles, Bruce Rossmeyer, Arlen Ness, Ronnie Luznar, Kevin Rosa, Cap Wilson, Bull Connors who started this magazine and Kneecap. Certain I have forgotten some angels. Too many amazing people that I am lucky enough to call friends in the world of motorcycling, to mention, and risk forgetting some. This is not an easy endeavor, every 30 days for 18 years, but lots of great peeps have helped us along the way. Thank you to the readers who write to me with both positive and negative input. And a special thank you to the ad clients who bring this free magazine to the motorcycling community each month!

As for amazing people that love motorcycling, a wife recently wrote and asked me to surprise her husband with a mention in our magazine. That is “Col. Klink the Canadian Hoser” (Dave Langerud) in the photo. He is 76 years old and heading for his 50th Bike Week. She says he lives for Bike Week and has only missed one due to Covid. Many may have seen Dave helping Ronnie Luznar at Cabbage Patch, keeping the Sopotnick’s beer car full of beer and hosing down the coleslaw wrestlers during Bike Week. No wonder he loves Bike Week! Not sure if he trailers or rides here, but he hails from Burks Fall, Ontario. If you know him, tell him you saw him in Thunder Roads Florida!

Come up and say hi if you see TJ, Gator Ken, Jeani, or myself out and about, buy a stranger a beer and don’t forget your sunscreen!

By Lulu

Rhonda’s Neighborhood Bar in Sanford has a really cool yearly event put on by Yogi. It is a ride in Chopper Show held in her bar’s backyard. Live music was by Rewind, a cool rockabilly style group. This is a great bar in the Sanford area, and they feature a second first Friday bike night with live music and food trucks from 8p-12a, the February one will be February 14th 7th. They are located at 2617 W. Orlando Dr. Find their music and events on Facebook. Say hi to Rhonda for us!

By Lulu

Each month The Boat Bar in Port Orange hosts a Mystery Ride with a 50/50 at the end and food. $5 is the cost and some lucky duck goes home with half the stash, the other half pays for your dinner! This month, Glenn won the cash! It was exceptionally chilly, but we were happy to see a bunch of our long-time Mystery riders back in the saddle after recent medical stuff kept them off the road! For the first time ever, Jack, who is known for riding in sleeveless attire regardless of the temp, had long sleeves! First stop was Lost Lagoon on US 1 at the New Smyrna Airport. Great Bloody Mary’s! Our stops included a new beer & wine/motorcycle shop in Edgewater called Good Fellas Beer & Wine, owned by bike builder Jim Lynch of Bike Show Mafia fame. We then took a great ride across Maytown Rd. to Foxhead Lounge. Next, Royce and Lorie won the Christmas Sweater Contest at Sorry Charlie’s where Crashrocket was playing. Then we headed to dinner at The Boat Bar. If you are looking to make some riding friends, the monthly ride ALWAYS has great peeps riding along with us. Next ride is Sunday, February 16, no longer on Saturdays since NFL season ended! Get on your bike and join us. KSU 11am at The Boat Bar on US 1 in Port Orange.

Just finished a great weekend at Cotee River Bike Fest, the coverage of that event will be in the April issue as the Bike Week (March) issue always fills up with Bike Week event ads, etc. But the fall rally was rescheduled due to the west coast’s hurricane damage and the weather forecaster predicted rain all weekend, but it ended up well attended and decent weather. Tina and Steve Farrell are the organizers behind this charity rally and put their heart and soul into this each year. Gator Ken and Jeani joined us for the first time as she is retired now. They really seemed to enjoy New Port Richey’s downtown area and couldn’t get over the number of bars! This event is two main stages of music for 3 days and 2 side street stages with music too. It is a nice rally on a beautiful downtown river area with a poker run that benefits Fire & Iron and the entire rally benefits charity. Not sure whether they will schedule the next one in October again or change the whole thing to January in the future but should know by the event article. Thunder By the Bay is up next and hope to see some of our friends there in Sarasota!

On another subject, I promised a lady that asked me recently to mention how important screening for prostate cancer is for our motorcycling men! As a cancer nurse from my life before publisher of Thunder Roads Florida, I know that early diagnosis of this is critical for the best outcome. If you are over forty-five, you should ask your doctor about a PSA blood test. My brother is a primary care physician and was diagnosed at age 48, and with robotic surgery he is cancer free and has no post-surgical complications. A test for kidney stones found his cancer very early. Mostly they only tell you to have the test after 50, I think it should be forty-five! We hear all the time how important breast cancer awareness is, how important pap smears are, etc.! Well men, pick up the phone and ask your docs to order a simple blood test. Be safe…not sorry! The old rectal exam fears use to keep men from getting checked for this and the blood test doesn’t come with that worry.

Have fun at bike week, ride a new road and don’t forget your sunscreen.

By Lulu

Known for great rock and roll, Boot Hill Saloon is the oldest party on Main Street in Daytona Beach. The perfect spot to toast in the New Year. The street was closed to traffic, the New York City-like ball drop at midnight is iconic and then fireworks off the pier at the end of Main Street was a perfect way to toss out 2024. Boot Hill was slammed, and the bartenders were in the weeds quite a bit as Main Street Station was unexpectedly closed for business! Everyone was patient and just enjoyed the two bands of the evening, Greye and Vermillion. It was a bit cold, so we headed home after the ball dropped. Boot Hill has big plans for Bike Week 2025 including a Twisted Tea Bikini Contest at 3-5p on Sunday the 2nd and great bands during the whole rally. If you are in the greater Daytona area, “The Boot” also does Bike Night on Wednesdays so ride in for the fun!

By Lulu

We were not able to make this event as we were scheduled to be out of town. But Sheldon called me about the loss of their bartender, Amber, who died in a car accident after leaving her shift at The Hideaway Bar & Grill last year. She was a mother of a young child, Grayson. So, Sheldon and Lisa owners of The Hideaway and the local bar community are hosting a yearly event to benefit an education fund for Grayson. Lots of locals spent a chilly day riding from The Hideaway to Idle Awhile Resort in Georgetown, Longs Log Cabin in Welaka, Oasis in San Mateo, Cow Catchers in Pomona Park and back to The Hideaway Bar & Grill in Pomona Park. This will be a yearly event in the beginning of January. Get ready to ride! Thanks to all involved for caring for Amber’s son! I must admit I snatched the photos from several Facebook posts to shine light on the good work of the biking and bar community!

By Lulu

On Wednesday nights at Boot Hill Saloon, you will always find great music. At our Twisted Tea Bike Night in January “the Boot” featured the band Alias and they kept the place rockin.’ Twisted Tea sampling was done by our beautiful friend Katye. And the peeps were happy to get Twisted giveaways like koozies, shop rags, sunglasses, or bandanas. Boot Hill’s bike night starts later than most kicking off at 8pm! Ride in for one and have a rocking fun time! Our February Twisted Tea night will be at OBs in Deland on February 12th with live music by Deadlanders starting at 6pm. Come on out and play!