Ducati, its just fun to say. Reminds me of an old Facts of Life Halloween episode. The narrator kept saying the name “Tootie” over and over throughout the episode. That is how the Chattanooga trip was.
Me to The Doctor: What do you want for dinner?
The Doctor: Ducati
Or something like this:
Me to The Doctor: It’s chilly, can you throw me that jacket
The Doctor: Ducati
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So here is how the trip went down. I enlisted one of my girlfriends to go and The Doctor got one of his friends to go. Chattanooga is about 9 hours (give or take a little there) from Tampa so the plan was to all meet up Friday after work and drive up I-75 through the night. Get there first thing, test ride the Duc then ride it home and do some scenic stuff along the way.
About two hours before the end of the work day, The Doctor’s friend bails on us due to sickness. We were disappointed but we also didn’t want a giant ball of snot riding 9 hours with us in the car. Fast forward a couple of hours…
The Doc and I pick up my friend Sam around 7 and head north. We stop along the way at the pinnacle of I-75 driving, Cracker Barrel for some good ole dinner. After that, Sam took some sleeping pills and pretty much passed out until we arrive in Chattanooga at 7am -ish. The Doc drove until around 12am then I took over the reins while he tried to sleep. I made it pretty solidly until about 2:30. I wasn’t falling asleep at the wheel but I could tell my motor skills were starting to drop off.
By this time he was awake so we pulled over and switched again. Around 3:30am it was bed time. We pulled into a Rest Area and got some zzzz’s. At 6:30 I awoke to my back being scratched and the sweet whisperings of “Ducati” from The Doctor. Ok, just kidding about that last part but if you knew his mindset, you would believe that could happen!
There was a massive rain band moving its way into Chattanooga. We had two options, try to go back to sleep (no way of that happening) or push the last hour to Chattanooga and try to get the test ride in before the rain hit. We got comfortable and made our way back on the interstate. Sam was still sleeping at this point.
Larry, the Ducati owner, knew we maybe making it into town before 8am. If we got there before then, just give him a ring and he would be up and ready for us. We did just that and when we arrived he had the Duc waiting for us.
I have to admit, I think my FJR is a fine, beautiful piece of motorcycle. However, seeing that Ducati sitting there in all its red, race glory, it took my breath away. There isn’t enough to say to convey the sleek, sexiness of this machine!
We knew the storm was close, like any minute the sky was going to open up and dump a ton o rain on us. Larry and The Doc decided to get the test ride in before the rain hit. As The Doc was coming back from grabbing his helmet out of the car, the sky let it rip. This wasn’t just a little rain, this was completely side ways, can’t see 10 feet in front of you kind of rain.
Ugh, well the band was a pretty large one so we had some time to fill. What to do, what to do.
Here is the point in the story where I can fill you in on the time filling adventures or continue on about the Ducati test red.
I’ll continue with the bike portion. Check out Part II about the caving, waterfalls and mountains.
So after we had some fun exploring, we made our way back to Larry’s house so the test ride could take place. The Doctor geared up and took off. While he was riding, Larry took myself and Sam around his neighborhood for a tour of the houses. Couple houses down from him, Payton Manning had a home (Even though I am a University of South Florida fan, go Bulls, I loved Payton back in his Tennessee days when he played against University of Florida).
Fast forward to the return on The Duc and The Doc. While on the test ride, the Check Engine Light popped on. There were some talks and discussions about things. The outcome involved us meeting Larry at the local Ducati dealership. The deal was, if the Ducati dealership said there wasn’t an issue, then The Doc would buy the Duc.
After hooking The Duc up to the computer to figure out what was causing the light to come on, they did a soft reset and WHAMO, error message gone. Ducati Dealership approved. The Doctor was the proud new owner of a 2004 Ducati ST4S!!!!!
Once the money was exchanged and the papers signed, we were ready to embark on our drive back home to Tampa. The Doctor had a friend (and her husband) in southern Georgia. Our original plan involved us making it there Saturday evening to meet up with them and have dinner.
It was already 4:30, our timing may have been a little overly ambitious to make it there by dinner. They were a good 2 or 3 hours away from us still. We made it until a little after sunset. It was freezing cold and The Doc was a like a big popsicle. I made the executive decision to stop there (wherever we were) and get a room. Within 15 minutes, we had a room and were heading out to dinner.
Needless to say, we were all exhausted and at times, were falling asleep at the table! We did have some celebratory drinks to the new Duc! That is a must!
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After dinner we booked it back to the room and passed out. It was only 10pm but we were done. We woke around 8:30ish all feeling refreshed! We hauled down the interstate to Southern Georgia and had lunch with The Doc’s friends. Went to a great little Mexican restaurant! I was feeling a margarita but since I was driving the chase car, no drinko for me.
From this point we didn’t have much longer until we would be home, about 4 hours or so. The Doc was feeling a little worn so about ever hour we would pull off and let him stretch out. As soon as we hit the Florida border, the temperature rose (as did the humidity, man it was good to be back in FL!!). The Doc was able to de-layer some of his shirts.
The Doc and The Duc
We got back home around 8pm-ish, took the rental car back then got some Steak n’ Shake. Healthy?! No way! Delicious? Absolutely! After that long push on the bike, a nice greasy meal was in order!!!
Glad we all made it home safely. This was my first trip (of distance) to go pick up a motorcycle. It was fun being the chase car! Think I am now ready to drive one of the big trucks in the Dakar next year ;)
