April 6th, 2026

This is part 2 of 2 of my Florida Loop 2026 Motorcycle Tour. Today is April 6th, 2026 and I am continuing my day 3 trip from Perry, Florida to Chokoloskee Island, Florida. In this video, I roll south from Bradley Junction, Florida on Old Highway 37 to Ona, Florida. Then I ride towards Punta Gorda, Florida on US Highway 17, and take a much need break and a fabulous, Gourmet, gas station meal in Cape Coral, Florida from US Highway 41. This video ends with a brief ride (in the rain again) on Interstate 75 and back onto US Highway 41 on my way to Everglades City, Florida and ultimately onto Chokoloskee Island, Florida

Florida Loop 2026 is the not so clever name for my motorcycle touring trip, riding a loop of the state of Florida…. hence the name of the trip

Florida Loop 2026 Total Miles = 2,261

Day 3 Part 2 miles traveled = 229 Miles Riding south mostly on Old Highway 37, US Highway 17, and US Highway 41.

Total miles for Day 3 (Part 1 & 2) = 386 Miles. Not too bad with rain, and the numerous breaks taken today. Had I started at a more decent time (I overslept and woke up in a panic about 20 minutes before checkout at 11am LOL) I would have most likely arrived in daylight instead of rolling the last bit in the dark. I very much prefer riding during the daytime, more to see and safer.

Riding In The Rain

While not my preference, riding in the rain for a good portion of the day through the various showers and thunderstorms, was not terrible. There were a couple of times when the rain was quite heavy and thus reducing my visibility considerably forcing me to reduce speed and turn on my hazard flashers to hopefully bring attention to myself and be seen by other motorists.

The only section that I felt a bit uneasy about was the brief ride on Interstate 75 between Forty Myers and Naples where I encountered (thankfully) brief heavy rain. However, now being dark and with the road spray produced by traffic, visibility was very poor. Not to mention several motorists were traveling at full interstate speed (70mh+). I had to reduce my speed a fair bit to compensate for my poor visibility and once again turned on my hazard flashers. I exited Interstate 75 a couple exits in Naples than I was planning, but I wanted to get off that road as quickly as possible. For the remainder of the ride to Chokoloskee Island, the rain held off and visibility was decent, even in the dark.

Day 3 Summary

The rural landscape, minimal traffic, and good highway speed made today a welcome change from most of the riding on Day 2. Could have done without the numerous encounters with rain today. But even with the rain today, it was an enjoyable riding day with some interesting roads and scenery. Also, covering 386 miles today was not a bad mileage total for the day, still with my seat in the cramped low position on Bruce. I was stiff at the end of the day, I imagine I would have felt better with the seat in the proper high position. I did not correct this until the end of Day 4 when I performed some routine maintenance on Bruce.

The room and staff at the Parkway Motel & Marina in Chokoloskee Island, Florida was fantastic. It is a very nice location and room. See pictures of the room below.