In this video I am departing Daytona Beach, Florida and headed to Palatka, Florida where I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Palatka, Florida for the night.
Day 7 Total Miles from Dupuis Campground to Palatka, Florida = 273 Slow Miles 🙂
Today’s Original Plan
The original plan for Day 7 was to ride from Dupuis Campground near Indiantown, Florida, ride east to the coast, and then ride north on Florida A1A to Daytona Beach. In Daytona Beach I would ride the Ormond Scenic Loop and then proceed to Ocean Pond Campground near Lake City, Florida in the Osceola Wildlife Management Area and camp for the night. While the weather was fantastic today for camping (a rare occurrence on this trip) I grossly underestimated the time it would take to ride north from Stuart, Florida to Daytona Beach.
While I accomplished most of my goals for the day from Palatka, Florida, Ocean Pond Campground would have been about another 1.5 ride in the dark in area and roads I am not familiar with. While I can and have ridden plenty at night, I prefer not to as the potential road hazards and wildlife risk increase exponentially, plus, you can’t see anything at night.
It had been a long day waking up at camp just before sunrise and instead decided to cut the route short for today and stay at the Holiday Inn Express and make up the 74 or so miles on Day 8.
CLICK ON THE PHOTO ABOVE FOR VIDEO OF MY RIDE OF A PORTION OF THE ORMOND LOOP
Florida Loop 2026 Day 7 Part 5 – April 10th, 2026
In Daytona Beach, I ride a portion of the fairly short but highly scenic Ormond Loop with tree tunnels, palm trees, and curvy roads.
Ormond Scenic Loop
Ormond Scenic Loop and Trail (OSLT) is a 34 mile double loop of roadways traversing some of the most beautiful and diverse natural scenery remaining in all of coastal central Florida. Â There is ready access to the Atlantic Ocean, North Peninsula, Bulow Creek and Tomoka State Parks. The roadway view includes vistas of rivers, creeks, marshes, Â dunes, and beaches.Â
For more information on the Ormond Loop Scenic Loop, Click Here
I continue the ride on Day 7, Florida Loop 2026 from Fort Cocoa Beach, Florida to Daytona Beach, Florida on Florida Highway A1A.
Daytona Beach was fairly busy with traffic and people (both tourists and people attending some kind of convetions, I didnt stick around to find out what LOL).
I continue the ride on Day 7, Florida Loop 2026 from Stuart, Florida to Fort Pierce, Florida on Florida Highway A1A.
Even though I am riding along the cost, sadly, the Atlantic is not viewable for much of Florida A1A. Regardless, the ride was a relaxing and mild ride up the coast.
CLICK ON PHOTO ABOVE FOR BRUCE UPDATE MAY 7TH, 2026 VIDEO
May 7th, 2026
Short video on Bruce Updates – May 7th, 2026 – Black Dog Cycle Works Foot Pegs – Harley-Davidson Sundowner Seat for Pan America – Aux Lights Aiming Adjustment
CLICK ON PHOTO ABOVE FOR FLY-IN RIDE HOME – SCARLETT HOMECOMING PREP VIDEO
May 7th, 2026
I will be flying out of Atlanta Georgia tomorrow May 8th, 2026 to Orlando, Florida and then catching an Uber (or Lyft) to Deland, Florida where I will spend the night in a hotel. The next morning on Saturday May 9th, 2026, I will be picking up Scarlett, my new to me 2006 Honda VTX 1300S from RC Hill Honda in Deland, Florida.
The Plan
The plan is to ride Scarlett home from Deland (with a 40 mile detour through Daytona and ride the Ormond Loop again, becuse I am here) to Douglasville, Georgia for a planned distance of 488 miles (just shy of 500 miles) and arrive home sometime in the evening (hopefully not too far past sunset).
Planned Route
Route – Part OneRoute – Part Two
Weather Concerns
Because this is the southeast, of course there is rain forecasted pretty much for the entire ride home. Depending on the weather forecast source, forecasted rain is either going to be an all day, all trip affair or it will be scattered with showers and thunderstorms. If there are scattered showers and thunderstorms I feel I can deal with that much better than an all day, all trip rain event. I am not sure I have room to pack any rain gear (pants and jacket) but I will try. My Revit jacket does a pretty good job with the rain as is even though it is not really a waterproof jacket (I did not use any rain gear during Florida Loop 2026, the RevIT pants and jacket was good enough). However, on this trip, I will be wearing Cycle Gear Ironman Riding jeans which will get soaked if it is an all-day rain event, yuck. I will see if I have room to pack rain pants and if not, will just deal with it.
I am more concerned with slow travel due to rain. Scarlett has Michelin Commander tires installed (which are great) and the tread looks good. However, I have not yet inspected these tires in person and will do so Saturday morning. Worst case scenario is I will have to get new tires (I don’t think so) on Saturday morning, which of course will also delay me.
This is also a new to me bike. Even though I have owned two VTX 1300’s in the past, it has been 9 years since I have ridden one. Plus, each bike is always a bit different. I will not be riding Scarlett hard on this trip home and if the rain is prevalent with reduced visibility, I will be riding even slower. I also don’t want to ride this bike much in the dark on the maiden voyage, especially if it is raining due to low visibility and safety concerns.
Contingecy Plan
If my rate of travel is slower than expected due to weather, the bike, ergonomic issues, etc. I have three locations in Georgia picked out to stop for Saturday and then resume the trip home on Sunday May 10th, 2026. The three contingency stops are Douglas (not Douglasville), Perry, and Griffin. I would like to get home Saturday night, but I am not going to push it past where I feel comfortable or if I feel safety is being compromised. Better to arrive a day later without any incident. Well worth the Hotel fee.
CLICK ON PHOTO ABOVE FOR FLORIDA LOOP 2026 DAY 7 PART 1 VIDEO
April 10th, 2026
This video contains the start of Day 7 departing Dupuis Campground – Canal Point, Florida and my ride east to the coast on Florida Highway A1A in Stuart, Florida. This morning’s ride starts rural, transitions to suburban metropolitan and then into coastal areas.
CLICK ON PHOTO ABOVE FOR VIDEO OF FLORIDA LOOP 2026 DAY 6 PART 2 VIDEO
April 9th, 2026
This video is part 2 of Florida Loop 2026 Day 6 covering some of US Highway 27 south of South Bay, Florida and the ride from South Bay to Dupuis Campground near Canal Point, Florida.
CLICK ON PHOTO ABOVE FOR FLORIDA LOOP 2026 DAY 6 PART 1 VIDEO
April 9th, 2026
This is video is part 1 of Florida Loop 2026 Day 6 covering some of my departure from Key West, Florida up to the Seven Mile Bridge on US Highway 1 – Overseas Highway.
Day 6 Ride Summary
On Day 6 I rode from Key West, Florida to near Indiantown, Florida where I camped for the night at the fantastic Dupuis Campground. Another day with more rain and at times quite heavy. But the real weather pain in the butt today was the wind. I am not sure of the speed that the wind was blowing but some of the wind gusts (all day) were intensely producing some white cap waves on the ocean and giving me quite the workout keeping Bruce aimed correctly in the lane.Â
The ride over the ocean in the Florida Keys was as epic today as it was yesterday on Day 5.
Total Miles for Day 6 = 250 Miles.
Day 6 Part 2 video will cover some of the ride on US Highway 27 to South Bay, Florida and the ride to Dupuis Campground.
Wanderlust Lyfe 