Foggy Ride this Morning

Well, this morning was an interesting ride. It was dark and really foggy. So as you can imagine that since motorcycles don't have a windshield defroster they will fog up pretty good. Well, Big Red did. So I had to ride a little slower this morning and try to see over the windshield. It was about 55 degrees so the ride was pretty nice if you like to be warm and ride blindly. Actually, it was good practice. I never know when I will run into a bad whiteout.

Until next time and enjoy the ride!

Pappy

Ride on 62

It was a another nice day to ride. The high was about 68. So after work I took off on a nice little 73 mile ride down Highway 421 to highway 62. It was a nice ride and very little traffic to worry about. It did take me a little longer than I thought it would. I rode for about 1.5 hours. A lot of the trip was through some small towns like Trinity and Thomsville. I decided to head back on business 85 to end the route. Slick was gone and she was not able to ride with me, but I can see me taking her on the 62 route to Burlington from home. That would be a nice ride for a short day trip.

Until next time and enjoy the ride!

Pappy

After Work Ride

Man it was a nice day to ride but I had to work. I got off work (if you want to call it that) at 3 pm and decided to take a little ride to clear the head. Believe me, I don't work hard enough to have to clear my head. It is just an excuse to ride. The weather when I got off work was in the low 70's. Perfect weather for riding. I took a trip down highway 311 and through Archdale and back home on highway 220 north. It was about a 50 mile ride. So far in the last 5 days I have put 647 miles on Big Red. Actually Big Red needs an oil change.

My goal next month is to ride over 1000 miles for the first time.

Until next time and enjoy the ride!

Pappy

Saturday's Ride to VA

Slick and I had a really nice ride yesterday. The weather was great. The high got up to around 70 and so we headed off to VA again. This time we decide to head up 29 toward Reidville and then take a easterly direction toward Oxford on highway 158. That part of the trip was nice. There were a lot of great little towns and farm land on that part of the trip. There was also very little traffic once we got through the busy part of highway 29 in Greensboro. Actually, the traffic was pretty lite considering we left home around 1030. After we arrived in Oxford we headed up highway 501. That was a nice area too. It actually had more farm land than the highway 158 route. From Oxford we headed toward VA to a nice small town called "South Boston". It was a pretty little town. It was so nice we decided to ride through main street to see the small and old buildings in town. The town was very clean too.

After a quick lunch at Mickey D's, we headed west on highway 58 toward highway 29 and back home. By this time we had been gone about 3.5 hours. That part of the trip was mainly all 4 lane highway but it was nice and had very little traffic. We actually saw a yard were someone built a UFO out of tin and placed it in their front yard near the highway. Some people are really out there and have way too much time on their hands.

Once we hit highway 29, we headed back home. We put a total of 225 miles on Big Red that day. It was a nice ride and I actually had very little trouble on Big Red. It is amazing how much you enjoy the trip when you actually improve your riding skills.

Until next time and enjoy the ride!

Pappy

Trip to Troy NC

Slick and I took a little 2.5 hour trip down south to a little town called "Troy". Troy is a very small town about 85 miles from our home. It was a nice little trip down some really nice country roads. The only thing missing from the country roads and farms we saw were the bango music from the movie "Deliverance". The weather was great too! It was much better than the last trip we took where Slick was frozen on most of the trip. Today she loved the trip. The weather was great and temperature was near 70. It was a perfect day for riding. The only thing better is a another day of riding, which we plan on tomorrow. Tomorrow we plan to head out for a longer trip to Roanoke VA and then down through some of the Blue Ridge Parkway in VA and NC. It should be great. Of course, I will post the notes from that trip later.

Until next time and enjoy the ride!

Pappy

Rockingham NC Trip...A Nippy One

Slick and I just got back from a nice 225 mile trip down through Sanford NC and Rockingham. We had never been to Rockingham before and we actually rode right up to the Rockingham Speedway. After going through the nice little town of Rockingham we hit Highway 220 and headedback home. Our original plan was to ride down to Salisbury NC and back home via B85. We were running a little late and we hadto head back home earlier than we expected. We were gone about 4 hours. It was a nice trip but a little too cold for Slick. I was the lucky one becauseI have a tall windshield to protect me. Slick got hit with all the wind. She was a real tough woman and battled the chilly wind. I don't know of too many women that could have put up with a ride like the one we did. She is a good woman and only stopped once so we could thaw out. Overall the ride was a nice one; just a little nippy.

Until next time and enjoy the ride!

Pappy

Saturday's NC and VA Ride

Slick and I had a great ride Saturday. The day started out as a planned 2 hour trip just to get out of the house and relax. We originally planned to ride down to Staley NC and through Asheboro NC and back on business 85. Then we planned to head back toward the house. Well we did that and we both realized we wanted to ride more. So we headed toward VA. The VA trip was really nice and we had never taken that route before. It was so nice we are planning to take the same route and go up a little further north into VA in the future. I have a good old AF buddy up around that area that we may plan on stopping into to see. All-in-all the trip was a nice get away and a great stress reliever. We took off on a 2 hour trip and ended up being out for 5 hours and putting on almost 300 miles on Big Red. We are looking forward to our next trip, which might be toward the beach. So many choices and so little time.

Until next time and enjoy the ride!

Pappy

Eller Family Fundraiser Update

Saturday was our chapter fundraiser for the Eller family. It was a great success. Our chapter was able to raise almost $2800.00 for the family through the ticket sales for the TV we were raffling off. The bad news is I didn’t win. The good news is that the money will go toward helping the family over the next several months. It will also help them provide a nice Christmas for their 2 young children too.

Our chapter also had a nice yard sell too to raise money for the family too. Many of the chapter members brought a lot of their own goods into sell. All the money went for the Weller family. What amazed me is what people will buy but most of all how cheap they can be. Several of our members had to remind some people the money was for a needy family and it was a fundraiser. Of course, some people wanted stuff for practically free. Sad, just sad… Below is a picture from our yard sale and Slick attempting to sale a couple dozen Krispy Kreme donuts on the highway in front of our yard sale location. By the way, I had 4 and I was told Lennie had about a half dozen. So I don’t feel too guilty.

Later in the day our chapter and some of Craig’s friends had a surprise birthday party for Craig at Captain Tom’s in Staley. The old goat turns 50 on 9 November. We all had a good time and he had a great turn out. You could tell he was loved. Actually, I think most of the people that attended just wanted to make fun of the old goat. Anyway, he deserved a nice party in his honor. He has given a lot to a lot of people, including Slick and I. We are truly grateful for is friendship. Below are a couple of photos from Craig’s birthday party. Make a quick note of Craig’s hat. At first I thought he was the Skipper from Gillian’s Island.

As for riding my bike, I haven’t gotten to ride it in a while. Man, did a lot of us in the chapter want to when we noticed about 20 Harley’s riding by during our yard sale. Half of the day would have been great for a ride. The first half, we would have frozen our butts off.

Slick and I plan to take a trip to VA next Saturday. Most of our trips have been south of home. So we thought a nice ride up highway 29 would be great. I need to get a ride in next week because I have to fly to Detroit the following Monday. As a matter of fact, I am actually writing this blog entry at the airport on my way to West Palm Beach Florida. Going to Florida sounds like a nice trip for the winter, but I would actually rather be home with Slick and riding my bike next week. Oh well, there will be more opportunities to ride in the weeks to come. I am just glad Slick so understanding of the trips I have to take with my job. Most women couldn’t handle all of my travel. She is a strong lady and I am proud to have her for my wife.

I hear them boarding the plane. It’s off to West Palm Beach Florida. I know it is hard, but someone has to do it.

Until next time and enjoy the ride.

Pappy