My Trip to South Carolina

Today I was off work so I thought I would take a little ride on Big Red. I wasn't too sure where I was going to ride and how long I would be gone. I think most bikers that like to ride are like that. It is not the destination, it is the ride. So around 10 am I suited up with my cold weather gear (it was a little brisk) and grabbed my NC map.

I headed toward Thomasville on highway 85. From there I headed south on 109 toward a national forest in NC called "Uwharrie National Forest". I figured that would be cool place to start because they had some nice back roads I could try. The ride through that area was pretty nice. There was very little traffic and I imagine the scenery would have been pretty nice if I wasn't riding in the middle of winter and all the trees had their leaves. I did see some colorful orange vest that some road construction works were sporting. So there was some color on the trip. One more thing I noticed going down south from Thomasville, there were cops every where. I wasn't sure if they were looking for someone or the cops were filming an episode of cops. Either way, if you decide to take 109 south, watchout!

Anyway, as I stayed on 109, I started thinking (or trying to remember) how far I needed to go before I turned around and headed back home. My map was in the trunk and I was too lazy to stop and get it out and look at it. So about 2 hrs into the ride I started thinking how nice it was just to be riding. So I decided to keep heading south. I continued on 109 and before I knew it I looked up and I had crossed the South Carolina border. That was a little further south than I had planned to go. But I thought, what the heck, keep going, but start heading east so you can find a good road to head back north to North Carolina.

Once I entered SC, I did start heading east even though the road signs said 9 South (did I mention the map was in my truck?). After about 30 minutes I located highway 1, which I knew would get me heading north toward Rockingham NC (all you big NASCAR fans know where that is). Once I got on highway 1/220 I knew I had about 75 miles before I would be home.

On the trip I saw some nice small towns like Troy, Denton, and Wadesboro. I have to admit a lot of the towns I went through were pretty poor. I also noticed there was a lot of cotton farms around those towns. Even though towns were small and old they were nice to travel through. I just would not want to live there.

All-in-all, the trip took me 5 hours and I put on 260 miles. The only thing missing was Slick. She had to work.

Until next time and enjoy the ride!

Pappy