Nice 5 Hour Ride in the Country

Yesterday was a very nice ride day for me. After being on the road for several weeks it was really nice to get a chance to take a longer than usual ride. See, most of the time I ride an hour or two and that's it. That is due to having to ride at least an hour to get to the good locations. Yesterday was a different story.

The weather was awesome! At the start of the ride, the temp was around 60. I ventured out around 0930 and headed southwest to Uwharrie National Forest. I have been through there before and I have always enjoyed it. Most of the trip is long and peaceful country roads. Throughout the trip, I road through some very small towns that I had never even heard of. It was actually pretty fun to post my stops using my Loopt application and tell let those that were following me know where I was at. The funny thing is, they had never heard of the towns either.

Once I got into Uwharrie National Forest I took a several roads off the beaten path. Mainly because I got lost. I really didn't mind getting lost. I got the chance to see some very nice roads and scenery that I would have never gotten to see. Besides, on a bike, if you have plenty of gas, you are never lost. I call the off road events "exploring".

After traveling through small towns like McGlead, Pee Dee, Denton and Wadeboro, I headed toward home. On the way home temps reached near 87 and getting a little toasty, but who cares; with the sights and sounds of small hometowns, country roads, fellow bikers and beautiful landscapes, how could I complain.

Below is a map of my route. If you get a chance, take a trip on the same route. I am looking forward to repeating the same route in the fall when the leaves change. Now that will be worth the 5 hr trip again.

Until next time and remember, don't be so busy making a leaving you forget to make a life.

Pappy

Weekend Ride to Lake Lure

This weekend as a great 2 days of riding. Slick had made arrangements for us to meet her brother and and his wife (Kevin and Carolyn) to go for a little bike ride. The weather was great and we needed to get out of town and do something relaxing. So, we do what we like to do the most to relax; ride.

Slick and I took off from Jamestown around 11 am and heading west on I-40. We meet Kevin and Carolyn off of exit 113 near Hickory NC. We fueled up and started talking about where we wanted to ride. Kevin suggested Lake Lure. Slick and I that was a great idea. We both really enjoy that lake and have been there a couple of times.

After fueling up, we headed west on I-40 and to the Black Mountain exit. Kevin was in the lead and he took us on some really nice back roads. The roads were filled with a lot of nice tight curves. The traffic was really lite since we were traveling on a Friday. Basically we had the roads to ourselves; nice!

Once we arrive at Lake Lure we started looking for a nice place to eat. I suggested a little place right across from the Lake Lure Hotel and beach area. The food was really good. I had eaten there before but only on the side where all the bikers and beer drinkers ate. This time we ate in the main area and the food was really good. All of us enjoyed our meals. If you decide to visit there, you will enjoy it.

After lunch we decided we all wanted to take the boat tour ride on Lake Lure. Slick and I tried taking the tour last year but the weather didn't cooperate. This time the weather was awesome. So we all boarded the boat and got to hear a lot of great history about the lake. The tour guide as entertaining and told everyone of how the lake was formed and about the some of the residents there. We got to see homes on the lake that were worth over 1.5 million dollars. He even showed us the place were "Dirty Dancing" was filmed and how Patrick Swayze was kicked out of the hotel for partying too much during the filming of the movie. He also told us that the movie was filmed in November and the cast froze their butts off filming the scenes in the water. I was able to get a very photos during the boat tour. The photos were taken with my cell phone. Since the Lake Lure trip as a last minute thing, I didn't bring my good camera.

After leaving Lake Lure we headed back the same route. I wanted to enjoy the curvy roads again. I think even Slick liked them. She only squealed twice. Once back on I-40 we headed to Kevin and Carolyn's home. They invited us to spend the night with them, so we took them up on it.

On Saturday, Slick and I prepared to head home. Carolyn had suggested that we take a ride to a winery about an hours ride from their home. So we took off on the ride following Kevin and Carolyn. I am glad they were in the lead because they took on some very nice back roads to the winery. It was some of the best and most relaxing back roads Slick and I had every been on. Even though, we failed to check the time the winery opened (they were closed), we really enjoyed that ride. The roads consisted of a lot of open farm lands, curves and everything a biker would enjoy on that hour long trip. The roads were so nice, it would have been a great place to get lost and try to find our way out.

Once we left the winery were headed back toward I-40. We all said good-bye and headed back home. The 2 day trip put on about 250 miles on Big Red and it was great. We are looking forward to our next ride.

Until next time remember, don't be so busy making a living you forget to make a life.

Pappy