The weather has not been the best, but far better than originally forecasted.

We've had a lot of things happening around us that has weighed heavy on our hearts. A good friend that is battling cancer just had another surgery. A fellow we rode with from 2009 to around 2014 had a stroke. Our Pastor's mother pasted away. Then a young girl that we have known for 14 years was killed in a car accident at age 17. We know her parents well and ride with them. When you don't think it can get any worse the call comes in that the Carolina Girls cousin passes away. Add to this that I had my annual executive assessment Friday, and we were a little stressed. I dropped off the auditor at the Charlotte airport at 5pm on Friday with an hour and a half drive home.

The Carolina Girl asked me to PLEASE take her on a ride Saturday. Sure, let's ride all day, we'll suite up if we have to and we stop and take cover if necessary. We have no place to be, no schedule and we'll just cruise and enjoy ourselves.

We got a late start and rolled out around 10am and the weather was perfect. Our first stop was at the local Waffle House just three miles from home for a good breakfast. Yes, I was ready for some coffee!













The Carolina Girl had mowed a couple of days ago between rain showers and she put out about 50 American Flags.




Our neighbors were out waving at us. We are truly blessed with great neighbors.



















This guy was getting on I-40 westbound. He was probably heading to Lake Norman.


The thing we enjoy the most is simply not having a plan or a schedule. I decided to head north which was flirting with the weather, but what the heck. Our first stop was in Yadkinville at Highway's 601 and 421 at the Sheetz for fuel.



We continued north on Highway 601 and leaned right on Country Club Rd toward Rockford.



There are lots of vineyards in this area of the state.

 

After a detour on some of our favorite country back roads we ended up on Hwy 601 North again toward "Mayberry", Mt. Airy, NC.

A few pictures along the route. How are you guys liking the new Insta 360 over the old GoPro Hero 5 photos.

 

Those backcountry roads sure do look lovely… Nice you two got out and into the wind to destress…

 

Coming into Mt. Airy. There was a pretty nice crowd here for the weekend and everything was very patriotic.












North State Winery is a great place to stop at for a meal and a glass of wine. The Carolina Girl like this place.






Check out this Nissan in front of us. Talking about a flashback from the 80's. This guy was cool. We had a chance to talk with him at the next light.









There's the patrol car. Barney must be in town.



If you have not enjoyed a Porkchop sandwich at Snappy Lunch, you have not lived! Look at the line out the door.






Nice guy and a cool old truck.






Watch the bed go up...

 

Okay, time for some real fun. Let's gain some elevation and there is no better way out of Mayberry but on Orchards Gap Road up to the BRP. Nice climb, good views and three wicked switchbacks. The view was not as good as normal. The trees have rally grown up.






























There are three good ways to climb the mountain out of Mt. Airy. Orchards Gap is our favorite. We often take Hwy 52 N to Fancy Gap. I'll share the best one with you guys for free. Don't tell anyone since I'm just telling my best buds here on the forum. Yeah, Piper's Gap Road off of Hwy 89. This road is wicked. I have seen a couple of people get in trouble at the first switchback. It starts out very tame, begins to climb quickly through some nice homes and makes a hard left followed by a very steep climb and a hard right.

 

Continuing up Orchards Gap Road.

Such a beautiful day. We are well into Virginia at this point and close to the BRP.









































































At the top of the mountain, we stopped at an old store that went out of business during Covid. We are right next to the BRP. We stopped and took a water break.

 

How about this beautiful yellow Tie Dye "Laconia" 2022 T-Shirt. Yeah, I wish I could tell you we've been there, but not yet. I picked this up at Myrtle Beach weekend before last at the Beaver Bar for $6 bucks!

Now back to the ride:





These cabins really look nice. They have a beautiful view overlooking the BRP. I think we'll book a weekend and try them out.












I like the Carolina Girls belt buckle.




The Carolina Girl was ready for a bathroom break so it's Southbound on the BRP to Fancy Gap.

Leaving the store and about to lean left onto the BRP.






Random photos on the BRP, southbound from Orchard's Gap Road back to Hwy 52 at Fancy Gap.

 

Continuing on the BRP.





















Making the turn off the BRP onto Hwy 52 N.










Going back under the BRP.













Stopping at the station for a break.















I forgot to turn off the camera. These two guys were also riding and taking a break. They were both on Honda 1800's from the early 2000's and were nice guys. I have never met a stranger and they had a million questions about our bike. They both really liked it a lot and one question led to another.

The first was the year model.

Then the guy in the white shirt asked if Harley was still using a belt drive. He shook his head in disbelief that they would have not been shaft drive by now and asked WHY? I said why not. Cheaper and lighter weight than shaft drive. He confirmed he has slop in his and has to service it. I said the belt works well, is quiet, does not need oil and lasts around 80k miles.

Next, they asked if my handlebars were stock. Then they pointed at the heated grips, and the Oberon levers.

Then he asked if Harley's are fuel injected yet! I had to laugh. I told him that every HD I have owned since 2008 was fuel injected and they were long before that. I was shocked he was surprised by that. But hey, they are not Harley guys and probably never will be.

Then he asked about the headlights and pointed out the drilled rotors on the front. He liked the color and the wheels and was shocked again to learn it has a heated seat!












He became funny when they pointed to the Pro-Action reservoirs and asked what they were. Before I could answer he said wait, I think I know. I usually hear from people that they think I have air ride, or that they are nitrous. I always laugh. Well, I heard a new first. The guy in white looked at the other guy and said it's for an air horn!

Then the other guy said no, I bet it is nitrous. Too Funny.

They got a lesson on premium tuned suspension and Pro-Action.






Then the guy in white asked why HD has not gone liquid cooled. I asked if liquid cooled heads count, and he was stunned. I showed him the cooling fans inside the lowers.

He had heard of linked braking, but had a couple of questions about that also.

Finally, they asked about the price. One guested $30k and one guested $35k. They about fell down when I told them the list price new was close to $48k and there are CVO's now north of $50k.

Then it started to sprinkle, and it was time to roll down the mountain. Looking at the radar it was coming from the west, going northwest. If we ran south down Hwy 52 toward Winston-Salem, we could at least miss this pop-up storm.

Time to put the camera up and just ride.

 

We rolled down the mountain and back through Mt. Airy and stopped just before Pilot Mountain state park to hook the camera back up. I wanted to catch some pictures of the **** of the mountain.

Highway 52 South / I-74

 

We made the decision to run my Smokin HD and I'm glad we did. They had a party going on and we ran into some friends there. The band was great.

The new bypass makes it a breeze to run over to Smokin now.











































Service Department

That's my buddy Jeff on the left and Charley on the right. Two really great guys that do a very good job.



I gave Jeff an update on RT's bike. This was the guy that broke down that stayed with us overnight. The motor in his 2010 Ultra was a total loss.

A few pictures from inside.












This Tobacco Road paint job looks really sharp in person. Very fitting for the twin cities that tobacco built!



















These folks won a trophy in the bike show.