Okay this is a very sad sorry. The people that own Gilberts lost their two daughters age 16 and 12 not long ago to a car accident. I have actually seen them on You Tube videos by travelers that would stop into the store. I cannot help but think about them every time I ride by.
I sell to industry and the positive thing is all the manufacturing plants I passed by had a good number of vehicles in their parking lots which is a good sign. If we can just hold on a little longer.
My total round trip was right at 150 miles. I did not see one other motorcycle on the road. That surprised me a little. In the whole loop I saw two sheriff vehicles, one NC Highway Patrol and one Wilkesboro city Police officer. It's hard to get a feel of whether you are safe or actually in a higher danger level out by yourself during these days.
Last edited by Cosmic Razorback; 04-02-2020 at 09:03 PM.
With Covid 19 any ride is an awesome ride. Our Pastor reached out to all the riders in our church for a safe Social Distancing rides today. All but two were able to make it. We met at the local Sheetz at 2pm. As usual there was no plan and I got pushed to the front to lead. I get pretty upset because I take rides serious, plan routes, times, schedules, places to stop etc. It seems with our group there is no planning and the person that invites expects someone else to lead. I wish it didn’t bother me but is is really getting OLD. I could have or maybe should have been prepared to lead but I clearly stated in my acceptance text
that I look forward to joining them in a ride to a destination they have selected and enjoy following. Yeah right. My wife is upset that I get upset but this really blows. I love these people. They always have a desire but never a plan. Wish I could not let it bother me as much but it does. I was very active in our HOG chapter for several years. Served as Road Captain, Safety Officer, Activity’s Director, Assistant Director and Director. I was good at all of these positions not patting myself on the back. I organized and led dozens of rides. From a few hours, to overnight. From 6 bikes to 50 bikes! From 50 miles to 600 miles in one day! Never a problem, never an accident. But what you could always expect is 80% come to have a good time, enjoy the ride and the people they are riding with. Then there were the 10% that would complain about everything! But the worst for me were the 10% that always wanted to make suggestions during the ride, or tell you you should have turned here or there, or taken a different road. A lot of planing goes into HOG rides including a pre-ride. Nothing makes me madder than someone that has not contributed a single thing toward the preparation that feels they need or have the right to tell you you should have taken a different road. My ride is my ride. If you want to follow you are welcome. But I’ll be damn if you are going to criticize my plan. The ride is the ride. don’t like it, then maybe you should step up and plan and lead a ride!
Sorry that felt good, I needed to vent. It would be nice to just follow from time to time!
Beautiful, Sunny, 67 degree Saturday. Four Harley’s, one Can Am spider and 8 people.
Traveled 110 miles, ended up in Mt. Airy, NC. Stopped at the Cook Out for a burger and ate on a wall at a neighboring business while maintaining our distance!
Great day for a ride!
I’ll try and extract some pictures from my GoPro video tomorrow.
Woke up to low 40’s today and the promise of bright sunshine and mid 60’s. It did hit 67 degrees which was nice. You can just see a light frost on the grass. Light frost overnight.
Planted three new 4 ft Green Giants before we left for our ride. Need about five more!
Last edited by Cosmic Razorback; 04-11-2020 at 09:42 PM.
This is first unpaid day off from work. I’m blessed to still have a job, but the company I work for is now requiring we take one unpaid day off a week for the next eight weeks. Basically a 20% pay cut. So, I turned on my out of office messages, enjoyed a bagel and coffee with the wife and gave her those famous words “I’ll Be Back”!
Sunny, light breeze and 58 degrees when I left at 10am.
I ran south to Salisbury and made a quick stop at one of my distributors and returned an Ethernet IP communication cable they were nice enough to allow me to borrow a few days. Then I leaned right and made a quick picture stop at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, NC. They were closed of course but I was hoping to be able to drive through. No, the gate was up with the “No Trespassing Sign”.
Highrock Lake looked inviting on the Boom GPS, so I headed that way. No real destination and no time schedule. My wife asked where I was heading when I left, and I told her Myrtle Beach. The thing is she believed me as I have ridden many one-day rides to Myrtle and back. But I never got more than 50 miles from home.
After cruising some two-lane back roads around the lake, I found myself on Hwy 109 heading toward Thomasville which used to be the Furniture Capital of the World. Yeah, the spring furniture mart has been cancelled this year! So, I stop at the Sheetz station to use the restroom and get a bite to eat. Crazy how you cannot sit at the outdoor picnic tables, but you can stand in the parking lot and eat off your bike! The worst part is the prices! Holy cow a cheeseburger, fries and bottle Pepsi were $10.54. That is just ridiculous for gas station food.
I ran south a couple of miles on I-85 and stopped at the rest area which has the Vietnam Memorial. It is a beautiful quiet place. Gave me a chance to rest and relax a few minutes and pay my respects to those that payed the ultimate price. God Bless and Thank You!
I hit Hwy 64 back toward by undisclosed man cave West of the Twin Cities that Tobacco built. Decided to turn into Childress Vineyards and cruise through. They have curb side pick up of wine and there was a couple in their lawn chairs in the parking lot enjoying their favorite wines!
The wife called me about 1:30pm to check on me and see where I was at. I toward her I was coming into Conway, SC and could smell the salt air. She always takes me seriously and was upset at that point that I would not be home in time to buy her dinner! LOL
Got back home about 3:30pm. It is 69 degrees and the total round trip for the day was 122.9 miles. The bike ran perfectly, the Cardo headset with 45mm JBL speakers was AWESOME. The wife had cleaned house, shampooed the carpet, went to the grocery store for oranges and milk and was on the mower! Man, I love that women. She stopped and told me she knew I did not go to Myrtle. Yeah Right!
So, as I’m playing on the computer, downloading pictures and sharing my day she is working hard. I better figure out something nice to get her for dinner!
Thank You Lord, for this Blessed Day to enjoy a little of what NC has to offer near me.
Ride safe and Practice Social Distancing
Mileage 112.9
Gasoline $8.24 @ $2.34 per Gallon 93 Octane
Lunch $10.54 – Gas station cheeseburger & Fries (what you save on gas they get on food!)
Spencer, NC Train, Planes and Automobiles Born in the Twin Cites that Tobacco built! You can still see one of these at the Smith Reynolds Airport. Pretty! A fantastic Highway to ride in NC. Gets really good north of Winston-Salem.
04-02-2020 | 07:57 PM
