This weekend I made plan to go down to Charlotte and go for a ride w/ my gf and her dad. The rest of her family was supposed to go, but luckily they backed out (would have slowed the day down, and it just wouldn't have been as fun.) Thurs. night I was up till 1:30am taking care of my 1,000 mile maintenance, but finally got done, and was ready to go after work Friday.
I pulled out about 7pm Friday night, and hit the road. I don't enjoy the interstate on the bike, cause I like a little slower pace and less traffic. I decided to go straight across NC on NC-24/27. I had never been this route, but it looked good. Everything went good, and I went about 80 miles before pulling off for a smoke and something to drink. I stopped at a little gas station in Cameron, NC. About the time I took my helmet off it dawned on me, that I was by far the minority at this stop. Typically I could care less, but I was on the bike, and in the middle of BFE. Well I just stayed over to the side where my bike was, and other than some funny looks, and a little talking about me, all was well. A quick smoke and I was back on the road. My next stop was Albemarle, where I had to pick up my next road. It was now 9pm, and I was about 120-130 miles into my trip. I stopped for a quick smoke at Sonic, drank some water I had w/ me, and called to check in. Headed out looking for NC 138. I found it, and headed south. Unfortunately about 20 mins. down the road I come to a 'Y' in the road, and there isn't a sign around saying which way my road went, and not knowing where any of the towns around there were, I didn't have a clue which way to go. The maps I had looked at before (and didn't have w/ me) didn't show any roads in this area, so they were no help. I picked left, and headed off. I could tell this road headed more south, and that's the way I was headed, so that was my chioce. WRONG ANSWER! This ended up being 52 (or maybe it was 742 and ran into 52, I really don't know) but I ended up in Wadesboro, which I had driven through many times, and knew this meant I still had an hour left on my trip, and I should have already been at Danielle's. The only good news to this was that I got to ride on Hwy 218, and that is a fun road. Now pi$$ed off that I wasted time, and getting tired, I was on the gas. Speed limit is 55 and the road is pretty curvy, so I was running 65-70 and enjoying the ride. A couple quick stops to adjust the duffle bag I had strapped on the back, and I was finally there, at 11pm.
Saturday morning we got up w/ the objective to be on the road about 7am. We ended up running a little late and it was about 7:45 before we got out the door. We had changed our plans several times, so at this point we just knew we were going for a ride, and would stick to roads that Rick (Danielle's dad) knew. Other than that, we were just out for a ride. I'm not sure what all back roads we took, but we wandered around for a little while and then ended up on Hwy 74. We ran this down to Indian Trail and turned onto Wesley Chapel Southern Gospel Country Church Something Another This Street Sign is Long Rd. and ran it down a couple lights to a road that headed us east and was smooth, curvy and pretty fun. This was a great road to start the day w/. Nothing challenging but it got the blood flowing. After a little while on this road we ended up on a 4-lane highway in SC and just kicked back and cruised. This isn't the type of road that I usually want to ride, because it is long, pretty straight, and 2 lanes each way. But this was my first ride w/ my girlfriend and her dad, so I wasn't complaining at all. We settled into about 60 mph, got comfortable w/ riding around each other and figuring out how each other did their thing (who liked to ride where, and how they like to ride, how we'd pass traffic, who'd change lanes first, etc.) and then we start enjoying it. Pulling up and chatting w/ each other, etc. It was still about 70 degrees and perfect out. Rick led the way, Danielle sett

 

It doesn't get any better - in the wind with family and friends.

Thanks for letting us share your exciting weekend.

One suggestion - post some pics of your ride.

 

Yeah, I know. I was running so late getting things together on Friday that I walked out and left the camera on the floor. I can think of several scenes that I'd LOVE to have a pic of. Hopefully the next time!

 

Sounds like a great ride. And you never have to worry about getting lost...it just gives you a reason to ride some more. Next time NO forgetting the camera!! Glad good times were had by all.

 

Thank you Steve for sharing that with us! You will long remember this ride into your old age.<GRIN>

 

Man oh Man.


running in my neck of the woods..

I grew up in Charlotte..its changed a bit <grin>

It sounds like you had a great time.. thanks for making think of home.

 

IU... what's your IU stand for, cause there's a chance that I grew up in your neck of the woods, then. LOL

I've been doing some running around the Charlotte area for the last 6 months. I like it down there, and might end up down that way some day. I'd prefer to be closer to the mountains on the NC/TN line (either side is fine.)