We gathered at the Shell Truckstop on 421/Isabella Holmes Bridge around 8:30. Those participating in today's adventure: Paw, Toby, Scotty, Grant, Ditch & Diane, and Kenny. Gwynn came down to see us off, but we could not talk him into going with.
Pre-Ride consisted of the route and rest stops, along with specific directions to not run into each other. The plan was to stop about every 60 miles to hit the head and grab gas, a snack or drink-take our time and enjoy the day.
We rolled out and ....of course rePete's radio doesn't work. F$#K!N $0n 0v ^B1#@#!N Thing!!!!!! We ran on hand signals until we rolled to our first stop in Boardman at the Sundoo. At that point, I bypassed the "Y cable" on the radio for talk and hear and just went with hear. Much Better. Everyone in the group was doing a great job with lane changes and keeping pace. We looked like we knew what we were doing!
We continued on into Rockingham for our next stop. Tanks were topped off and a visit to the Loo. After about 20-25 minutes we saddled back up for our next destination- Asheboro.
We rolled up the road and got into Asheville . We talked about different places to go and no one was adamant about one certain place, so I chose Cook Out. We learned that we could not sit inside OR use the terlet, so I coulda done better with the lunch choice. There was a Honda shop behind the Cook Out and I asked if we could use their facilities and they obliged. Food was fast, hot and good. We hung in the parking lot on our bikes to eat and then visited the Honda shop to freshen up a bit. On your steeds! Let's go!
We rolled out back onto 74 and I missed the exit for 74W toward Winston Salem. Oops! The next exit was not far up the road , so we swung back around in no time and got back on track. This stretch of road involved 40 w and 421 toward Stateville, so it was a little more congested and frantic. We were all happy to get off the exit in Yadkinville and take our final break at Sheetz.
We only had 17 miles to go for Jonesville, but I turned it into 20. I followed my phone gps and it took on a tour of Yadkinville for about 3 miles. I mean, it could not have been a straighter shot up 601 to 67, but somehow that damn thing decided that was too easy. As we got closer I was starting recognize stuff from when I came up with Travis and Sp!ke over a year ago to scout the location for the Rally. We were close to the hotel... aaaand there it was!! haha! Quick turnaround in the Biscuitville parking lot and we are pulling into the Best Western Jonesville! Touchdown! 3:20pm.
Tents and banners were set up in the parking lot and familiar faces were kicking around. People were filtering into the parking lot every so often. Travis- who broke his leg the night before helping to get Sp!ke's bike off the trailer- was rolling around in a golf cart with crutches in tow. Nothing can keep him down when it comes to the Cruisers. Road Queen saw me and said "Hey rePete! Get over here and help us with registration!" I gave her the finger and got my butt over there!
The rest of the afternoon into evening was spent handing out rally bags to folks and helping out where needed. The Port City 162 tent was set up right next to the registration tent and all the familiar faces were there. Charles, Dottie and "Thom" Cone rode up together and they were in charge of the BEERRR! Phyllis had arrived with the truck of "stuff" and was kickin' around having a good time. Don and Sylvia came over to help at registration. There was a steady stream of customers picking up their bags, buying pint glasses, and raffle tickets until it got dark. Charles kept pouring "Southern Cruiser Blond" and Southern Cruiser Amber" that he made and donated to the festivities. We packed up the registration booth when we could not see anymore and this guy called it a day!
Friday was ride day! Wooo! There was a fenzy of activity in the parking lot . All rides were leaving from the front of the hotel and Professor and Sparky (National Events Coordinator) were organizing bikes for take-off. Travis asked me to deliver the pre-ride safety meeting, so I gathered everyone around and reminded them of various things to help them stay safe. Rides started to roll out to a variety of location including the Blue Ridge Parkway, Shady Valley, Shatley Springs, The Back of the Dragon, and Mt. Airy. I chose the Back of the Dragon led by 2Boots. Most others from the PC 162 chose to ride the Blue Ridge Parkway with Libby or Philip. Back of the Dragon was AWESOME! We had a chippy little group up front that was burning up the extremely technical hairpins and switchbacks up and down the mountain. Great Ride 2Boots!
Back to Jonesville by around 4:15, the line-up for the 9/11 Memorial Ride was getting organized. This was the first time I saw Junior Farrow and Brandon Farrow who had arrived for the festivities! We had a fantastic speech given by Mongo (National Membership Director) about the events of 9/11/01. We said the Pledge of Allegiance and fired up the bikes. This was a slow procession around Jonesville with Police escort. There was a smattering of roadside onlookers while vehicles yielded to the procession responding with beep, salute or thumbs up! We concluded the ride back at the Hotel and prepped for evening activities.
The rain arrived over night into Saturday and the clouds continued to hang low with periodic drizzle and heavier downpours. That did not scare away riders though. The rides left as scheduled , all ending at Sims BBQ in Granite Falls, NC. There was lunch and a bluegrass band playing. Riders started to get back around 4pm and it was time for Port City to start getting the Bike Games organized.
Luckily, we had a break in the weather for the Bike Games. The 3 events were : "Joust," "RoadKill," and "Slow Ride." I got to laying out the course with Scotty , Deb, Grant, Paw, Thom and the rest of the PC 162 Crew. The lines were drawn- some pretty crooked - and the cones set up. We were ready to roll! There was a good turn out of riders for the games. For Joust, the passenger needs to "spear" rings that get progressively smaller off of pylon. Road Kill is scooping up stuffed animals off the ground with a net. Slow Ride is.... riding slow. We had some great competition, but Rick and Jean took high honors in both Joust and Road Kill! Slow Ride was a very heated battle between about 10 riders. We had one young lady on her little gas powered scooter give everyone a run for their money, but in the end Tim "Wiz" took first place. I got a lot of positive feedback from participants and onlookers, so I think it was a success.
Next was 50/50 raffle, Officers Meeting, Awards and Live Auction. It was a flurry of activity! Bob Pierce was drawn as the 50/50 winner. He was a North Carolinian who bought his ticked from Neal Albanese. The Kidd called him and it was a funny conversation. Needless to say, Bob was quite surprised and a bit speechless at first. Professor handled the Awards ceremony that recognized many important members of the Southern Cruisers Riding Club- Road Queen and Kenny Keel from PC 162 being tow of them! Sparky also handed out some great key chains in recognition of those who had contributed to the rally by leading rides , raising money, or pitching in to help out. Our host for the weekend, Bob Patel, the General Manager of the Best Western was given a plaque for his phenomenal hospitality and hard work throughout the past year helping Travis plan the Rally.
To close out the night (and the weekend) was the Live Auction. There were a variety of items for auction including painting, framed prints, leather jackets, various motorcycle memorabilia, helmets, custom embroidered blankets and also Spencer's Jacket. The bidding was fast and furious and people really opened their wallets! It was amazing. The North Carolina Chapters won the bid for Spencer's Jacket . This is jacket was owned by Spencer who was being treated at St. Jude's. He loved the bikes and wanted to be a biker, but unfortunately his disease cut his life short. His Jacket has been around the world raising money for St . Jude's by being auctioned off to the highest bidding SCRC Chapters. The winning bidder gets to put their patches on the jacket. North Carolina is going to cover that thing with over 13 chapter patches! Awesome! Whew! What a day. It was time to get some sleep for the return ride home on Sunday. Thanks to Matt Sloan for volunteering to get the tents taken down on Monday so that the rest of us could get a good night's sleep!
We decided to roll out about 9am. The weather was cool and felt great after a long, hot, humid weekend. We said our good byes to others that were going home at different times or in cars. We hit the road about 9:15. Scotty was my co-pilot for communicating with the group and Road Queen took on Tailgunner responsibilities. Kenny Keel left earlier, so Shivers took his place in the line up. First stop was only after about 20 miles. We pulled into Sheetz before getting onto 421 to see if everyone was ok. Scotty and Paw put on an extra layer and Grant topped off his tank. Sunday morning on the highway is uncluttered and peaceful. We kept chugging along until Asheboro where we topped off the tanks and had some Lucky Charms with Shivers.
Back on the road to Rockingham. The sun was out and it had warmed up, but still comfortable. This was a longer stop for gas and lunch at Hardees. Some ate and some just hung out in the parking lot chatting with travelers. Everyone was good to go, so we hit the road for the ride into Boardman for our final stop. Along the road in Laurinburg , I heard a familiar voice on the CB. It was Alan Curtner from the CMA making his way back from the CMA Rally with Cliff Greeno. We chatted a bit before they pulled off to get lunch.
We pulled into the Sundoo in Boardman for our final stop and to say our goodbyes. We took a group pic and Deb hugged everyone. It was unanimous that we had a great weekend. Back on the bikes, we managed not to get killed crossing the highway back onto 74 and made our way East. Grant and Shivers exited the group at 211 to Southport and the rest of us rolled into ILM.
I had 824 klicks on the klock for this weekend. Your mileage may vary. Thanks to my Tailgunners Scotty on the way there and Deb on the way back. Thanks to Scotty for taking up co-pilot duties on the way home and helping with communication. You will be a great Road Captain! Thanks to all the Cruisers for making the National Rally a success!
'Til The Next Ride...
rePete
First Officer
SCRC PC 162