Today's starting grid: 1st Row- rePete, BucWeet. 2nd Row- Curbb, Gwyn. 3rd Row- Roger, Ditch. 4th Row- Road Queen. Travis showed up with the intention to drive out to JVille and meet us at the restaurant , but decided he was not feeling well enough for a long drive.
After pre-ride, we took off up 117 into Rocky Point. We headed on Old River Road and took in some curves that took us over to 53. A right on 53 and a straight shot into the JVille area. We had some interesting individuals on the road that insisted on doing stupid things that stupid drivers do.... like cutting into the group after failed passing attempts and creating their own speed limit as if they were on their own driveway. Luckily, we got to the first rest stop in one piece.
After hydration, terlet break and some friendly banter, we saddled up and headed down Pony Farm Rd. out to 258. Left on 258 and down to the Which Wich for a right and left on Rhodestown Rd. This brought us to Gum Branch Rd and we headed up to Henderson Rd for the final approach to Jeff's Burgers.
1st Officer Jeff Price and 2nd Officer Brent Lancaster from the Goldsboro Chapter were already there to meet us along with 2 other members. We got into the restaurant and said Hello , then got into line to order. As we waited for our food, everyone settled in at their tables (6ft. apart) and chatted .
Let me tell you this... Jeff's Burgers Dogs and Shakes was AWESOME!!! The food was done in good time, the burgers were excellent along with some really, really good fresh fries! Burger, Fries and Drink for $10. A Bargain. Highly recommend it. Also, everyone working at the restaurant was very friendly. They checked on us numerous times and asked if everything was ok!
The Goldsboro Cru finished up before we did and started to get ready to hit the road. They said their goodbyes and rolled out. The skies were starting to look ominous in several directions and we had already received several texts from other members that it was raining cats and dogs down 17South and Wilmington. PC 162 finished up and headed out to the bikes.
I looked at the sky and heading over to 17 directly did not seem like the way to go. There was a sliver of hope in the south-west direction. We pondered the sky and decided to head towards the sliver of hope. Deb and I packed up the radios. We got out of Jville following our tracks from the way in. When we got to Rhodestown Rd. we rode right into it! DAMN! We went about 1/4 mile until we saw the Carport of Jolly Bee Daycare. There were already 3 bikes there, but they made room for us to get under. They were Combat Vets RC from Fayetteville. We said hello and started to put our gear on. The rain slowed to a drizzle in about 10 minutes and we got ready to take off.
I was following where the sky seemed clear, so I decided on route 111 past Dempsey's and Thig's BBQ. We had a brief stretch of dry road that gave us hope, but that hope was soon gone when we went around a bend and headed right back into the mess. I stopped on a side road to make sure everyone was ok and had the gear on that they needed before we tackled the rest of the ride. We were gonna get wet no matter what.
We rode into the eye of the storm as we followed 111 to 41. I slowed to 40mph and put on the flashers a few times to keep everyone together. As we got closer into Wallace by the exit to I40 the rain was slowing and I pulled into the gas station for gas and regrouping.
Folks were in good spirits. Even Toby who elected to not put on any rain gear. She said, "I knew we were gonna get wet today when I woke up this morning!" Yup, if you're going to ride this time of year, you will probably run into a storm or three. Gas and Go!
We got onto 40 and it was smooth sailing and clearer skies in front of us. The drizzle stopped and it got drier as we headed into ILM. Roger and Ditch got off on the Castle Hayne exit. Deb and I took MLK. Gwynn, Toby and Paul stayed on College.
168 klicks on the klock. I underestimated the mileage ( as predicted at pre-ride) but we stayed within the proposed end time of 3pm. Thanks for following me today and Thanks for the TailGun Road Queen!
'Til the Next Ride...
rePete
First Officer
SCRC PC 162