Friday 07/29/2015 Ride

Fellow riders,

• I am going to try and beat the weather again this Friday and do a breakfast ride to the Randevu Restaurant in Cashiers, NC.  Folks claim their food is pretty good, parking somewhat challenging.  After breakfast, weather permitting, a loop around Glenville Lake before heading back sounds like just what the doctor ordered for a little stress relief.  Hopefully you can join me.    Dan

Randevu

Friday 07/22/16 Ride

Fellow Riders,

• I would like to keep our “Beat the Heat” breakfasts rides going for now so I thought I would try to get up to Clayton, GA for some breakfast at the Rusty Bike Café.  Steve has made it to Clayton for breakfast before so I’ll see how he did it.  I’m told the Rusty Bike Café gets really busy so we have a backup.  Hope you can join me.   Dan

Trip Advisor - The Rusty Bike Cafe

• It was another muggy South Carolina morning when 7 bikes and 8 riders arrived at the Key Mart parking lot for a breakfast ride to Clayton.  Along with Dan were Gadget, Pat, me, Charley and his grandson Alex, Bill G. (welcome back after several months), and O. G. Bob.  Knowing the Rusty Bike can get busy, Dan took a fairly direct route (you know Dan can’t take just a “direct” route on a motorcycle) so we could get seats.  Of course, Sue had called ahead and a table was waiting for us.  Parking was very limited.  Maybe next time Dan will have to get Sue to reserve some parking spots for us as well.  The service was prompt and the menu was full of items that would never make it on a Jenny Craig list of food.  That also means the food was very good and portions were plentiful.  I tried to pretend I ordered a healthy selection by choosing multi-grain pancakes, and of course, O. G. Bob had decaf coffee and banana and pecan French toast fruit.  My favorite thing about this restaurant was that my coffee was served in a Beck Funeral Home mug.  This was a little disconcerting, but our server said they did have a cardiologist on site.  Also, a very sweet customer stopped by our table to tell us she used to ride a motorcycle and says a prayer every night asking for safe riding for motorcyclists.  Turns out we pass her home every time we ride on Warwoman Road.  After the great breakfast, the ride back was interesting and took us through Lakemont Village, Georgia.  I can say it was not on my list of places to visit, but it is now on my list of places I've been.  After turning around to avoid a gravel road and a detour, we eventually made our way home through Walhalla, stopping for gas along the way.  It was another great day on two wheels.     Steve

Good advertising for the funeral home, but for the restaurant??

 

Friday 07/15/16 Ride

Fellow Riders,

• I made it back from the family get together in Michigan.  I think the trip was a success since it only to me one bottle of scotch and a dozen golf balls to get through it.  I am in need of a good Harley ride though, so I thought I would keep going with the breakfast rides and head on over to the SunnySide Café in Clemson and then put in some more miles after a good cup of Java if the rain holds off.  If you would like to join me let’s plan to leave the Key Mart parking area about 8:30 AM this Friday.  Hope you can make it.   Dan

Sunny Side Cafe

Trip Advisor - Sunny Side Cafe

• The sky was very overcast, helping to keep the temperature in check, when eight riders, including Dan headed to Clemson for breakfast.  Along with Dan were Gadget, David D., me, Russ, Len, Ed, and O. G. Bob.  It was a quick ride to Clemson, although we did have to wait a bit for some repaving on Old Seneca Hwy.  The sign said caution, grooved road, and it sure was.  It's a little tricky riding on these grooves, but nothing compared to 30 mph+ winds while crossing the Mackinac Bridge in the steel grid lane.  When we arrived at Sunny Side, Sue had done her regular great job and a table was waiting for us (although, we did throw them a curve by telling them we had 7 when we actually had 8.  They fixed us up quickly).  Coincidently, our server previously worked at the BRC at Keowee Key.  She got our coffee along with our food order in a reasonable amount of time.  The menu offered quite a variety of selections, and it seemed as a group, we tried most of them.  I'm still suffering a little from the "sugar shakes" thanks to my delicious pecan praline stuffed French toast. It was very good and worth the calories.  O. G. Bob stuck with fruit and decaf coffee ( ).  For the ride home, Dan took us on several Pickens County country roads.  I'm not sure any of us really knew where we were.  I felt like a Pickens County Deputy Sheriff on patrol after a while, but it was still a great day on two wheels.    Steve

Interesting art work adorning the walls.

Friday 07/08/16 Ride

Fellow Riders,

• Dan is still away, so I thought I would ride up to Clayton to have breakfast at the Clayton Cafe.  With forecast predicting highs near 100 degrees in the afternoon, I definitely plan on being home by noon time.  We can leave from the Key Mart parking area at 8:30 am.  I hope you can make it.   Steve

Trip Advisor - Clayton Cafe

Unfortunately, O. G.Bob will not be riding this Friday, but I did see him and Marie
returning from Ingles with everything vegan and gluten free they could find for their visiting family.

• Seven riders agreed that an early ride would help beat the heat expected today.  Along with me were Gadget, Len, David D., Pat, Steve G., and Rob.  We took familiar back roads over to Hwy 28, and made our way north.  It seemed like a little War Woman before breakfast might be a manly way to whet our appetite, so that's the route we took into Clayton.  This is always a fun road.  Parking was not a problem with several spots available in front of the Cafe.  We had no trouble getting tables and ordered up some coffee and several selections that included country ham and grits.  We felt so southern.  After lunch, we decided to continue north and up to higher elevations to get some cooler air before making our way home. Heading up Hwy 246/106 is always a blast with the tight, but sweeping curves as you gain elevation.  Highlands didn't seem too crowded by the time we passed through, but I'm sure by the afternoon it would be packed.  We could feel the temps starting to rise by the time we got to Hwy 130 and I was glad to make it home before the hottest temperatures arrived.  It was another great day on two wheels.   Steve

I snapped this photo in front of the Old Edward Inn,
 while waiting to turn, of a familiar face.  Guess who?  (BTW, just kidding)