Friday 04/27/18 Ride

Fellow Riders,

• It looks like we're getting a break from the rain on Friday, so I was thinking I would head to Side Street Pizza and Pasta in Tryon, NC, for lunch on Friday.  If that sounds good to you, we'll plan on leaving the Key Mart parking area at 10:30 am.  Hope to see you there.      Steve

Side Street Pizza and Pasta - Menu

• This was the kind of day made for motorcycle riding - sunny skies and not too hot.  The riders that joined me for the trek to Tryon were Dan, David D., Russ, Terry, Doug, Bill, and Pat.  With a little over 60 miles to our destination, we took some familiar and interesting roads.  We were glad to see that the typically rough Old Hwy 25 route through the Greenville watershed had received some much needed work.  We did have to wait for a very pokey mower to finally pull over and let us pass.  It's still not real smooth road, but was smooth enough to enjoy the scenic curves.  We made our way through Saluda on our way to Tryon, and rode on the very curvy Hwy 176.  We arrived at Side Street and a table was set up for our 8 riders thanks to a call ahead by Paulette.  The service was very quick and our meals arrived in a very reasonable amount of time.  Pizza, pasta, soup, and subs were the selections made by our group and the consensus was that the food was very good.  The ride home took us through several peach orchards and the views of the mountains on this clear day were pretty amazing.  On Hwy 11, we were surprised after rounding a curve and finding two very large pieces of equipment totally blocking our lane while trimming trees along the road.  The only sign we saw prior to this, just said road work ahead, and they seemed to be taking down the signs.  This is in contrast to signs we saw on our route to Tryon along River Road near Cleveland, SC, that said watch for flagman, one lane ahead, and there was absolutely nothing on no one around.  Not sure how SCDOT manages their road repairs.  Oh well, we did enjoy a nice ride on Hwy 11 as we finished our trip home.  Overall, it was another great day on two wheels.    Steve

Saddling up for the ride home.....

Friday 04/20/18 Ride

Fellow Riders,

• Let’s head on over to the Copper Pot in Clarkesville, GA.  The temps there should be about the same as here, which is nice for a ride.  If that sounds good to you let’s plan to leave the Key Mart parking area about 10:30 AM this Friday.  Hope you can make it. Dan

The Copper Pot

Friday 04/13/18 Ride

Fellow Riders,

• Friday the temps are supposed to warm up nicely, so I thought I would try heading north a bit and have some lunch at Mica’s Restaurant & Pub in Sapphire, NC which is just a bit west of Cashiers.  If you would like to join me let’s plan to leave the Key Mart parking area about 10:30 AM this Friday.  Hope to see you there.    Dan

Mica's Restaurant & Pub

• After a lot of "one step forward, two steps back" with the arrival of spring this year, today was a perfect day to make our first trek into the mountains after several months.  Joining Dan today were David D., Doug, Len, Russ, me, Rob, Gary, Pat, and Bill. I think Dan wanted to make sure we got our mountain curvy road "chops" in our first ride north.  He was able to turn a 32 mile, 45 minute ride into one close to 60 miles and over 90 minutes.  We made our way on the always fun Hwy 28 to Highlands, and another several miles on Hwy 64, which is one of my favorites.  Thanks to Siri and Sue, a table was ready for us when we arrived.  Also, when we arrived, there was OG Bob himself, along with the "usually in need of a real wash" Yamaha. It was good to see him back with the group.  Our server was quite friendly and was trying very hard to stay organized.  She took our drink requests and then followed up with our food orders.  There were many different selections made and everyone seemed to like what they ordered.  Our server did a great job staying organized, but things fell apart with a couple of mishaps with the bills, but no real damage done.  Dan took us toward home by going back through Cashiers. According to our "local" Doug, we should always silence the "i" and say 'casherrs', which is a comment Dan had heard just this morning from another local.  The ride back was at a good pace and very comfortable.  It looked to me like everyone is ready to spend the next several months traversing the winding mountain roads.  It was another great day on two wheels.    Steve

The Mica's greeter, from Salem, snapped
this photo of OG Bob arriving in a rush to get there
before the rest of us arrived. Shoulder looking good.

Friday 04/06/18 Ride

Fellow Riders,

• I'm looking forward to riding after being away for a few weeks and thought heading to The Dutch Plate in Campobello would make for a good ride.  The weather looks like it will cooperate for a nice ride this Friday.  If it sounds good to you, let's plan on leaving the Key Mart parking area at 10:30.  Hope to see you there.    Steve

Trip Advisor - Dutch Plate

• The forecast was somewhat promising for the day and it was enough to entice 10 riders for a road trip to Campobello.  The riders meeting me at Key Mart included David D., Rob, Len, Ray, Doug, Gary, Bill (delivered his last Full Throttle Magazine - Retired), and Pat.  Pete met up with us as we crossed US 25 via Hwy 414. We were enjoying the sun and the rising temperature as we left the parking area in Salem, but by the time we were north of Pickens, it was nothing but cloudy skies.  With about 60 miles to get to our destination, we took mostly familiar roads and only a few of the lesser traveled county roads.  We arrived around noon and the tables were set for the 10 of us, thanks to you know who calling ahead for us.  The restaurant was not very busy and the friendly staff took our drink orders right away (lots of coffee due to the cool ride) and then got our food choices.  The food is good there and the breakfast menu was definitely the most popular selection for our group.  No one braved the scrapple on this trip.  The food took a long time to come out of the small kitchen and they were very apologetic, so no one seemed too upset.  After the leisurely lunch, we headed west on scenic Hwy 11 and the skies seemed to be getting dark.  We did encounter some rain drops, but nothing a bunch of grizzled bikers couldn't handle.  When we reached Cleveland, I headed south on Hwy 276 for a few more country roads and most of the other riders stayed on Hwy 11 for a little quicker ride home.  Although a little cloudy and cooler than I wanted, it was still another great day on two wheels.     Steve

OG Bob Update - I received this, believed to be OG Bob
 trying out a new ride that is good for recovering shoulder surgery patients.