That is if
you can find it, itÕs now known as ŌThe SaloonĶ. What a great turnout, especially for a weekday. If all rode their bikes there would
have been 8. However, the weather
was very cold and the only one brave enough for that was Denny and Sandy, my
hatÕs off to them.
ThereÕs not
a whole lot to write about. It was great to see everyone and what a terrific
way to break up the week. The food
and the service were excellent. I
would have to put this high on my list of eateries. There wasnÕt one complaint and a whole lot of raves of how
good the food really was.
The best
thing was spending time with my friends of the VMTA!
There was a
lot of temptation to ride bikes to this Bike Show. Saner minds prevailed, as it was going to rain sometime in
the afternoon. We had quite a
group show up at the Show itself, nine members and three kids total.
Gerry Boyd, Bob Smith, Chris Aycock, Smitty, Joan & Jake Kaplan and Roger &
Susan Miller, plus JoanÕs 2 kids and JakeÕs son. Maybe some others made the Show but with all the people they
were easily overlooked.
We stopped
in Newnan for an IHOP breakfast and still got to the Show by 10 AM. Smitty was holding coupons for us at
the door, but we slipped by him and had to go bring him into the Show. Of course he rode his new FJR 1300,
parking it right in front of the Galleria with several other FJRs. Not a lot of bikes were around this
year, but there was a 3 block long wait to get in again. It did go fast, even with collecting
the yearly calendar, with your mailed invitation. That was the free gift.
As usual
there were a lot of bikes to see, in new colors and all. There was so much paraphernalia that it
was hard to see everything. They
had three bikes in the Death Wheel doing stunts, too. You could check on insurance or buy glass cleaner, etc. Vendors of all sorts were in
attendance.
We left
there to get some food before returning home, venturing outside we saw it had
just started raining. Not hard but
we were glad to four-wheel it home, kidding Smitty as we left. I hear Roger & Susan stayed till
after six!!
Getting
more experience riding is always a good idea, especially on quiet country
roads. So, Susan called to set up
a Sunday ride on short notice. It
turned out we got Larry & Faith Mack, John Fiske, Roger & Susan Miller
and Bob Smith to make this afternoon ride.
We met at
the Welcome Center, where some men on Harleys and a Honda 1800 twin came over
to talk. They acted like they
wanted to join us to go to Pine Mountain, but since they were from Montgomery,
they decided to head back that a way.
They had been to the Harley Shop for a look see. We were a little late leaving the gas
station, but Larry was just getting home from work so it was good we delayed a
little bit.
Upon
turning into their driveway on #315 we saw a bright red 1800 Wing sitting
there. Was this Sandy & Denny?
Noooo, the MackÕs have a new bike to break in, too. After a quick walk around and
comparison, we took off for parts unknown.
On the trip across Roosevelt Park, we
took a break at an overlook, where some ham-radio operators from Newnan were
setting up an antenna. They
explained the idea of having a contest to see how many other hams they could
contact in a certain time period.
They certainly had the altitude for good reception.
From Warm
Springs we explored neat county roads back toward Durand, then north around the
little burg of Pine Mountain. We
stopped for a break, as our stomachs were rumbling and we decided to head to
West Point to a little diner I know.
Unfortunately, it was not open for lunch. Peppercorn Grill sounded good, so off we went in that
direction. Now there was a little
chance of rain that evening, but we kept insisting to Larry that it would be
much later. He kept commenting
that the clouds were more ominous.
We had a good meal there and came outside to find fine drops of rain on
the bikes. We dressed a little
warmer, but not in rain suits to come home.The roads never got wet enough to
dirty the bikes but the windshields sure got wet as we came back into
Columbus. I rode on up to #315
with Larry & Faith after everyone else had headed on home. Right at my exit the rain came down
pretty hard for a minute, but I continued north with them. It was a good riding day. I was able to bring it on home without
a care. We sure had a warm weekend
for late January. Then there was
the Mexican dinner the next evening.