'nother ride...

took a little ride around to a couple of the dealerships... had to head out to durham to pick up a check and to raleigh for the hog meeting. before leaving, i'm punching the locations into my gps. my wife is giving me a hard time because i'm taking my gps and i already know where i'm going. i figure i have it, i might as well use it.

ride out to durham was a nice, uneventful ride. let me say it was hot!! i could feel myself sweating even as the air was blowing through my jacket and cooling me off... i get to durham, take care of my business and head on to raleigh.

ride to raleigh was not quite as pleasant as i would have wanted. being in rush-hour traffic didn't help. i don't know if traffic around here is getting worse or if i'm just becoming less tolerant to it. we moved to the area from northern virginia - traffic up there is horrible. people complained about how bad traffic was down here, but compared to up there, it was nothing - heck, people were saying traffic was bad because five cars would get stuck at a light!!! as i was in the mix of rush hour traffic, i'm thinking about how congested it is. i don't know if that's because it truly is getting worse - which i'm sure it is. or if i'm just accustom to riding where there's less traffic and now i'm noticing it more. i'm sure the fact that i had a destination that i wanted to get to quickly didn't help my perception either.

i get to ray price and i notice the parking lot is rather empty - but i am a bit early for the hog meeting and the dealership is technically closed. so i mill around outside, packing away my jacket and helmet. there are two guys talking - both are employees. one guy obviously wants to complain about the level of service (or non-service) he's receiving. i could tell the way he started the conversation, he wanted to complain to the other guy - not that the other guy could have done anything about it. i didn't really pay much attention to the conversation in fear of being included. complaint-dood just wanted to complain and there wasn't anything anyone could do to make him feel better - short of the dealership fixing his bike to his expectation. i decided to keep my distance from that conversation...

i finally mill around to the front of the building and discover why it's so desolate... the hog meeting is taking place at lake wheeler!!! the good news is bbq is being served, the bad news is i'm late!!! even better news - the hard time my wife was giving me over the gps paid off!! i punch in the location for lake wheeler and i'm off.

as i'm riding over to the park, all i can think about is how hungry i am. of course the temptation of free food and the sixteen miles to the park wasn't helping. i was hoping there would be enough left for me to have a little - ole time barbecue was providing the food and it's always good. as i get there, they're scraping the last pieces off the pig - just in time for me to get some tasty morsels.

meeting was pretty much the same ol' meeting. talked about the events going on and then gave away some money. as far as events, the third annual capital city bikefest or, as it's sometimes referred to, the rally in raleigh, is going on at the end of september. should be a good time.

headed home after the meeting. for the first time in a long time, i decided not to ride with my jacket. felt a little under-protected at first, but the cool air made me quickly forget about that. the cooler air made the ride home a bit more enjoyable. sure beats sweating as you're riding. but if i had the choice of sweating while i'm riding or not riding - you know i'll be riding!!!