world's largest...

once again, had the opportunity to ride with my wonderful wife... seems like we've been riding more together lately and i'm likin' it!! hopefully the trend continues...

memorial day we took a ride to see the world's largest frying pan. great day for a ride... my wife was a little leery about being on the bike for so long, especially after riding so long to wilmington... we decided to blast down interstate forty to get there and take a leisurely ride back...

we rode out there, not quite knowing what to expect or where to find it... turns out the waypoint i downloaded wasn't accurate and led us to a gas station. knowing that we had ridden the street a few weeks earlier and not seen it, i figured we'd better ask directions...

the attendant at the gas station answered my request for directions as if i must be some sort of knucklehead for having missed it - it's at the town square, down a couple blocks on the right...

we hop back on the bike, head down a couple blocks and sure enough, there it is!!







the site of the frying pan was originally a public school... years ago, the school burned down and the only building left is the cafeteria. apparently they use the cafeteria as a town house...


we walked around the town square, which outside of the 'town house' and frying pan, is an empty city block with tennis courts on the backside of the cafeteria and an odd shed-looking building in one corner.



of course we also had to pose for a couple touristy pictures...



i wasn't sure if i should be offended or not, so i thought i would thumb my nose at them...


again, it was a great day for a ride and even better that i got to spend it with my wife... i think that she was kind of humoring me (and probably laughing at me) for wanting to visit the frying pan. in the end, i think she appreciated it as well...

wonder if i'll be able to talk her into going to the world's largest chest of drawers, the world's largest ten commandments or the shell-shaped gas station...

check out the 2008 ride map to see the route - this one in purple...

rolling thunder...

more rolling thunder related stuff this weekend... gathered at a friends house to watch everyone ride off for rolling thunder... not a lot of details, just pictures...
















when they took off, the daughter of one of the guys lead the way... she was really excited about it - i think it made her day...

patriot hd open house...

went to patriot hd this weekend to attend their memorial day open house. well, not really. we went by because it was a hog pin stop...

there were a heck of a lot more people and vendors than i expected. the army was giving away lots-o-free stuff - hats, shirts, pins, lanyards, etc. the dealership was giving away their screw it bandannas.

after walking around, collecting our free stuff and seeing the sites, we headed out...





the occ army chopper...

rider down...

really hate making a post like this, but i guess it was going to happen eventually...

somewhere around 0300 monday morning one of the guys we went with went down. don't know all the details, don't know if i would post them if i did... he was medevac'ed from the scene to fairfax hospital in northern virginia. while the prognosis is good considering the circumstances, he's certainly not out of the woods...

prayers and thoughts to him and his family...

peace...

22500 service...

took the bike in a little early, about 100 miles, for it's 22500m service... mostly because i wasn't sure if the clutch was going to last.

i did some riding over the weekend and it didn't seem to be getting worse, although it was still slipping when i cranked on the throttle. i was still a bit concerned about being out somewhere if/when the clutch finally gave out...

while it was in for it's regular service, i had them look at the clutch as well as replace my front tire - finally...

i picked up the bike a few days later to find the service done, a new front tire and parts ordered for the clutch. they did adjust the clutch again and said it was ridable. i forgot to ask them what was wrong with the clutch or what parts they ordered. but they did say they would call when the parts were in.

while the bike was in for service, i got to ride around on a softail deluxe. nice ride. each time i ride around on the new ninety-six inch motor, i like it more and more. this one had after market, and loud, pipes.

not so sure i like riding around with loud pipes. you'll hear some bikers let out the mantra, loud pips save lives... i've never really believed the slogan. my thinking is if the cage driving it's paying attention, they're not going to hear/see you just because you have loud pipes. in addition, the majority of sound is blasted behind the bike. the majority of accidents are cages failing to yield your right-of-way; left turn in front of you or right turn out of a parking lot in front of you. the sounds going behind you doesn't help either of those situation...

i didn't like the loud pipes for a much more personal reason, not how it affected the traffic around me but how it affected me. the loud sound drown out all the other traffic and environmental sounds i rely on to help keep me safe in traffic. in addition to looking, i like to hear where the cages are on the road, i like to know where the sound of screeching tires is coming from. loud pipes don't allow that luxury...

anyway, while my bike was in for service, this is the bike i got to style around on. again, nice bike. i didn't care for the seating position. it was a bit to cramped for me. but fun to ride a different bike for a couple days. makes you glad to be back on your own...

bikes, beers, babes and beaches...

rode out to myrtle beach for a couple days during bike week. so much to do, so much to see, it was hard to cram into a couple days... but, i did my best...

ride out on monday was good. cooler weather made the ride more enjoyable. nothing special to report on the ride down - which is a good thing in this case. traffic was a lot lighter than i expected, especially for a monday on ninety-five. the majority of bikes i saw, which was that many to begin with, were heading away from myrtle. must have been the weekend warriors...

i made a quick stop for food and fuel in selma. plenty of fireworks stands in the area, particularly around the state lines. if i wasn't on the front end of my trip, i may have picked some up.




made it into town and, after riding around in the wrong area, finally made it to the place. everyone was already out and about, so i dumped my stuff and headed to the iron gate saloon...


















after the frivolity at iron gate, we headed over to td's sports bar. i guess some of the guys felt their bikes were too dirty...




crazy eric holding the truck back so it can do a burnout...


after a couple beverages, we headed back to the house... the house was nice, with a pool, a view of the sound on one side and a view of more houses on the other...








monday night we headed to suck bang blow, where eric decided to do a burnout...




tuesday was pretty much spent at the rat hole... crazy eric and i participated in some of the bike games while the rest of the crew sat back and watched...


























it wasn't until after trying my skills in the slow roll that i realized maybe it wasn't such a good idea. i've had to have my clutch adjusted several times already this year - this certainly didn't help. the next bike service was coming up soon. i figured i would have them look at doing something more than just adjusting the clutch this time. there had to be something wrong with it...

wednesday was spent riding home. the slipping clutch altered my route home. originally i was planning on taking back roads home. considering the state of the clutch, i decide it was probably best to just get home - quickly.

overall it was a good trip. short but fun... there weren't as many bikes and people compared to the last time i was there. it was kind of nice because i didn't feel like i was spending most of my time on the road, getting around...

and just in case you're interested, check out the 2008 ride map to see the route - this one in pink...