catching up...

the past week or so has been hectic. now that things are slowing down, it's time to catch up...

two weekends ago, while waiting for the family to return from florida, i took the opportunity to ride around the southern part of virginia snagging some bbq joints for the smoke chasing grand tour. and threw in a waffle house just for the fun of it...

day started early, heading up to henderson to get pictures of a few bbq places. as is common in rural areas and the gps, the locations the gps thinks the place should be and where the place actually is aren't the same. or the place doesn't exist at all. i'd find both in henderson. missing my first bbq opportunity to a place that didn't exist. while stopped at a light on my way to the second place, i stopped another bbq place. ahhh, this will make up for the first one i missed, i thought. only to realize, as i pulled into the parking lot, it was actually the second place i was headed - mis-located by the gps. the rest of henderson would be this way. luckily i only had a few stops in there, including a waffle house, before heading up to virginia.

virginia was good, spanning from south hill to danville. i picked up all the locations i planned. and one additional place that i quickly turned around for because it had the word "smoke" in the title. i ended up picking up seven places in virginia - two more than needed for my goal of obtaining griller status - five bbq joints in three states.

leaving virginia, heading home, i picked up two more bbq places, making for a great day out on the bike. although one of these days, i really should stop into one of these places and take in a meal.

you can follow my smoke quest here or see the route i took for my ride here - track in green.

what the hell am i doing here???

have you ever had an opportunity present itself and think, "that would be so cool?" Or "that would be so much fun?" So you get involved and then ask yourself, "what the hell am i doing here??" i can't count the number of times i've done that...

for example, one time at work i had the chance to work on a team consisting of really smart, well respected developers. who wouldn't jump at the opportunity to work on a team like that? shortly after joining the team, listening to every one's input during a meeting, the reality of the challenges i would face, both in proving my capabilities and maintaining the high standards of the team, i think, "what the hell am i doing here?"

another time, after taking the msf basic rider course, i thought it would be really cool to become an instructor. i've always enjoyed teaching. i have a passion for motorcycling. what could be better than combining the two? first weekend, sitting in the middle of the range on the bike, instructors throwing information at us at a hundred miles an our, i look around the range, at the other people in the class and think, "what the hell am i doing here?"

i could go on and on with examples... and you would think over time, i might slow down and think before jumping in. well, unfortunately i haven't learned that lesson because i've done it again!!!

over the past year or so i've discovered that i really enjoy long distance riding. don't get me wrong, i'm far from being an expert in long distance riding. and compared to the folks out there who are long distance riders, my rides look more like trips to the local grocery store. but i do find a fascination in long distance riding.

a couple friends i ride with have talked about and participated in the cape fear 1000. when i had the chance to join in this year's rally, i jumped at it!! not only that, i volunteered my wonderful wife to ride with me!!

the past two weeks have been filled with preparations for the rally. paying the registration fees, reserving the hotel, reading the rally rules, getting the liability statements notarized, providing proof of insurance... as i'm doing this, i find i'm asking, "what the hell am i doing here?" what did i get us into??

looking back, every time i've been in the situation where i wonder what the hell i'm doing, i've reacted the same way... i've stuck with the original plan, embraced the challenge and didn't give up. i've appreciated the opportunity. and the feeling of accomplishment i get when i reach my goal.

i'm approaching the cape fear 1000 the same way. my goal, just finishing. i'm looking forward to the ride; looking forward to sharing the experience with my wife.

smoke chasing bonuses...

every once in a while, the smoke chasing grillmaster will throw out a bonus. needing all the help i can get, i do what i can to participate in these bonuses. as an added incentive, there's usually a prize associated with the bonus. last month's was a backwards bonus - just needed a picture of the bike, the bbq place and the back of our flag. easy enough... and the prize?? which i didn't win!! a set of  dunlop tires!! not a bad deal.

this month there are two bonus opportunities. first, a dive contest. basically the worst looking bbq place we can find. compared to some of the other competitors, i don't think i have a chance at this one.

the second bonus this month is called friends don't let friends go hungry. for this one, we get one chance at winning the bonus for every friend that signs up for the smoke chasing tour. for all of you who thought this tour might be fun, now's the time to sign up!! sign up over here, then e-mail the grillmaster (smokechasing [at] hotmail.com) and tell them i sent you. but hurry, this bonus ends at the end of april.

nice little ride...

was able to squeeze in a short ride this past sunday. skies were overcast, threatening thunderstorms. but i decided to head out to durham to visit with some guys i used to work with. it was great seeing them and good to be back out on the bike.

while i was out i also wanted to bag a few more waffle houses and some bbq places. but that didn't quite work out. i was able to get one bbq joint on the way home but that was about it...

little ridin', lots of waffles...

weather has been fantastic the past couple days but the riding's been minimal...
planned to ride to lunch thursday and catch some waffle houses and bbq joints on the way home. unfortunately work got in the way and i wasn't able to make it.
i managed to make up for it, sort of, on friday by picking up son from school. it was a short ride, stretched a little longer by taking the long way home. the best part of picking him up from school is having all the other kids oohhh and aahhh over him because he gets to take off out of school on a bike. although i think he's oblivious to it because he's so into riding on the bike.
plan was to get a little more riding in this morning by swinging by the local waffle house. sorry to say those plans changed after an incident last night that involved a trip to the dentist and the emergency room for him. not feeling comfortable strapping a helmet on tender head we bagged the ride to waffle house this morning.
but that didn't mean i couldn't  pick up some additional waffle house swag for the grand tour...

smoke chasing begins...

started the smoke chasing grand tour yesterday... first stop, and only mandatory stop on the tour was ole time barbecue!! decided to make a nice lunch of it. ole time has some good barbecue and jerry donates an awful lot to charity, giving to eddie's road through this grand tour, as well as ride for kids and many more...
you can keep up with my smoke chasing travels here...

smoke chasing...

started the smoke chasing grand tour today...

international motorcycle show...

took a trip to the international motorcycle show in charlotte this weekend... a lot to see, a lot to do. lot of cool bikes - unfortunately i didn't get pictures of many of the bikes!!!

some older bikes that caught my attention

and some antique bikes that are still being driven around!!

took some time to watch the stunk show my the smage brothers. really cool show of their trials skills!!

took some time to listen to doug wothke's talk about his 'round the world adventures. very interesting. the way he talks, he makes it seem like a sunday ride around the park.

one other bike that caught my attention...

back home...

got the bike back from twin specialties today... no blemishes on the tank anymore and finally have all the repairs from the crash last year done!! wooohooo!! to make things even better, i was able to snag two more waffle houses on the way home!

bike's been at twin specialties getting the last repairs from the crash last year. obviously more cosmetic than anything else. i could have let it go, but dealing with the insurance company was such a beeeyotch i decided to press the issue.

should be getting the bike back this coming week. can't wait to get back on the road again, encouraging the wife to get on the back and pursue some great rides!! watch, now the real winter will arrive - just my luck...

waffle house grand tour

signed up for the waffle house grand tour. here's my progress...

easyriders show...

headed to the easyriders bike show in charlotte this weekend… compared to previous years, looks like attendance and vendors were down. although it could have been due to it being sunday. there was still plenty to see and check out…

top on my list this year was to see mushu suzie from widowmaker cdr. as always, i wasn’t disappointed… there’s something about a stripped down industrial design that grabs me. i love the looks and innovations on this bike.

something else that caught my attention was this motorcycle hammock from wiskybilt... it's all bolt on, no welding. breaks down into a pouch that will fit in a saddle bag. bet it would come in handy on some cross-country trips.

then is was on to the rest of the show... mike and angie from full throttle saloon were there...

some other bikes that caught my attention...

the trend in baggers these days seems to be large front tires. i didn't get  any more pictures, but almost every bagger i saw had this huge front tire...

and the little man high-fiving the geico lizard...