motorcycle riding in north Carolina

Posts Tagged ‘motorcycle riding in north Carolina’

Harley Owners Group Rolling Rally: History in the Hills Day 6

Posted: June 29, 2016 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring, Rally
Tags: Harley Davidson, Harley Owners Group, HOG, mast general store, motorcycle riding, motorcycle riding in north Carolina, motorcycle riding in tennessee, motorcycle touring, North Carolina, Pin ball museum, wheels through time

Waking early for our 630AM kickstands up we rolled out of bed and got dressed for the day. Our first stop was the Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, NC. The store is a great example of the old time general store and has been in operation since 1882. It is still the local store, post office and community gathering place. This was a very cool stop, make sure to ask about the “chicken chute” when you visit to see how people bartered for goods “back in the day”.

Mike got a lot of mileage from these simple wax lips!

We also swung by the Mast Candy Store. The store focused on old school candy like wax bottles and lips, Bit’O Honey, caramel chews and pretty much any type of candy from your childhood. Of course we had to buy back some of our childhood, one of our new friends (Mike) bought some glossy red wax lips and proceeded to scare and delight riders the rest of the day.

Rolling out of Valle Crucis we hit the Diamond Back! Our route took us about 2/3^rd of the length of this snake. This 38 mile diamond shaped loop includes NC 226A, US 221, Toms Creek Road, NC 80 and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Riding through Little Switzerland on our way to the Mountain Gateway Museum (and lunch) was one of the highlights of the day. One of the low lights of the day was zipper of my Kevlar pants blowing out (as well as a pocket). The rest of the day the crew we were riding with (Mike, Dale, Stacey, Tori and Don) would occasionally call me McFly….sad day indeed!

1 of 30+ machines

The next stop was the Mountain Gateway Museum where I found out there was a Spanish Fort in this area well before any English or French outposts, very interesting. After lunch at the museum we rode to Asheville to check out the Pinball Museum. If you are into classic to modern pinball games or 1980s video games that are fully playable this is your place. I had a lot of fun playing a vintage 1978 KISS pinball machine then jumping over to an 2015s KISS machine was completely awesome! I could have spent hours in there…sad that I don’t but glad I don’t live in Asheville I would spend a lot of money at the pinball museum.

Back on the bike we rode a little more than an hour to the Wheels Through Time motorcycle museum. Debbie and I visited Wheels Through Time last year when on vacation. It is an awesome facility that every motorcycle enthusiast must have on their list of sites to visit. This time, because we were part of the HOG rally, we got to spend more time with the owner Dale as he told us stories about how he acquired several of the very rare bikes in the collection.

This time we also got to hear the story of the Traub motorcycle, a one of kind bike found sealed behind the wall of an apartment building. I will write a separate post on this story.

After Wheels Through Time we rode on to our hotel in Hendersonville, NC. We met our new friends for drinks and laughs and then off to bed. Day 7 brings the Dragon.

To see what happened on day one check out that post!

Harley Owners Group Rolling Rally: History in the Hills Day 5

Posted: June 26, 2016 in Motorcycle, Motorcycle news, Motorcycle Rides, motorcycle touring
Tags: Harley Davidson, Harley Owners Group, history in the hills, HOG, Motorcycle, Motorcycle Ride, motorcycle riding in north Carolina, motorcycle riding in virginia

Tuesday morning we had to be at Roanoke Harley Davidson bright and early, the local Harley Owners Group chapter were providing breakfast! So we were kickstands up and riding the motorcycle at about 7AM. Once again, the dang Dealership location feature of the GPS was screwed up! (you can read more on my thoughts about this thing from a post more than a year old here…not much has changed).

After thanking the HOG and dealership employees we got back on the road. Hopping on the Blue Ridge Parkway (we were on and off the parkway about a dozen times it seems) we arrived at out second destination Mabry Mill. Now I have been to dozens of mills over the years and this one was no different except for the story behind. If you have time check the link for the story. Also they have a working blacksmith forge, the gentleman working the forge makes several different items. He was just starting the heat the forge when were there so he was not working iron.

Now start whistling the theme for the Andy Griffith show while thinking about the song Rain Drops Kept Falling on my Head. Because both of those fit our stop in Mount Airy, NC. A short(ish) ride from the Mill, Mt. Airy was the home of Andy Griffith and the town has become Mayberry as a result. The main street is a neat little “kitsch” with county/Mayberry themed stores. But the real “Floyd’s” Barber Shop and Snappy Lunch stand are there. We had a nice lunch at Snappy and if I had needed a haircut I would have stopped in Floyd’s.

A large part of stay in Mt. Airy was in the rain. Riding the motorcycles in it was a hit and miss sprinkle, walking around it was a light rain but most of the stores had awnings that kept us covered but for about 5 minutes there was a downpour. One of our new friends (Don of Don and Torri 🙂 ) made the rain stop by running down to their bikes and putting covers on their luggage.

After visiting the Andy Griffith Museum and Siamese Twins exhibit we were back on the road headed to Winston-Salem, NC. This next stop was at the Winston Cup Museum. If you are into NASCAR this small museum will be right up your pit-lane (see what I did there LOL). Holding 20+ race cars the museum tells the story NASCAR when RJ Reynolds was the primary sponsor.

After this it was a sprint to our hotel, a shower, beer/sprits, dinner and fun with new friends and sleep… or and air conditioning!! Not sure what is the most important invention of the modern era… Motorcycles or air conditioning!

To see what happened on day one check out that post!