Concord Rides (March 23-23)

Got to spend some quality time on the bike this weekend. On Sunday March 22 took a short ride around downtown Concord, NC. Some neat old buildings there, and its peaceful on a Sunday morning with very few people there. Was a wonderful day for a short ride. It was warm and sunny. I posted some photos of town on my Flickr Page (link can be found on my main page).
On Monday March 23, took a ride with Phil to High Rock Lake. That is his bike in the foreground (A Yamaha) and thats my Kawasaki in the background. Phil is a former boss of mine at Concord.

Went to High Rock Lake, which is a very beautiful lake near Salisbury, NC. We rode up some of my favorite backroads; lots of twists and turns, past some farms and fields, and past a lot of horses and cows. There are some old houses there; some of wood and some falling apart in that very old way that are really neat. The roads are fun and being an early Monday afternoon we got in a good ride with virtually no traffic at all to deal with. We sat by the lake and had a good talk about work both in Concord and in Richmond. Phil spent some early days with the company working in Richmond, so had some good insights.
Phil is seen here on his bike at the beginning of the ride. The truck is owned by another friend of mine (Ray Kellis) who I visited with earlier along with Keith at One-mor in Concord (great local place to eat on Union Street). Was a very good ride, I needed that. Been some time since I got to put 2.5 hours and 70+ miles on the bike, and was a perfect day. Was also my first ride with Phil, and he was great company. I look forward to the next ride, which will be hopefully in two weeks. So far the weather in Concord has held up for my visits home, no rain there during the last three (however, has rained every weekend I have been in Richmond, VA.
Some news on motorcycling. Atlantic Beach (near Myrtle Beach) city council has voted to support the Atlantic Beach festival. Have made some changes to vendors but nothing that should directly impact the riders like Myrtle Beach City Council has done. The Atlantic Beach rally is mostly sport bikes and is also known as "Black Bike Week". The annual event brings a lot of money to the town and the area. It also brings a lot of very interesting motorcycles and motorcyclists there as well. I have friends who good every year and enjoy it a great deal. I was pleased to see the town did not follow the lead of Myrtle Beach.
Riding season is getting better and will soon be in full swing. Will have more news, upcoming events and other items of interest in my next post...."April Motorcycle News"