Planes and racing on a winter "spring day"

Took the Vulcan out for a cruise on a very fine winter day; a bit on the breezy side, but warm is a beautiful thing. It was close to 70 out riding; nothing wrong with that especially in mid-February. Went out to one of my favorite places which was Concord Regional Airport. It is a nice place to ride to and I have always enjoyed aircraft. This is my bike in front of a couple of planes in the distance. Nice airport and one of the busiest in the state, this small airport gets a lot of flights. Many of the race teams are based there (as you will see in a little while a little further down). Sunday was a nice riding day, traffic was not real bad, and the motorcycles were for sure out in force! Nothing like a warm winter day to bring the guys and gals out for a ride. Enjoyed being on the bike after my two week pause from riding. I really enjoy getting out and do so every visit I can. The fact that the area is sort of in a drought makes that possible, though they had a snow fall (very light) just a few days prior. It is still winter, though nice to get a break for a short while at least. I am sure some more winter is still to come though.
From the observation deck, watched a number of planes take off and land. A Dad and two boys were also watching the flights, brought back memories of doing that with my Dad many years ago. Motorcycling and aviation have gone well together, many pilots also ride and make comparisons to the two activities. In fact one could make the case that riding helped the creation of planes. Many control issues were figured out by the bicycle knowledge of the Wright Brothers, and early versions of motorcycle engines powered the creations of motorcycle racer, and aircraft designer Glenn Curtiss.
A number of racing teams are based around the airport such as Earnhardt-Ganassi, Roush-Fenway, and of course Richard Petty. That is the Vulcan in front of Petty's shops. The track is also nearby, and many of the teams have aviation departments at the airport. I have in the past even seen drivers (saw Tony Stewart there) at the airport.
Rode out by Concord Mills (getting there would be wild, huge line of traffic on I-85 which I passed over in both directions to NC's most popular tourist destination) with a stop at Suck Bang Blow in Concord. Really like that place , nice place to relax near the end of a ride with some refreshing beverages (just one though...I am riding). Had a great ride, covering a short but fantastic 36 miles. Not a long ride, but better to ride a little than not at all. Looking forward to the next one. I also made a visit to RideNow in Concord the day before, couple of new bikes to show off and will do that in a future post.