New Year's Day Ride

First off, Kasey and I would like to wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year!!

Up until three years ago being in Indiana, riding on the first day of the year was a special event. Of the times I have been able to ride on January One, those rides have cut short by cold winds, rain, and one started out with the mercury hovering five degrees below freezing. Fortunately, the late morning, early afternoon brought temperatures in the mid fifties.

2019 in North Carolina was starting out with clear skies, a sun blazing overhead, and air warming up to near seventy degrees. Just to cover their butts, I believe the local weather forecasters put in a small chance for rain. Those are all ingredients to make it a no-brainier when it comes to going for a ride.

Everything seemed in place, until we were all suited up. For some reason, Kasey couldn't hear me in her Bluetooth headset. All of mine seemed to work perfectly. After a few minutes, we gave up, as the roads were begging us to use them.

We started with our usual route, north on Highway 200 to SR 24/27. With a few short jaunts on Coley Store and Bethel Church, we made our way on to Austin Road. This is a pretty popular route through Stanly County. Number one because it cross the county is a pretty path, and second, that path is littered with some good curves and scenery.

As we made our way, the road, the bike, and my control of The Black Pearl felt smooth and confident. It was like I and the machine were melding into one. Bluetooth or not, I was sure Kasey could hear the smile in my helmet as I made my way over the asphalt.

We appeared in New London, and then took US 52 north. This is a long straight stretch that begins by rolling through Richfield. Even thought it was a short section, we did pass a couple of State Troopers looking to get a good start on speeding tickets for 2019. Another Town Cop would be checking speed at Pfeiffer University. After another droning long straight, we made our way into Gold Hill, and then to High Rock Road. The further we got off of US 52 the better the road got, but the worse the neighborhood went. I was looking for the intersection of Barber Road, as there were three plots of raw land that could be sold in parts, or all together. The price was pretty good. As we arrived, we could tell the price was appropriate for the area. After a couple of passes, we both voted Thumbs Down, and made our way back to US 52.

The scenery hadn't changed much since we were just north bound on this road, and the perspective of heading south didn't offer much of anything different. In Richfield, I pulled into the Shell Gas Station to fill the belly of the Honda VTX 1800. We talked a bit more about the land, and with shopping far off, we both agreed again to take it off the list. It also started the conversation on the next piece we were going to look at. It wasn't far off, and shopping options were just as rare.

We made our way down to New London, then through part of town, and out on Highway 740. This time I was looking for the crossing of Moss Road. I had just ridden this way solo a couple of days before, so I knew where I was going, but I had a few things I wanted to see. The land has its appeal, including just a few miles from Badin Beach, but neither of us had that perfect feeling in our guts.

We made our way into Badin, rolling a bit under speed to just take a look around. We went down the main drag, including two passes along the downtown shops. The only grocery offering was a Mini-Mart that also was a gas station. We also passed through some neighborhoods. A lot of the homes were lake homes, but some people looked as though they live there full time. The town seemed asleep, and just need the right people to come along and wake it up.

We followed a sign pointing toward Morrow Mountain, so we headed out of town. Eventually, we were put on Valley Drive, and made our through the country-side. It wasn't long until we arrived at Morrow Mountain State Park Road. We turned left, and headed up into the park. First was a trip up the snake of pavement to the mountain vista. Not many bikes up here on this visit.

We made our way back down the drive, and then headed toward the lake front. Not much for people down here either. A lot of the park amenities are closed, as it is a holiday, and the middle of winter. With our visit complete, we made our way back out of the park.

We rolled back to Highway 740, then took it south into Albemarle. This highway exchanges names for US 52 in the middle of town. US 52 has a ramp off to the south, but we stay on 24/27 to leave town. Avoiding the rest of the trip on the highway, we detour on to Saint Marten's Road. This ribbon rolls up and down, and left and right across the land. The roar of the exhaust was only interrupted by the floorboards touching down on the pavement moving below.

We made our way out of the park, and back to 740. We then went south into Albemarle. At the far edge of town, we veered off of 24/27 to Saint Marten Road. More curves and rolls that we enjoyed following. Every once in a while, the engine's roar was interrupted by the floor board scrapping the pavement.

We passed through Oakboro, and then onto Buster Road. I like riding this stretch as much as I like saying the name. It offers sweepers, and some surprising short turns and drops.

Buster ends at 200, so it is jaunt north that gets us back home.