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It takes Grits to drive
2478.9 miles for a 62 mile street ride through the hills of Northern
Georgia on our 50cc motorcycles , so why do I do it?
I also looked forward too to seeing some people I had met the last trip out to Suches. Ed Dunn from Georgia, a wonderfully funny man who calls himself El Gordo. Yes, Ed's a big boy, and he rides a 50cc bike. In my opinion guys like this have the sport of 50cc riding in the right perspective, they do it for the shear fun of it". Jim Eads from Louisiana had said he was bringing his wife Phyllis this year and it was so good to see Jim and to meet Phyllis. We talk monthly with Jim as he and his son Ricky race with the Texas organization and do quite well. Jim and Phyllis could be dropped anywhere on earth and be happy campers, they've got more energy than any couple I have ever met, and they love motorcycles. Great combo. Camaraderie: I get to spend time with those people in my life that I would like to see more of, but, due to life, or the lack of, I am unable to do so. Barb aka "Bubba", Margaret and our newest addition to the Grits run Lisa. And let us not fail to mention Susan, our fearless leader, number 1 driver, keeping us on track, which is no easy undertaking. It's a chance for us girls to get away and do some eating, shopping, sightseeing, conversing and best of all ride on the street together. Five women and a dog, in a motor home. Driving across country. You can only imagine…. The story begins: We actually got on the road Sunday morning, October 18th at the designated time of departure.
Bubba brought Starbucks
for all, a great way to begin the journey, spirits high and heightened
by caffeine, yee haw let's go. The weather was spectacular. Clear
sailing through the great state of California. Damn it's a big
state. Gas was massive dollars per gallon..$2.69. We made it
to Kingman AZ the first day.
Arrived in Suches on Friday. Still absolutely beautiful, although a bit cooler. We found Britt and GT just as enthusiastic as the first year we had met them. Wonderful, warm and happy people. We inquired about Sheriff Mac only to find it was not a nice story, we miss you Mac…. We set up camp at the airport. Unloaded the bikes and did a bit of riding. Dinner at the TWO was the reward at the end of the day. Ummmm, haute cuisine and socializing, what could be better. Saturday we went for a couple of rides. It seems we never get enough riding in.
We always say "next
time" we're going to do more riding.
Sunday dawned with the dreaded rain that was forecast for the day. But also it brought a balloon decorated motor home. It seems that while the girls went shopping in Dahlonega, they purchased birthday tidbits for me. How they decorated without me knowing I have no idea, but it was a great and fun surprise…We dragged on our leathers, helmets, boots and gloves and off to TWO for the ride. They have added a parade since the last time we were there. As I had a rain suit on over my leathers I decided that rather than stand on the porch at TWO I would ride in the parade. Heck it was my birthday and I was going to go for the gold. Joe Golden pulled up next to me in line and off we went, following the fire truck and the hearse, that's right a hearse. There were actually lots of parade watchers along the ¼ mile parade route which made it fun. Margaret, Barb, Lisa and I decided that since it was raining we would stick together and have a leisurely ride. I volunteered to stick everyone's time card in the pocket of my rain suit since we would all be riding as a group. It became apparent at the first check point that this was not a good idea. I had to take off the gloves (which were soaking wet) get out the cards, which were in a baggie, get them signed, stick them back in the baggie and back into my rain suit, then put my gloves back on. The rain made my shoulder even more stiff (I supposedly have a torn rotator cuff in the left shoulder and I have been telling myself, since June, that it will heal in time. Four months later it hasn't, but being the stubborn person that I am I wait it out). Susan was waiting for us at the first check point. She allowed as how she was not waiting at the next check points for us, and so we never saw her again. I think she must have had a hard time lighting her smokes in the rain while waiting for us and said screw them. At one point in the ride my shoulder locked up in a very, very bad place, the apex of a downhill sharp right. The choice was to run into the side of the mountain or stop. I chose to stop. This is not good as Lisa was right on my rear, but she's a racer and I knew she could handle it. I put both feet down and came to a complete stop. Later the girls asked why I stopped, being nicknamed "Gracie" I told them I was looking at the spectacular scenery and lost it. You do not complain when you are a squid. I don't think any of the girls rode behind me after that and I don't blame them. Heck, I wouldn't either. It was fun too to see Sheldon and Ann at the check points. We had a few bikes pass us on the route, but surprisingly not many at all. Some macho type made a stupid remark when we got back to the lodge, he said " I thought the Calamari bikes were fast". I just smiled and said," we girls decided to take it easy and ride together" and walked on, knowing that our fearless leader, Susan, had toasted his butt big time and that he wasn't even in the hunt with her, tee hee. And so it was proven when she got the Galaxy Grand Champion plaque. Way to go Susan…. We were all so happy to be back at the TWO. Warm, cozy, good smells and warm food. Lisa's friend Denise had not gotten up to Suches in time to see the ride as the weather was so bad in Atlanta that she had to turn back and start out again much later than she had wanted to. Denise was at the lodge when we got back. We all took off our wet gloves only to find that our hands were dyed from the rain…. As Britt said "You should have worn some latex gloves under the leather ones". Day late and a dollar short again. Lisa hands were beyond black. We had fun teasing her about them being dyed for weeks, the look on her face was priceless…. We got our plaques and jammed back to the airport to pack up. Barb had to be in Memphis by Tuesday morning to catch a plane home. This meant we had to put our heads down and drive. "What's New?" Pulling out of Suches evokes a sadness, but pulling out in the rain puts a bigger damper on the morale. Susan and the girls went down to settle up the bill with Britt and GT and I headed into the gas station / convenience store to snatch up some raw peanuts and to walk the dog. Suches to Nashville to Memphis. We arrived in plenty of time for Barb to catch her ride to the airport but we had no idea whether she would make it into California as the lower part of the state was on fire and many flights were canceled due to enormous amounts of smoke covering much of the west. It was sad to say goodbye to Barb as she is such a fun traveler, we would miss her. Margaret and Lisa headed off to Graceland as they had never toured it. Two stops on the way home are memorable. The first being the Oklahoma City Memorial. A magnificent memorial to those who lost their lives. Beautiful, peaceful and very sad.
The second being Margaret announcing she would give the "72 oz" steak a try. Yes, 72 ounces of beef, a baked potato, a full size salad, a shrimp cocktail and a roll. Eat it all in one hour and it's free.
Five women and one dog succeeded. We drove, we ate, we shopped, we laughed, we rode, we did some sightseeing. Maybe next time we will get to ride a little more while in Suches. |
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