Mid Winter Ride

Looking back I see it's been a while since my last entry.  The holidays were part, as well as some not so good weekend weather.  I'll try not to let that happen again.

After lunch on Sunday, seeing the mercury rise to near 70, we decide to break the winter doldrums.  Jeans and a mid weight leather jacket seemed appropriate along with my normal light weight leather gloves. With Debbie dressed in a similar fashion we head west, across the Neuse River.

We started off at 1:00PM to Lawson's Creek in New Bern.  The ride over the high rise was interesting due to the winds gusting to 25 mph at times.  Yes, even the Ultra suffers from wind effect.  Actually she suffers more than the Sportster did due in part to the large area offered by the saddle bags, fairing and windshield.

At Lawson's Creek we note quite a few bass fishermen had launched and the Coast Guard had launched their inflatable at the ramp.  We circled the park then headed downtown.

At the corner of Middle and Broad we parked in order to take some photos of the new art work on exhibit. If memory serves me correctly, JC Penny's stood here some 35 years ago.  Debbie says it was the only place in New Bern at the time to get Girl Scout accessories.  Of course then there was no Mall and both Penny's and Belk's were downtown as were McClellans, Kress, Africana Mens Shop, The Surplus Store and Hawk's Radio and TV.  Remember the RCA Victor Dog? The Sound of His Master's Voice.

Next, we're off to Union Point to see who's browsing the area.  We find quite a group of folks, both young and old, enjoying the unseasonably warm temperatures.  We cruise on through town down Broad Street and what a sight Broad Street is with everything all torn up in anticipation of completion of the revitalization of the area.   And of course there is the 300 year celebration of New Bern in 2010.  I just don't see how the plans will easily accommodate the traffic downtown once the bridge is complete. We circle through Glenburnie Park and note the Dog Park and Disc Golf Course are very active.

That was enough for in-town touring so we set out down Old US 70 to Cove City.  I can remember when this stretch of two lane highway was the main road, to and from New Bern for travelers from the west, in the early 70's.  Now it's a quiet, fairly straight stretch of road mostly used by local residents.  One could be tempted to exceed the speed limit on such a long straight stretch.  Once in Cove City we take a left on 1001 or Trenton Road and ride over Hwy 70 Bypass and on in to Trenton to stop at the C Mart for a bottle of water.

Back to the center of Trenton at the courthouse intersection and pick up Hwy 58 to Pollocksville.  I was anticipating some photos of Brock's Mill Pond but due in part to lack of rain fall there was a mere trickle of water over the dam.   The last time we rode this strip of asphalt we witnessed a rather large black bear and two cubs crossing the highway just south of Trenton.  Hwy 58 is a very nice, wide stretch of highway between these two points.

In Pollocksville we take a right and ride 1004 or Island Creek Road to James City.  This is one of my favorite local roads to ride.  The traffic is light, the road slightly winding as you pass through an almost complete canopy of trees in places.  However there are the near miss and rare direct encounter stories of bike and deer.  This is after all a remote stretch of road in the northern boundaries of the Croatan National Forest.  There is a nature walk about halfway between Pollocksville and James City that is quite nice.  A great place for a cool weather stroll. LINK

A very successful and enjoyable 60 mile cruise.  This was one day that the weather was absolutely perfect for a light jacket.  It sure makes me think of spring that is just around the corner.