Fourth Annual Relay For Life Charity Ride. Stonewall, NC

We missed this one last year but rode in ‘08 We started out by meeting Mike K. and his wife, Kathy at the Handy Mart on Hwy 55 and then headed to Bayboro for breakfast at Charlie’s. We met Mike’s mom and dad and his dad paid for breakfast.  Off to a good start I’d say!

Stonewall United Methodist Church We lined up at around 9:15 ready for the 10:00 launch.

Before the end of the day there were to be approximately 110 bikes.

Chad and Ashley smile for the camera. This young lady is the future bride of Chad and Lynn’s son, Lucas.  Lucas is currently in Afghanistan helping to keep us all free at home.

Lynn and Linda. Whatever these two are cooking up, I want no part of it!

Kathy and Mike.(left) He’s one of those guys that everybody knows and always has a story.

Riding through rural Pamlico County.

The view from the bridge at Oriental.

Pulling in to  Bethany Christian Church. The Pamlico Sheriff and NC Highway Patrol did a great job of blocking traffic and adding that extra layer of safety.  That is most important with a large group of bikes.

The folks at the church certainly enjoyed our arrival and we certainly enjoyed the water, soft drinks and snacks.

Near Kennels Beach as we travel to Goose Creek Island Community Center, in a round about way.

On Hwy 55 between Bayboro and Bridgeton.

The view from the bridge at Hobucken. Hobucken not Hoboken.  I use a Southern spell check!

The three musketeers as they arrive at Goose Creek.

Inside the Community center.

Mirror, mirror..

A little shade, a little water and everyone is looking at the bikes.

A good meal a the end of the ride.  Eastern Carolina Barbeque with all the fixin’s.

Doug Carrey wraps up the event with the prize drawings. Doug said Pamlico County is one of the top ten contributors, per capita, in the nation. With Doug himself being a cancer survivor, I know it makes him proud.

I noticed several things on this trip.  The majority of the people we passed stopped what they were doing and waved.  Some were taking pictures and videos and many motorists, on either side of the road, pulled onto the shoulder.  A few, or at least the few I saw, became frustrated and hit the steering wheel of their car.  To those few, I present the following vanity plate.   Maybe the irritated ones were unaware of the cause for which we rode.  The folks in attendance were obviously happy and content, it was a wonderful sunny day and there was a great lunch at the end of our journey. We seem to be very lucky with the weather cooperating as it does with the rides we participate in.  This was no exception. Thanks to all the good folks at Stonewall United Methodist Church,  Bethany Christian Church and the Goose Creek Island Community Center for their help and support. For us it was 165 miles door to door and another memorable ride in the digital scrapbook.

Parting Shots

And yea, I’m entitled to put a picture of our bike on here every now and again!

4th Annual Relay For Life Charity Ride, Stonewall, NC

The 4th Annual Relay For Life Charity Ride in honor of Cancer Survivor, Doug Carey and all other survivors is Saturday, April 17th at Stonewall United Methodist Church...Hwy. 55 in Stonewall. Registration starts at 8:30am and the ride starts at 10am...rain or shine! It's just $25 per bike and that includes lunch and door prizes! All motorcycles welcome! For more information call Doug Carey at 229-1968 or Jeffrey Midyette at 745-3732!

We rode this in 08 and had a great time! See link below.  This is one you don’t want to miss.  Hope to see you there. http://ralphps.blogspot.com/2008/04/2nd-annual-relay-for-life-charity-ride.html

Go to http://www.relayforlife.org/relay/  to learn more about this organization.

Second Annual Save Marshallberg Harbor Motorcycle Ride

We participated in this ride last year with 73 other bikes and were really looking forward to it again. We set out from home at 8:30 on Saturday, made a quick gas stop, and met up with TJ, his wife Pam, their friend Tony and Jack and Cookie at the New Bern Harley shop.  Chad and Lynn were not in attendance since they had a project at home to complete. Concrete work? Sheesh… The fog was fairly thick and it was a little cool starting out but the forecast was for 80 degrees and sunny.  At around 9:00 we headed for Beaufort via Havelock and Hwy 101.  By the time we were near Havelock we saw the vivid Carolina Blue sky breakout with full sunshine.  It was a sign of an excellent day in the works. But boy was the pollen in high quantity!

We arrived at the Cubbies parking lot just before 10:00.  Plenty of time to register, grab some breakfast, browse the lot and be ready to head out at 11:00.

Inside Cubbies…. …and they have great food.  Our thanks to Cubbies for supporting the ride and allowing the use of the space for registration.

Max, the ride organizer and the organizer of last year’s ride, makes last minute preparations with a Carteret County Sheriff Deputy.

Just prior to the ride starting I heard there were 150 bikes.

The ride itself covers about 100 miles.  We were to log just over 200 miles for the day. Point D is close to where we and Jack and Cookie live so we had an extra round trip. TJ and company came in from Trenton so they probably had an extra 30 miles above the 200.

TJ and Pam beside their ‘06 Honda VTX 1300R. Quite impressive custom painted graphics.

Chrome, steel and leather.

Can I borrow some Windex?

Like last year we have a police escort from Beaufort to the Craven County line. Carteret County Sheriff hands us over to Craven County Sheriff and once in Havelock the Havelock PD blocks the intersections for us. Pretty sweet.  You can tell Max has done his homework!

It was fitting that Officer Owen of New Bern PD lead us to our first stop just east of New Bern.  He understands the two wheel mentality. I guess that means he accepts crazy people!

This is the graphic on TJ’s bike. Looks just like him.  That’s pay back for the Harley joke!

After a short stop it’s time to head to DC.  That’s Down in the County to locals, when traveling to Pamlico County.

Testing out the four lane into Pamlico County.

The group arrives at the Minnesott-Cherry Branch ferry. 12254 NC 306 Arapahoe, NC 28510 http://www.ncdot.org/travel/ferryroutes/default.html#

More than a single ferry could carry, we went across the Neuse River in two groups.

As part of group one we wait at the local fire department for the second group to arrive and head down Hwy 101 to Beaufort.

On the North River bridge on Hwy 70 in Carteret County.

It was nearing 3:00 and there was a lot of rumbling, not from the bikes as much as my stomach. Parking in the Post Office lot in Marshallberg.

Fried shrimp, and plenty of them, beans, slaw, hushpuppies and a brownie.  Now these shrimp were very lightly breaded, dusted actually, and that is the way to enjoy them.

Way too full or in Down East terms, I believe I’ve run aground!

Lots of prizes and gift certificates were donated, due in large part to the efforts of Max.

Things were wrapped up by 5:00 or so and our band of travelers head back to New Bern.  Another great ride with great weather and the opportunity to meet and ride with some new friends. Even if TJ does ride a Honda…..

 

Parting Shots