We filled out the paperwork and mailed it in for both Linda and I, and received an email within the week confirming our registration.
There are 4 staging points around Charlotte, in Monroe, Matthews, Gastonia and Statesville. At 8 am on Sunday morning, the riders will depart for the zMax Dragstrip (across from Lowe's Motor Speedway) and join with the riders there for the ride to Victory Junction, a camp for kids with serious illnesses and chronic medical conditions. This year, after the ride to Victory Junction, we'll ride to Kyle Petty's farm in Trinity for "Kyle Petty & Friends: A Songwriters' Jam." Sounds like a blast!
Because of the early start on Sunday morning, we're traveling to Monroe on Saturday Night, and staying in a hotel not far from Iron Horse Motorcycles, the staging point in Monroe. After the concert, we plan to stay in Lexington, NC overnight and return to Florence on Monday morning. All in all, it looks like it'll be a 350-mile weekend (or more)! Can't wait!
Saturday, October 16, 3PM. Dateline Quality Inn, Monroe, NC.
We left the house about 11 this morning, packed light for a 2-night trip. Of course, besides clothes, this includes: tools, flat tire repair kit, rain suits and bike covers, cameras, chargers, and computer. We really know how to rough it -- we just choose not to!
I had hoped to leave around noon, but with nothing else to do, we figured we could leave early, gas up, get cash, and get to Monroe, find a restaurant and eat, then check in. When we left, the temperature was around 70, but we decided to wear chaps and leathers anyway. The wind chill at 60 miles per hour can make you feel very cold.
Fate is a strange partner. We ended up losing about half an hour just getting through Florence. Apparently Wilson High School was having their Homecoming Parade, blocking traffic for 20 minutes or more about a block in front of us. We were stopped next to a flatbed wrecker, who was trying to get to the next block for a wreck, but like the rest of us was stuck. As we finally passed the road where the wreck occurred, we saw three patrol cars waiting for him, and looking none too happy about it.
Finally on our way, we sifted our way through the backlog of traffic, up Highway 52, through the I-95 interchange, and on into Darlington. Traffic about normal for this area, not too busy, but steady. We turned onto Highway 151 and the Garmin indicated 66 miles until the next turn.
It's been a very long time since I've traveled up that road. Linda reminded me that we had gone that way to see Neil Diamond at the Charlotte Coliseum on a Friday night, and Jimmy Buffet at Memorial Stadium the next night. That was over twenty years ago! At that time, as you left Hartsville, the road slimmed down from a four-line highway with a center turn lane to a two lane road. Now (and I'm sure it's been this way for a long time), its four-lane all the way to Charlotte. Sweet!
Traffic lightened up as we moved north and west out of Hartsville. We rode up through Kellytown, and you can see the dome at the Robinson Nuclear Power Plant as you pass the high-voltage lines. After passing that area, things opened up, and we were out in the country.
Highway 151 on the north side of Hartsville passes through some beautiful scenery. The road is very straight, with gentle hills and curves that are a joy to ride. Traffic thinned until, at some points, we were alone on the highway. The air was crisp and cool, and felt good on the face. Wearing the chaps and leathers paid off; they kept us from getting chilled, and allowed us to enjoy the ride. We weren't the only ones that had pulled out their cool weather gear -- there were a lot of bikes out there, and most of the riders were wearing chaps.
The road condition was good, even if it was older. When we crossed the border into North Carolina, the road changed, and it looked as if it had been recently paved, making it smoother. Traffic remained light until we arrived in Monroe. As we turned onto 601 (W. Roosevelt Blvd), we went from two empty lanes to 5 full lanes. I maneuvered into the middle lane, and followed around until we were in the left lane out of three, with bumper-to-bumper vehicles, moving between 45 miles per hour and stopped. We passed Iron Horse Motorcycles, where we will join the ride, and continued for another mile where we found the Quality Inn and turned in.
It was only 1:15, but we were able to check in a little early. They were accomodating in that we asked to be moved to a first-floor room (no elevator), and we were in our room by 1:30.
Across the street is a Logan's Roadhouse, and we took the trike across for lunch. You know the kind of place, a bucket of peanuts on each table, shells on the floor. The steaks were prepared perfectly, were very tender and delicious. The young lady that served us was so energetic, she made me tired just watching her as she hopped, skipped and ran to each table. I accused her of chugging those 5-hour energy drinks (she just laughed). No matter. Lunch was perfect, even to the manager coming over and asking how our food was.
It's almost four, and nap time. I told you, we can really rough it! More later.
Sunday, October 17th, 8:45 PM Dateline Lexington, NC.
What a great day! Perfect weather, beautiful scenery, good music, great people, terrific ride.
We were up at six this morning, and packed up the bags before grabbing a quick bite at the Quality Inn's "breakfast." We packed up the bikes and were checked out at 7.
I had my first experience with the Tire Pressure Indicator when it started blinking. I'm pretty sure it had to do with the fact that it was 41 degrees, and the tire was close to the lower limit. We stopped for gas and air before heading south for a mile to Iron Horse Motorcycles, where we found about 10 other riders waiting to head for the dragway about 7:30.
There were 3 or 4 other Goldwings there, and we compared extras -- one had Sirius, one had a Garmin like mine, and I gave him pointers on hooking up the audio. There were a few Yamahas, a Valkyrie and yes, even a Harley or two. Poor guys felt outnumbered, for a change . :-)
More motorcycles showed up and we took off around 8:15 for zMax Dragway, the starting point for the run. We headed up the highway, and arrived in about 40 minutes. It was cold! But the seat heaters and grip heaters helped, not to mention the chaps and leathers.
We pulled up in front of Lowes Motor Speedway and saw the aftermath from the race the night before. Motor homes and campers were strewn around on all sides, as if a tonado had hit a trailer park. We turned off, and threaded our way through to the dragway, and parked in the staging lines, with about an hour to spare before the start.
We walked up to the check-in area. There were three lines: Pre-Registered (the longest), New Registrations (the shortest) and Waivers / Wrist Bands. We stood in the long queue, but there was no real grumbling going on. Everybody was laughing and joking, and enjoying the event. Kyle Petty was out and about, looking for a set of lost keys (they were found eventually).
He's third from the left, in the background.
We checked in and got our goodies (t-shirt, pin and decals), and joined the next line to sign the waiver and get our wrist band for lunch. We still had about a half hour to go, so we took some pictures.
Kyle was doing an interview (not sure for who) in front of the staged cycles.
There were supposed to be some celebrities around; most of them had to do with NASCAR, so sorry, I wouldn't know them at all. However, I was hoping to see Robert D. Raiford, from The Big Show, the morning radio show out of Charlotte. Raiford does daily commentaries. I'm pretty sure this is him:
He's in his 80's, and still riding. In fact, he's been on several of the Kyle Petty Charity Ride Across America, a 9-day run from Las Vegas to Victory Junction. He usually reports on each day of the run. He's an outspoken curmudgeon that can be very entertaining.
Before mounting up, we gathered at the front while Kyle thanked everyone for coming, and thanked the sponsers for their continued support. In fact, he mentioned that Krispy Kreme had provided the coffee and donuts that morning. He asked if anyone had arrived too late for the coffee and donuts, and a lot of hands went up (including ours). "Well, they were good!" he quipped. Funny guy.
He gave us some of the basic rules of the run, and a quick itinerary. We were to ride in traditional staggered formation, using the two-second rule. If a rider had a problem with his bike, we were to continue as they pulled off. There were enough support personnel that would stop and either render assistance, or call for help. "We don't stop for anybody," he said, as it messes up the whole ride for everybody else.
We ended with a short prayer, and headed for the bikes. We pulled onto the dragway's track, and rode it's length, the surface black with rubber. At the end we turned and headed out to the road. The local motorcycle police did a great job of escorting us through the entire ride.
The first part of the ride was a bit fragmented, as they didn't actually stop traffic on I-85. Instead, the diverted the northbound traffic to the left lane, allowing us to pull on as one group. But cars continued to pull through the line, breaking us up again and again. It didn't last long, as our first stop was at the Flying J Pilot Travel Center. We crowded in while some got gas, others used the bathrooms, food and drink were provided.
What a sight, though as you looked as far as you could see and couldn't see the beginning of the line of motorcycles, then looked back, and couldn't see the end. It is an awesome sight.
There were several riders that pulled out and to the side of the road, but I think I counted less than 10 of them. Not bad in a field of 400 motorcycles. Kyle Petty had a good time. He was in the lane to our right, moving at about 5 mph slower than us, so he could make eye contact and wave at every rider. He is a truly ingenuous person, and really enjoyed the day with us.
When we left I-85 and headed for Victory Junction, we were blessed with some beautiful countryside as the roads got smaller. Carolina blue skies, fields that seemed to stretch on forever, placid ponds and lakes, rolling hills and great roads with curves ranging from gentle to sharp, making for a very nice ride.
As we passed houses and neighborhoods, we found people standing by the road, waving to us, flashing peace signs and thumbs-up as we waved and blew our horns for them. Soon enough we were entering Victory Junction for our "Victory Lap."
In past runs, the ride ended at the camp, and lunch was served along with a tour. However, there were campers in residence, and we were only taking a ride through. The place is amazing, and I encourage you to follow the link above and see what it's about. It's a small town, in a placid, beautiful setting. There were staff members at each intersection, waving at us as we passed at about 5 mph. One group of about 20 stood there with their hands out. I pulled closer and held out my hand for a mass high-five, to the cheers of the crowd. It was incredible! Too soon, we had passed through, and headed back out to Kyles Farm in Trinity.
More fantastic scenery as we arrived at the farm, a sprawling landscape of rolling hills, tranquil lake, livestock and a huge building that was our destination. We parked the bikes, and were offered drinks of water, Cokes, and other beverages. Inside, the ladies had taken over all of the restrooms. The men were banished to the 5 PortaJohns outside.
Behind us, I found a small museum of Kyle and his son Adam's memorabilia: cars, motorcycles, mini racers, photos, ribbons, trophies and more.
Afterwards, we strolled outside where a stage had been set up for the Songwriter's Jam. Bales of hay had been set up as seats for the concert, but Linda and I found two rockers in the shade, off to the side.
Click Baldwin owned and operated Carolina Harley-Davidson in Gastonia. The Harley Owner's Group attached to his dealership have been strong supporters of Victory Junction, and through the years have collected over $200,000 for the cause. Sadly, Carolina Harley-Davidson has just closed, disbanding this group. They were there in force, and Kyle brought them up and acknowledged their hard work and contribution.
We left soon after, and headed for Lexington, to the Holiday Inn Express outside of the Childress Winery. Here's a picture of the view outside our room's window:
The hotel still has that new smell, and the room is big and comfy. We headed into town for dinner, but ate very little, as tired as we are.
Overall, it was a great day, and we'll be coming back next year for the next run. Maybe some of you can join us next year.
Tomorrow we'll head back to Florence, heading down I-71 and through Cheraw. Should be another nice ride.
