Saturday, October 15, 2011

Kyle Petty's Ride to Victory IX-- October 16, 2011

Finally, it's time to ride!

I've been looking forward to this ride for months. We took this ride last year, and had a really good time. We signed up for this trip as soon as they began taking applications.

Victory Junction is a year-round camping environment for children ages six to 16 with chronic medical conditions or serious illnesses. Founded by Kyle and Pattie Petty in honor of their son Adam, the camp is located in Randleman, NC, with a proposed second location in Kansas City, KS. Victory Junction offers programs for a range of disease groups and maintains strong relationships with more than 30 partner hospitals. Victory Junction’s mission is to provide life-changing camping experiences that are exciting, fun and empowering, in a safe and medically-sound environment. As a not-for-profit organization, the camp operates solely through the support of generous individuals, groups and corporations to provide this experience at no charge to children and their families.

The ride will begin at ZMax Dragway, across from the Charlotte Motor Speedway, at about 9:30 on Sunday morning. We'll ride to Harley-Davidson of Asheville, via Lake Lure. Last year, there were about 400 bikes, and 500 riders. I hope there are more! Yes, the race is tonight; last year we paraded past the remaining campers on our way out, and they seemed to enjoy it.
It's about 54 degrees here in Florence right now, but it's expected to warm up. Tomorrow morning in Charlotte, the low is expected to be 45 -- brr! We're packing for cooler weather.
This year, Linda and I are taking advantage of the trip to take a long weekend. We'll be staying in Asheville overnight, and on Monday morning, we plan to travel to Maggie Valley, and then on to the Blue Ridge Parkway, where we'll loop back around to Greenville for the night. The ride should be about 145 miles, and some of the most beautiful scenery in the area.

We'll be taking lots of pictures, and I'll try to post them each night from the hotels (3 hotels in three nights -- I think I'm going for a record!). I am determined to get some video from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Keep your fingers crossed!
Monday morning in Maggie Valley is forecast for 40 degrees, but it should warm up to about 75 -- perfect weather for a ride through the mountains.
By the way, you can make a $10 donation to Victory Junction by texting the word RIDE to 27722 on your mobile phone. Let me know if you do; I'd be interested to know how many people donate to this worthy charity.

Stay tuned!

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