First Ride of the Year

So, today was a complete freak! This time of year is normally cold with the occasional flurries. Today, it was 70F and threatening of rain. The weather channel said only 30% chance of rain and so it was a no-brainer to head out. Honestly, how often is it 70F in January in the northern part of Alabama?

My day started by heading over to Jeremy's house. The plan was to meet up with a new rider, John, and take him on some practice laps around the clover leafs by the interstate. Unfortunately, John never made it and Jeremy and I headed out at roughly 9:30am to do our own practicing.

After thirty minutes of doing circles, we met up with John and the TVSC at the normal Shell station. In all twelve bikes showed. But of course, the weather was incredibly warm. So, I wasn't suprised to see a big crowd.

By 10:30am, the entire group rolled south to watch some 80cc bikes race in an abandoned parking lot. The bikes were fitted with street tires and seemed to grip incredibly well. It looked like much fun and I bet some great learning can be done with those little things. The highlight of this portion was Charlie mounting the little 80cc with his sparking knee pucks. He couldn't get enough speed but to make just one or two tiny sparks come from the pads, haha. And it was funny seeing a 6'5" man on that little thing dragging a knee without even leaning the bike over. What a hoot!

From there, nine of us headed out Hobbs Island Rd and across Hwy 431. From there, I found some "interesting" roads which took us into Grant, AL. I say interesting because the roads were stripped down for resurfacing. Oy my butt. None the less, I think they will be a blast once they have some fresh asphalt on them.

It started to drizzle as we got into Grant. Three riders headed for home while six of us continued on. I missed some turns I wanted to make and ended up on Hwy 431. I recovered by grabbing Hwy 79 which runs north-east along Guntersville Lake. By now, the drizzle had turned to rain. The plan was to find the first food stop - which ended up being a Burger King. Not my first choice by any means; however, it was a chance to dry out and refill the stomach. Sorry, no pictures of my double whooper.

From there, three more riders threw in the towel and slabbed it back up Hwy 72 to Huntsville. Still only about 1pm, Jeremy, Jeff, and I pushed onward and continued around the lake. As we crossed the lake on Hwy 35, the sun broke through and we didn't see another rain drop the rest of the day. From there, we enjoyed the best part of the ride zipping along the lake.

Jeremy, Jeff, and I zipped around Lake Shore Drive and got onto Hwy 69. Then, we forked off and took a tour of the Guntersville Dam. Unfortunately, visitors sections were closed. Oh well, another day. None the less, we hung around for a few minutes and I took the final pictures of the day.

The rest of the ride were drone roads back into Huntsville. I pulled into the driveway around 4pm. With the splash of rain, the bike became a mud ball. So, I got out the hose and gave it a bath before putting her away. Ahhh, all cleaned up and ready for the next ride.

In all, it was a very relaxing day. The wet roads kept speeds low (which was probably good for the newbies). And talk about warm! It was GREAT!

Statistics: Total Mileage 201 miles Max Speed 87 mph Average Speed 51 mph