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IN THIS ISSUE:
- Free Thinking with Fancy Free
- Question of the Week
- Can-am Spyders
- Scooter Sit-a-thon
- Request to Women Riders
- New Pics and Reads
- Kibbles and Bits
- Bike Nites & Other Recurring Events
- Quaker Steak 'n Lube Bike Nite Flyer
- Alternative Charlotte Events to Ride to
- Loose Talk with Jon
. . . . . . .
Oh yeah, the season is in full ZZZZOOM! Bike Nites and Events are popping up as Springtime blooms all over the CALENDAR and as our roads are filled with happy grinning Carolina Riders! Some days call for jackets 'n chaps and others scream for wearing as little as possible (but staying safely covered when you're riding, of course!)
The Usual ... and the not-so-usual Bike Scenes
The usual bike nites are crankin'. McKoy's in Charlotte and The Lube in Concord both got their usually big nites underway in the past couple of weeks to great attendance. A peek at the BIKE NITE list below tells ya that this year we're seeing some new bike nites in some new venues springing up too. And while the old hot spots continue to draw generous and growing crowds, newer places offer ya a little variety for your night out. Lots of options for wandering here and there and being a part of the ever-growing Carolina Bike Scene, my friends!
Saturday's Thin Blue Line Ride was a little lower in attendance this year with approximately 300 riders (down from last year's 450) and we're all guessing it was due to the cold weather forecast. But, as it turned out, it was quite a perfect riding day! Since I started out the day dreading the cold, I used my tried and true layers plan which again worked perfectly.... From turtleneck to tank top, I slowly shed layer after layer as the sun melted all signs of chill away.
Question of the week for the week of April 13th, 2010: If you've got a warm 'n leisurely weekend afternoon to take a ride and kick back somewhere for good food, good drinks, and good vibes, where do you head? We're lookin' at creating a Favorite Carolina Hangouts List and WANT YOUR INPUT! Tell us - and we'll tell you - and perhaps we'll all hang out there together soon!
"Go on now, squeeze out every drop of sweetness on your ride today!"
Fancy Free, Site Editor
A Little Something Different...Can-am Spyder Demos!
You've seen 'em. Those crazy morphed-out 3-wheeled sci-fi machines.
Can-am Roadsters they call them.... To find out more about these great machines click here.
And here's what's coming up....Spyder Demo Days April 23-25th at Concord Mills Mall. Go to TRYSPYDER to pre-register for a free demo ride. They will have RS roadsters and the new RT model and every rider will receive a gift certificate good towards $500 in Can Am Gear (with purchase of unit before July 31st.) Tell 'em you read about it thru The Carolina Rider!
Something else different....A Scooter Sit-a-thon!
Go sit on it! Go to Charlotte Honda on Freedom Dr in Charlotte on April 16th and sit on a scooter longer than anyone else and you could win a 2009 Honda Metropolitan scooter. They have a big event planed for Saturday. They've got rules and everything to make sure this deal is done right. Check out the RULES or call 704-394-7301 for details and go sit down and win!
A request from Fancy Free to WOMEN RIDERS!....
I have a special request this week to the women riders of the Carolinas. As you may have heard, May is Women Rider Month. And even tho we don't need a special month set aside for us - because we already know we're pretty damn special! - it's still a good motivator for good things! And as it happens, I am happily in the midst of creating more than one good thing celebrating women who ride motorcycles:
- We are putting together a special edition of The Carolina Biker Scene to be published to some 12,000 Inboxes during May ;
- We're in the midst of creating a new Girl Power section of www.thecarolinarider.com for women rider articles, ads, events, 'n such;
- And just over the next horizon is a new forum for our website which will have a Girl Power section for women riders to learn, share, and inform more directly...where us gals can connect and express the way only we can do best. .
So, for our special May newsletter, here's my request to you Carolina women out there who ride ...or want to ride!:
Write something!... something real, something fresh, something that's all YOU!
Write about your riding experience/s....when you first rode a bike...how you learned....whether you ride your own or ride "on the back,"....what and where you ride and just about anything else ride-related you want to share. AND BE CREATIVE! Write a poem, write a paragraph. Write a story or a list of things you love about riding. You don't have to use full sentences or proper grammer. You can send in photos or words or both. Don't stress about it....just share! Put your pen to the page and see what flows out....or perhaps you'll put your fingers on the keyboard and watch the words that get created on screen....either way, just PLEASE WRITE! You have a story. I have a story and I'll be sharing mine too. And again, I'd love to see that awesome creativity that women are blessed with rather than just words on a page. Express yourself and have fun doing it! Send it to FancyFree
NEW PICS AND READS
New photos this week: Thin Blue Line Ride from Saturday April 10th plus a few new ones from McKoy's April 9th bike nite.
Were you there? Check it out.... PHOTO GALLERYS.
And if you haven't done any reading lately, make sure you look into Stealth's recent article in STORIES and the current Motorman REVIEWS.
KIBBLES 'N BITS
Quick little Links, Stats, 'n News to chew on....
- The Dragon fires it up again! Our crazy Carolina Winter created slides in the mountains that closed the Blue Ridge Parkway and other essential rider faves. But as of Monday, April 12, The Dragon re-opened on the North Carolina side!
- And here's a helpful link for all of us wanting to ride the Parkway and other NC Parks Service roads: http://www.nps.gov/blri/planyourvisit/roadclosures.htm And as we went to "print" today, here's what they said about NC ...
Closed: Milepost 399.7 (Bad Fork Valley Overlook) to 401.7 (Beaverdam Overlook) - Asheville Area
Due to heavy rains, engineers have determined that a high risk of slides exists in the area, necessitating this emergency closure. The closure will be in place until early July. For southbound traffic from the Asheville area, take NC Route 191, NC Route 280, and US Route 276 to the Parkway. For northbound traffic near the Mt. Pisgah area, take US Route 276, NC Route 280, and NC Route 191 to the Parkway.
BIKE NITES & OTHER RECURRING EVENTS
Soon you can find a growing listing of Bike Nites and other Recurring Events of The Carolinas on www.thecarolinarider.com. Till then, here's a request and a short list.
REQUEST: Please WRITE ME TODAY with any bike nites and other weekly or monthly recurring events that you know FULL AND ACCURATE INFO about. We want to let you know what's up....and we don't want to lead you astray!
CURRENT SHORT LIST of BIKE NITES AND OTHER RECURRING EVENTS OF THE CAROLINAS:
Tuesdays....
Sonics 7pm 14315 Independence Blvd. Indian Trail NC 28079
Wednesdays...
Quaker Steak and Lube in Concord begins Wednesday April 7th 7731 Gateway Ln. 704-979-LUBE. Be sure to come say hello to The Carolina Rider Staff this week.
1st Wednesdays beginning April 7th Carolina Harley-Davidson 2830 East Franklin Boulevard Gastonia, NC 28056-7261 (704) 867-2855
Mac's Southend 2511 South Blvd 704-522-6227
The End Zone Sports Bar beginning April 14th, 2354 Ebenezer Rd, Rock Hill, SC 29732 803-324-8300
Tumbleweeds Bar and Grille beginning March 31st in Monroe, NC
Thursdays...
Buffalo Wild Wings Grill and Bar 422 Cox Road Gastonia, NC 28054 (704) 349-4060
The Ponderosa on Cherry Rd in Rock Hill 803-366-2258
Outlaw BBQ Starting 4-22-10 Every Thursday 6pm 2570 W. Roosevelt Blvd. Monroe NC 28110 704-776-4779
Mac's Lake Norman 19601 Liverpool Pkwy 704-892-3554
Fubar Club at 1102 E Main St in Rock Hill 803-325-8284
2nd Thursdays at 1012 Market Street in Baxter Village in Fort Mill, SC SoMoto Bike Night "An Eclecic Motorcycle Gathering for vintage bikes, cafe racers, old school bobbers, sport and adventure tourers, or anything just a bit different."
Fridays...
McKoy's Smokehouse and Saloon at 4630 Old Pineville Rd in Charlotte 704-523-6330
Mac's Steele Creek 2414 Sandy Porter Rd Charlotte 704-504-8500
First Fridays on Main Street in Hendersonville, NC presented by Mike's on Main and sponsored by local merchants
Saturdays...
1st Saturdays at Steve's Bar & Grill in Tega Cay, SC
12-6pm Saturdays at The Naked Oyster 704-483-1188
2nd Saturdays in Harleyville, NC are Swap Meets at Nightmare Custom Cycles at 115 E Main St in downtown Harleyville, SC. Vendors set up at 8am and they open to public at 9am 843-462-7055
Sundays...
Biker Brunch 11am-2pm at The Tilted Kilt 13230 Carowinds Blvd Charlotte NC, 28273 704-910-5353
SOME "ALTERNATIVE" CHARLOTTE-AREA EVENTS
TO RIDE TO ON WARM SPRING DAYS/EVENINGS....
1st Fridays ... Gallery Crawls in Southend, www.findyourcenter.com and NoDa www.noda.org
April 20th ... Alice in Chains and Shooter Jennings at The Music Factory, www.livenation.com
April 22nd .... Bon Jovi with Dashboard Confidential and Time Warner Cable Arena, www.timewarnercablearena.com
April 23rd ... White Wine Release Party at Childress Vineyards www.childressvineyards.
April 23-24 ... Pinks All Out at zMax Dragway, www.zmaxdragway.com
April 25th ... Bill Cosby at The Blumenthal, www.blumenthalcenter.org
April 29-May 2 ... International Collectibles and Antique Show at Metrolina Tradeshow Expo, www.icashows.com
LOOSE TALK
Well, tax time is on us...and the only good news about that date is that we know it's starting to be more warm than cold. Before long... we will be riding to the moutains to cool off!
There were 21 events on the calendar last Saturday and 18 events on for this coming Saturday.... That's a lot of stuff to do on a bike. Speaking of lots to do, anybody interested in putting together a Carolina Rider ride? Something loose and fun, where we meet somewhere and ride to a cool place, grab some lunch and go home? I know the folks at Skyline Village Inn would love for us to ride up there and spend the night. but we will do that a little later in the season. Let's try a shorter local fun ride. Any body have any ideas for a cool ride? Let me know... Until then, keep the shiney side up!!
Jon "Footloose" Pendleton
Publisher, www.TheCarolinaRider.com
Contact us at jon@TheCarolinaRider.com - All Rights Reserved
The Carolina Rider Online Magazine
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