The Carolina Bike Scene, E-Newsletter

The Carolina Rider

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IN THIS ISSUE:

Thinking Ahead - This Week's Riding Planner
Bike Nites & Other Recurring Events
Some Differently-Flavored Events around Charlotte to Ride to

Free Thinking with Fancy Free including Question of the Week, Readers Respond, & Call for Women Riders

Kibbles and Bits

Loose Talk with Jon

THINKING AHEAD - This Week's Riding Planner for The Carolinas

Weather Report for the Week of April 27-May 2: Tuesday 66 & isolated tstorms, Wednesday 70 sunny, Thursday 76 sunny, Friday 74 sunny, Saturday 83 scattered t-storms, Sunday 82 isolated t-storms (as per Intellicast.com on Monday 4/26/10)

Weekend Motorcycle Events (see CALENDAR for full details)...

OPEN HOUSE at Cox Harley-Davidson in Rock Hill is May 1st! ... (Call for details 803-327-1183)

Gold Wing SC Dist. Rally - Mt Pleasant/Charleston, SC

Relay for Life - China Grove, NC

2nd Annual Federation of the Blind Benefit Ride - Rock Hill, SC

Red Knights Largest Poker Run - Raleigh, NC

Ride to Victory - High Point, NC

Triple Poker Run - Upper South Carolina

Marion Co Swap Meet - Marion, SC

Bikes 4 Tykes - Gaffney, SC

Eastern Dist. CBA Swap Meet - Winston-Salem & Wilson, NC

KC Ride without Fear - Raleigh, NC

Classic & Vintage Bike Show - Spencer, NC

Wellspring International Ride - Matthews, NC

When Pigs Fly Benefit Ride - Catawba/Rock Hill, SC

Triangle Area Ride for Kids - Apex, NC

BIKE NITES & OTHER RECURRING EVENTS

Tuesdays....

Sonics 7pm 14315 Independence Blvd. Indian Trail NC 28079

Wednesdays...

Easy Eddie's, 2125 Statesville Rd., Huntersville, NC, 704-875-2501.

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

Quaker Steak and Lube in Concord begins Wednesday April 7th 7731 Gateway Ln. 704-979-LUBE.

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 Kilt13230 Carowinds Blvd Charlotte NC, 28273 704-910-5353

Some Differently-Flavored EVENTS AROUND CHARLOTTE to ride to this week....

April 28th ... Robin Rogers, Providence Cafe, 6pm-9pm
http://www.providencecafe.com; http://www.robinrogers.com

April 29th ..... DALE EARNHARDT DAY, www.daleearnhardtinc.com

April 29th ... Dead Confederate at the Neighborhood Theatre, www.neighborhoodtheatre.com

April 29th - May 2 .... MerleFest at Wilkes Community College, with Doc & Richard Watson of course plus Little Feat, Elvis Costello, Taj Mahal, Zac Brown Band, Steve Martin (on banjo!,) The Avett Brothers, www.merlefest.org

April 29 – May 2 .... INTERNATIONAL COLLECTIBLES & ANTIQUES SHOW, Metrolina Tradeshow Expo, www.icashows.com

April 30 Friday – May 1 ... CHARLOTTE SYMPHONY POPS: CIRQUE DE LA SYMPHONIE, NC Blumenthal Performing Arts Center,
www.charlottesymphony.org

May 1 .... Plaza Midwood Mania - Chris Holder, Greg Lilley and Company: Brenda Gambill of Doubting Thomas and Volatile Baby, Loose Lug Nuts, Broken Napoleans, Truckstop Preachers; http://plazamidwood.org/maynia.html

OLD AIN'T IN....except when it is!

Buffed and blemish-free are sought after...but "rode hard and put up aged" is not what most folks are after.

"New car smell" is cherished...however, something with the "lived in look" may be overlooked in the drive for better and brighter.

Buying that 2-mile-old motorcycle that's just rolled out of the factory gives the ol' ego a shine like the sun because a brand new sparkling anything is such a rush!

But then there are the oldies but grandies who bring folks from miles to check out your historic ride!

This weekend in Spencer, NC there's a little event just for those of us who dig vintage. So you think of Spencer and your mind says,"Train Museum?" Well, yes, that's the place....but they actually celebrate all things transportation and this 4th Annual Carolina Classic Motorcycle Show is one of North Carolina's bows to the 2-wheel tranportation contraptions. The Carolina Rider will be taking a little ride to Spencer for some historic flavor this weekend. Anyone want to join us? WRITE ME and let's go retro, click here for more info!

REACHING FURTHER...

Last week I talked about our desire to extend our reach further outside of the Greater Charlotte area. This week, I'm happy to share a story from Wilmington, NC.

Gage Justice is a young man whose wheels are of the chair type rather than the roarin'-down-the-highway kind that he'd really love to have. Due to Muscular Dystrophy, this 11 year-old's dreams of riding a Harley have been thwarted. But the Wilmington HOG and Welcome Home Angel groups helped make his dreams come true with a ride on a real-for-real Harley-Davidson and a bike-themed room re-decoration recently. For more great photos of Gage's exciting ride from our new friends in Wilmington, head on over to GAGE'S GALLERY

And, don't forget.....

NEW FEATURES A'COMIN....

Here are some upcoming new features for our website and newsletter:

Girl Power!- a section for women by women (see more BELOW)

The Club Room - a special corner of the newsletter that'll be linked to a more detailed section of the website for riding groups, clubs, and organizations to share their information with their members (announcements and such) as well as with all readers (organization's description/purpose/contact info.)

For the Love - space to connect with riding groups and charities focused on ministry and giving. Learn about biker ministries and charitable organizations who are involved with motorcycle events.

WOMEN RIDERS! Time to Show Whatcha Got!....

2 WEEKS TO GET IN YOUR STORIES, PICTURES, & THOUGHTS!

DUE DATE: Midnight, May 12th

SPECIAL WOMEN'S EDITION will be published May 18th

We're still looking for the women riders of The Carolinas to share stories, photos, and thoughts about your experiences with motorcycles. 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 on May 18th;
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

QUESTION OF THE WEEK...

Question of the week for the week of April 27th, 2010 is two-part...#1: What's the German word for motorcycle? (hint: check out Kibbles 'n Bits and follow the story to here and #2: Who's got an oldie but a goodie out there? Send pictures of YOUR vintage/classic motorcycles!

READERS RESPOND...

To last week's question of the week about where you were riding last week, Sarah-Anne wrote in "On Friday, 4/23, myself and 7 Motor Maids will be riding to Kure Beach for the weekend. Once there, we'll hook up with 11 more Motor Maids. Looking forward to a great weekend of riding with my sisters!"

That's Sarah-Anne in the call for women riders section above. Thanks, Sarah-Anne for responding! I'll include your pic again (and any others you send in) in the special Women Riders' Edition on May 18th.

"Go on now, squeeze out every drop of sweetness on your ride today!"
Fancy Free, Site Editor

www.TheCarolinaRider.com

KIBBLES 'N BITS

Quick little Links, Stats, 'n News to chew on....

Classics in the news.....

From The New York Times (by Jerry Garrett)...

An original and unrestored 1894 Hildebrand & Wolfmuller "motorrad" is one of the more interesting lots up for auction Sunday at the International Classic Motorcycle Show in Stafford, England. This 2.5-horsepower bike was the first two-wheel powered vehicle to go into series production and offered for public sale. From 800 to 2,000 Hildebrand & Wolfmuller motorrads were built before the company went out of business in 1897. The bike's mechanical operation was crude, at best, with no clutch, starter or proper brakes. The machine was slowed by a spoonlike device, which rubbed on the front wheel when pressure was applied. The bike, which does not run, will be sold as is...around $90,000, Bonhams estimates.

And if you too are into cool old rides but don't necessarily have a spare hundred thousand to purchase the above bike, here's a little link to drool over for free!.... motorcyclecannonball

LOOSE TALK

Hey Carolinas, we've heard your cries for help and we've come to the rescue! It's taken a bit of work but we've re-done the website's photo gallery and you will find it to be much more user friendly and an answer to your wishes. It has a new look, is a lot simpler to operate, won't bog down your computer, is a bit faster in accessing content, and you can now save pictures from it!

I always welcome your input. Notice also at the top of this newsletter, we've added links to the site and major highways. You can thank Ricky Dellinger for that great idea as well as for his role as Staff Photographer for The Carolina Rider. Check out his great pics from this past weekend's Independent Run and make sure and say "howdy Ricky" when you see him out and about! I thank you, Ricky, for being a part of our creation!

And I thank all of you who are greeting Fancy Free and me at events and sharing your thoughts and stories. I look forward to seeing you again somewhere soon.

Until then, keep the shiney side up!!

Jon "Footloose" Pendleton
Publisher, www.TheCarolinaRider.com