Elder Mill Drive Thru

Tuesday.  Departure day.  But still time to squeeze in another ride.  :-)

Where to go, where to go...

We only had a couple hours before heading to the airport.  Where could we go for some good roads and an interesting destination?  Ah...the covered bridge is only about an hour away and I know some good back roads.  Too bad I didn't take any of them.  LOL.

Standard morning grog and coffee pick-me-ups as the prelude to me and Brother on the road, traveling against traffic.  Did I mention that the skies were blue, filled with huge, fluffy, white clouds?  Nice day for riding.

The great thing about not knowing the area and not have ridden these roads a gazillion times is that Brother didn't recognize a single thing along the first 20 miles.  Me, on the other hand, could tell you where every single construction pylon was placed along one of our "Recover and Reinvestment" roads.  I couldn't pinpoint the trees, as those have been clear cut.  The price of progress: fewer trees and poor houses with 10 foot wide front yards since they have lost the right-of-way.

I debated on the route until it was too late to take any but the second to last.  :-)  That just meant riding on a quiet highway until reaching Monroe, then taking some quiet back roads.  I actually hit roads that I hadn't been on before!  Incredible.  I pulled into a minute turn lane to verify location and direction, only to have sirens come running up the road behind us.  What in the world??  We stayed put to keep out of the way when the ambulance came to a sudden halt directly behind us?  I know I didn't call the ambulance.  Then more sirens start coming again.  We get out while we can to give the second ambulance a place to park.  I hope whoever needed those are ok.


Even though we aren't traveling far the Harley's little tank needed some fuel.  And what did Brother spy?  Buttermilk Biscuits!  Are they made fresh here?  How should I know?  Go ask!

Well, they are and he partakes of a bacon/egg biscuit.  Ah..the heart stopping butter.  So good.


A hop, skip and 15 minute jump down some comfy tree-lined country roads gets us to Elder Mill Bridge.

 Wow that is a dirty windshield!!

The flutterbies quickly scattered as we parked the bikes in their sun spot.

Brother got a kick out of being able to ride through the bridge.  I attempted to take a video as we rode back through, but the windshield, lighting changes and camera that is not meant to be a camcorder didn't do such a good job.

Since I had been taking my time in the morning we were a little pressed for time to get home and had to haul butt.  I decided the larger roads and highway would help speed us along.  And I was right until the hail suddenly came flying out of the sky pelting us!  I was protected in my regular gear.  Brothers' cargo pants had ridden up and the hail was stinging his shins.  Then I became concerned about riding on little round balls of ice.  We pulled to the shoulder under the little protection of an overhanging branch.  It was one of those catch-22 times.  If I didn't stop the hail would keep coming and get worse.  Take the time to stop and put weather gear on and the hail would putter out.  

Yep, the rain and hail stopped before we even mounted back up again.  Oh well.  It was still interesting.

Made it home without more incident and reached the airport in time for Brother to run for check in.

Stats:

113 miles

Rode through an authentic covered bridge!  :-)

Encountered one more weather phenomenon: hail

Summary:

Including the laps around the neighborhood acquainting himself with the bike Brother rode exactly 500 miles in three days.  We effectively increased his cumulative riding distance by half!  WooHoo!!  He meandered down country roads, shot the twisties and rode through wooden bridges.  He experienced fluffy clouds and blue skies, rain and hail.  Two of which he rarely sees where he comes from.  Then add them all together and consider he ran the twisties in the rain!  There is no way I would have been doing these things with that mileage under my belt.  I'm so proud of him!!  He's my brother.  LOL