Britbike forum Forums Events - meetings / rallies / rides Three state mountain ride forum 2012 TSMR AAR

GREAT to see everyone's handywork showcased.. and PROVEN reliable on the ride. WELL DONE! Learned LOTS about details of bikes, even more about the interesting people who attend!

Hi, all! Got home yesterday, all settled in. Stopped in Asheville yerterday, Lin scored some antique furniture for house (LOTSA SHOPPIN)! Is it time to pack for BR-13???? Gordon n crew were AWSOME!!! Enjoyed the new faces/ old driends.Cheers, W&L

I really enjoyed chatting with you, Bill. Did you make good on your promise to try some grits before heading back to Ohio with Joe? Enjoy the rest of your visit. Greg

The Dr. diagnoses..


and prescribes a cure. As the attendants scurry for the prescription, the hands of a surgeon are cleaned and reach for a beer in one smooth motion

Well I made it! Except for the last dash between Front Royal and Gettysburg it was GREAT. Ran into some nasty rain but its all part of the fun I guess. Learned a very fun lesson on the Parkway on the way home too-no matter how down on power a 650 Triumph may be on an 850 Norton, it can still embarress the hell out of any Screamin Chicken equipped HD with twice the displacement. I have lots of pics to post as soon as I get around to downloading the camera. Thanks to all who planned, put on, and attended this event :bigt
First rate all the way around.....again

Hi Greg, good to meet you to, and 'shoot the breeze' for a while! In answer to your question, yes, I tried grits for breakfast. And, as you predicted, no real taste/flavour as such. I just dipped other things in it.
As a matter of interest, we do have something very similar in the UK; it's an inexpensive pudding/sweet we call 'Semolina'. We serve it hot, and often put a spoonful of strawberry jam in it. (I often had it as child at home, & at school too.)
Anyway, it was good to meet you, and all the other guys; and don't forget, if you come to the UK again, to look me up if you're in the area where I live, (Manchester area) give me a call.

Will, you should have tried the Livermush at breakfast... THAT has flavour, in a slaughter house floor sweepins kind of way! In Pennsylvania it's similar to the Scrapple breakfast meat. A pleasure to meet and chat with you! I was the guy with a Boston dialect riding a red Commando.

Semolina is VERY similar to grits, except it's made out of wheat instead of corn.

To make corn grits, you take the whole corn kernel and soak it in a strong lye solution, which takes off the rough outer hull and leaves a puffy white kernel called "hominy", which can be boiled and eaten as is, OR dried and ground up, which creates "grits".

The only problem with getting grits in a restaurant, any restaurant, is that they have to make them MUCH more watery and "loose" than we make them at home, because they have to keep a big pot of them on the stove to serve and they can't stiffen up or you'll never scrape them out of the pot. At home, we make them much stiffer, so that a fork will stand up in them, and serve them with butter and salt and pepper, and let them soak up the runny yolks of the eggs ... Good eatin'!

If we're over Manchester way we'll let you know and give you a call!

Lannis

When will the photos of Gordons socks and boots be posted?

Shoes and socks and shorts? Somewhere in THIS lot!

Oops, this one isn’t him …



We’re getting closer …



He’s around here somewhere …



Who are all these people LISTENING to?



Here he comes, I think, striding to the podium ….



Who wants to ride today? Raise your right hand ....



He proudly displays ONE shoe …



And here they are in all their glory!!



Wow!

Lannis

Mid Ohio 2008 comes to mind, that brassy blonde of uncertain years at Ashlands Flat Track. It was an experience

Gordons got new boots...
maybe the socks too!

Don in Nipomo

My friend Don...yes new boots and socks and did Mr Whatley show up to take "the" photo this year....nope Thanks to Ms Fay for stepping up (if I remember correctly???) and taking it for him.

WARNING!!!!! THIS IS GOING TO RAMBLE

WOW....what a week. I left Blowing Rock Sunday morning and spent 5-6 hours picking up the ride signs and thinking over the weekend. Made it home in time to unload the van and mow the grass and then had to head back to work. In between helping my daughter move across town (Asheville, NC) and trying to get the owner in this building I've been working on for the past two years....this has been a heck of a week.

I want to thank everybody again for showing up....you're a special group of people and words can't describe the pride I have in all of you.

Special thanks go out to the ride leaders...Don and Wendy seem to have it dialed in. Lannis stepped up and lead Mr Mike's group this year....first time for him and he did a GREAT job and never complained one bit. I'm wondering if having two ride leaders for the second group like we do for the first isn't a good idea???? I'm not sure if most people know just how hard leading a group can be. Thank you folks for helping out.

I also want to thank Dennis (aka Dennis Ral) for the ride stickers. If you didn't get one (or two) give me a shout at [email protected] and I'll send some to you. (I'll add a link to Dennis's sign business later) Dennis has printed all our ride signs and banners...great work and a wonderful fellow to work with.

Ray and Melissa at the Blowing Rock Inn...what can you say about those two??? They treat us like family and in doing so makes everybody feel welcome....thanks guys.

Another "I'm sorry" Bill (from the UK) for not introducing you at the riders meeting....you show up again and I'm going to have you stand up there with me....and I'll pay for your room to boot...promise. He was one fine fellow to talk to and always had a smile on his face. (BTW...like Lannis said grits need to be thick and I add EXTRA SHARP CHEDDER CHEESE...I'll fix ya some next time you're here.

Some cons:

I REALLY missed the Carters....it wasn't the same. I missed hearing their voices in the parking lot. Hope they can be there next year.

My friend Mr John Taylor...(aka JT441) made it all the way from Mich only to get 22+ miles on his bike and spent the rest of the ride in the chase van...if you've ever been locked up with me for 8 hours you know the pain he was in. At least his wonderful wife Joy made the whole 200 mile ride without a problem....good on her.

Not knowing how to act around the bluegrass band....if you stand out there somebody is going to come up and start talking to you...I never know if that's okay or not??? The music is ALWAYS wonderful and we all enjoy it...sure adds to the weekend...thanks fellows Mr Mike, David, Ben and Willy...you guys are the best. OH....and thanks to Irene (sp?) who joined in.

I have to figure out how to make the first gas stop work....last year it went off like clock work and this year was a mess....I gota do better.

I hate that we're still not using the goat path. It's going to take another year or more before we're back on it...for those who've never ridden it....it's a hoot.

If Hwy 221 down Grandfather Mountain doesn't get repaved soon...we're going have to skip it too.

Some pros:

My favorite bike this year....and we had a LOT of nice bikes.



Man what a sweet Goldie and not just another Cookie Cutter Clubman Clone. For those "experts" out there who don't think the Hall's can make a Brit Bike go smooth AND fast....you should ride behind them for a couple of hundred miles. :bigt

Mr Mike....has finished all 12 rides...on a BRIT bike. Not once has he had to be picked up and trailered...he's the only rider in all these years that can say that.

Having Mr John and Joy Taylor made it a very special weekend for me.

I really enjoyed talking to the Halls and Tom Sanders...I just don't get enough time to talk to everybody.....damnit.

Several Brit bikes were ridden in to the event. More than ever. (I'll add those names later...it's getting late)

The chase van's tool box was not opened along the ride for the FIRST time in 12 years.... :bigt.

Okay enough for now....I've got a little more to say but will hold off until tomorrow afternoon when I have some more computer time.

Thanks again to all of you that took the time to attend. You ALL are more than welcome to join us next year....take care, one of your Three State Mountain Ride hosts...Gordon in NC

More photos please Gordon.

One of these days(years)and it won't be long I'd like to attend. I always look forward to the tales and tails and just wish I could be there to help you all have a good time, or give you all a bad time. All in fun of course, my fine southern friend.

So did they discontinue your Georgia Boot style or did you just decide to mix it up a bit at your advanced age? Some times change can be good. Pledge no allegiance to any particular brand but don't steer too far from the heavy weave colored rag wool socks, the tidy white wraps just don't scream style.

Coming out west in a couple of years?

Don in Nipomo

My friend Don....my choice of boots are Redwings. Those Georgia Boots were a cheapo purchase not meant to last (boots left at home)....the darn things lasted almost 8 years!!!! but finished off their life here at work when my wellies (Redwing's) bit the dust. Those new boots...well....they were cheap too and not Redwings...I've lost my dealer and need to find another source.

Socks........damnit a man can't get away with anything. I purchased brand new socks to go along with the new boots, only to find out once I was in Blowing Rock that they were those "shortie" types used with running shoes. They looked great in the package...so being a country boy....I made do with what I had. I didn't like the white socks, but at 7 am Saturday morning (the day of the ride), what's a man to do??

It would be GREAT if you could make the event.....you get here and we'll take care of ya.

Funny that you asked if I was going to be making a trip out West.....buzz is I just might be, for work. More on that later.

I only took the group photo and some of the Goldie.....there were a couple of people taking lots of photos so I figure they'll post them soon. Also I saw a fellow Saturday with a video camera strapped to his helmet...figure we'll see some of that too.

Take care...your southern fried friend in NC.....Gordon

A good and wise southerner once said, "Momma always said there's an awful lot you can tell about a person by their shoes. Where they going, where they been." Greg

Yup.
Loved the the movie... Forrest is my hero.
Chippewas, Diehards and Danners here.

Don in Nipomo

"Not knowing how to act around the bluegrass band....if you stand out there somebody is going to come up and start talking to you...I never know if that's okay or not??? The music is ALWAYS wonderful and we all enjoy it...sure adds to the weekend...thanks fellows Mr Mike, David, Ben and Willy...you guys are the best. OH....and thanks to Irene (sp?) who joined in."

Hi Gordon

I don't mind if people talk at all! Do whatever you want. We're not exactly playing chamber music. Listen if you want to, talk if you want to. It don't matter to me!

See you in a few at BIBR.

After $5B in government spending, the only upbeat economic indicator remaining.... new shoes and clean socks for 2012.



I really missed coming up this year and seeing each of you... and the cat. Sorry, but things with the new house have just swamped us. I've been shoveling mulch for the better part of 3 weeks now with no end in sight. Only 2 more dump trucks of mulch to go. I'm beginning to believe these "no-mow" lawns are just a euphemism for "kill the husband and collect the life insurance early".

I will be there next year! :bigt

Hmmm. Trying to post a few pics from photobucket. All I'm getting is the html code. Suggestions?

Wes just had his wife email me to post some pics. ok, almost ready...............

" DAMMIT, BILL!!! No more beans for YOU!!" Greg

Nice set of hooters on that Triumph eh?

PS-somethings wrong with your camera Richard. I KNOW I got more hair than that on my head

PHOTOSHOP