First group ride of 2021 post Covid. 10 folks, loads of fun, laughter and ofcourse a little bit of riding as well!
Riders : Guri | Praveen | Deepak | Rajat | Navneet | Saurin | Sai | Sanjey | KG | Arvind | Behram
Days : 3
The planning for the first overnight trip of 2021 started off with a lot of uncertainty. Would we all be ok to stay together in a house after the COVID scares of 2020? Would we be all vaccinated in time? How would the weather play out, would it still be cold in the mountains? Will we need heated gear? Eventually Behram took the plunge and put a date in mind to do the trip. Slowly, people joined the group. And several riders dropped from the group for a myriad of reasons. But eventually a group of 10 was formed: Deepak, Behram, Guri, KG, Praveen, Sanjey, Sai, Saurin, Rajat and Navi. Arvind joined on Sat for a day only trip. Friday afternoon we met at 12:30-1:30pm at the Cruisers on 64W; We managed to pair all the Cardo units fairly easily; a couple of the Sena units paired between themselves. The ride to the cabin was uneventful, we stopped for a couple of breaks; Praveen had been kind enough to bring chai and snacks along which we gulped down quickly. Closer to the cabin, we stopped at the ABC store to purchase yet some more liquor. The driveway to the cabin was a sloped gravel road with a hairpin right turn leading to the garage. The adventure bike riders pounced on the opportunity to practice some off-roading skills. Sai tried to save his bike from falling over and ended up injuring his wrist. He ended up icing the wrist the rest of the evening. All riders hungry upon entering the cabin, we spotted a bag of cubed pepper jack cheese left in the refrigerator that soon got devoured. A few of us walked up and rode up to a nearby store to buy all the food items we would need. Praveen and others quickly started to impress the rest of the group with their culinary skills and made delicious rice, deviled eggs, garlic guac and other snacks. The rest of the night was spent with a lot of liquor and sitting by the outdoor firepit. Deepak even managed to get some quality time in the hottub. Saturday morning, all were bright up and early, ready to hit the curves. Sai, still nursing the injured wrist, decided he would stay in the cabin and not ride at all on Sat. He instead made some great breakfast eggs for all of us. Arvind had left early morning from home and reached the cabin late morning. We left as a group and headed for the route created by Behram. The roads were amazing as always. We stopped by a Mexican restaurant for lunch and after that Praveen and Deepak decided to head back to the cabin. The rest of the group proceeded on with the best part of the route that included Rt 80, Double Mountain, and other great twisty roads. Sitting in the hottub was a great alternative for the riders who returned earlier. Returning back to the cabin, a couple of other riders succumbed to the gravel hairpin driveway and dropped their bikes. Nursing their bruised egos over scotch and rum seemed to be the best medicine. Saturday night, Behram had gotten a new drone and managed to test out its flying abilities. Sunday morning, Behram was flying out his drone and it ran out of battery on its way back and landed in some woods about 1/2 mile away from the cabin. Behram, Deepak and Sanjey quickly got to the spot close to where it had landed but were unable to find it. After searching for over an hour, they called off the search and returned back to the cabin. Behram later went back to the site and claimed he found the drone. Praveen diligently made chai and other breakfast items to take with us home. We checked out by 11am on Sunday morning; now being extra careful to ride up the gravel driveway. We split into multiple groups but we reunited in Winston Salem for a quick stop for lunch at Szechuan Gardens restaurant. After that we split into different groups heading back home. Another wonderful overnight trip with a lot of memories and new friendships formed.
