Weekend snow ride to Moonshiner
Riders : Guri | Praveen | Arvind | Sai | Akki | Brufen | Ashish | Saurin | Behram Car : Ritesh | Sanket | Deepak
Dates : 01/28/2022 - 01/30/2022 Miles : 750
We in TLW have a long and checkered past of labeling rides with the names of glorious destinations we want to conquer and then NOT AT ALL being able to complete the mission! Well, my expectations for this ride was no less! ;-) and we ALMOST succeeded in not going to Moonshiner and we anyway did only a part of it. 3 Cold days and we clocked in 750 miles… lowest recorded temps were 21.2 degrees… some street cred statistics for y’all!
12 TLW boys joined the ride this time… and it was a bit of a mess from the get go! “Normally” there is one team that meets at the departure point, rarely there are 2 groups.. this was the first time that I remember where we were 4 groups just to reach the cabin in Anderson SC. Special props to Ritesh who made it despite grievous injuries to his wrist… he recovered pretty dramatically as soon as his butt was on the warm heated seats of Sanket’s Porsche Panamera!! ;-)
It was a wonderfully situated cabin and with plenty of seating for all… Friday night was 2 varieties of Peanut masalas and both were excellent in their own way… Brufen’s was the killer mango version and it was almost like a cooking competition! Praveen, Akki and Sai did a brilliant job with the chicken and paneer dishes – these boys can feed a village! Drinks were needless to say.. err.. flowing freely and so were the conversations.
For reasons unknown to all, Behram throughout both nights kept saying “Itna GHATIYA KHAANA meine kabhi nahin khaaya hoon!” (I have never eaten such lousy food)…. While helping himself to GENEROUS portions of the said food! ;-) he has henceforth been banned from all future weekend rides… he will just make the GPS for us and that’s it!!
Akki and Sai could be a legit standup comedy duo… buggers are THAT GOOD!! They regaled us with great stories and funny incidents as the night wore on! A bunch of us talked about how our marriages were orchestrated – i.e. the quintessential Indian love marriage vs. arranged marriage…. Tall tales were told, exaggerations ensued and great fun was had by all!
A couple of birthdays were celebrated in advance and that was a super surprise that was well orchestrated by Brufen, Guri and the boys!
The ride on Saturday was changed from Moonshiner to TOTD and Cherahola, and then to a south-oriented 200 miler and then a mix-n-match including a part of Moonshiner (JUST TO BREAK our jinx) was plotted by none other than our in-house mapologist (is that even a thing?) Behram! We took off in the cold temps around 34 or so… and the temps dropped all the way to 21 on our way to the “Pretty Place” chapel. There was black ice, sand and salt on the ground practically around every corner and we had to be exceptionally careful during the ride. A few of us decided to play it safe and turned back while Saurin, Behram and Guri braved the elements and made it all the way! It was not so much a “Fun” or a “Spirited” riding day as much as one of endurance and extreme vigilance to keep the rubber side down.
On our way back from "Pretty Place" stopped at a great local place to dine for lunch Creekside Market & Grill - Amazing family run restaurant/market with some great food options for meat and veggie lovers. If you are in the Brevard area, make a point to stop here. You won’t be disappointed - https://goo.gl/maps/YzGQaiNmLe2yn7fX9
Praveen bhai’s Masala Chai (infused with ginger, cardamom (and a special flower from the Himalayan mountains that increases virility in spades!) was in high demand thanks to the cold day and he usually delivers chai by the gallons! ;-) Chai with cookies (go figure!) were in High demand on the return trip in front of Taco Bell!
Sunday was more of a slow start mainly with the intention of making it home by evening. Hearty breakfast was served up by our own Michelin Star chefs! Behram flew his drone yet again (I feel the drone is plotting its own suicide!) and took some amazing pics before we headed home. The ride home was quite uneventful. Arvind was the lead and as is his mantra, he stuck to his guns AND the speed limit at all times. No shenanigans were permitted and everyone reached home safe and sound!
One more winter trip where the manly bits … err.. umm.. cajones… were reduced to raisins and everyone I heard is recovering quite nicely back home. UNTIL NEXT TIME FOLKS!!