Crab Cakes Ride 2005

Write-up by Pat Sprague
This year a new location and riding area brought forth some 24 COG members and friends. An improving weather forecast helped nudge a few out, too. A three hour trip from One Wheel Only put me at Jethro's Barbecue about 8:40 AM. with several riders already there. Clyde Watson waited for them to open and had finished breakfast when I arrived. Following Clyde in arrival were Russell Fleming, Bobby Winters, Tony Borum, Mike Schmidt, Paul Farinholt, Greg Williams, Ralph Lambert, Wayne Tenney, Herman Tessman, Greg Puterbaugh, Chris and Kendra Weaver, Alan Brown, J.J. Doyle, Zachariah "Carlos" Mully, Dan Clark, Rich Walter, Ed Gera, Mike O'Neill, Trevor Angel, Nazruddin Asgarri, Dan and Sharon Wright, and Pat Sprague.

Dan and Sharon graciously opened their home, driveway, and backyard to us and made us feel right at home for the weekend. An excellent circuit ride route had been laid out and tested by co-host Chris Weaver the week before. I had never ridden in this area before, and it's a very nice relaxed style different from mountain riding. There was much nautical history, of course, including a light house museum, and an old torpedo on display. The roads were in excellent condition with almost no gravel or sand and the two hundred mile ride route passed by quite pleasantly. It was also nice to be cleaning bugs instead of frost from the face shield. Gathering back at the Wright's we soon after headed out to the Kingfisher's Restaurant for CRABCAKES.

On our return, the host and Firemeister Clyde Watson got our campfar going on the Weaver's ingenious Coleman patio farplace. Daughter's Alita and Chrissy Wright put together some superb brownies and chocolate chip cookies. A light rain held off until after midnight and cloud cover kept the night temps above 40 F.

Sunday breakfast saw several bleary eyed folks pouring from a wonderful collection of coffee carafes, the Wrights cooking link sausage and ham, and the Weavers flipping pancakes on the patio griddle. Awesome to say the least. Yummmmm.

Thanks to Russell Fleming for providing the impetus (as he so often does) for organizing this event, and a big thank you to the Wrights and Weavers for hosting everything. Y'all took good care of us! It was a fun weekend for me. Thanks to all for attending and I hope you newer COG members enjoyed it as well.

Now that Spring is here, let's get out and do some more riding. If your steed needs some maintenance, I hope to see you at the Southern Wrenchfest on April 2-3 at the Hammond's in Lynchburg, VA. Please give Jim a call if you are thinking of attending, and I hope to see you soon.