John and I had not gone for a motorbike ride together in a long time. We fixed that problem today with a 100 mile ride. I met John for the first time in Sep 2017. We were in the same motorbike safety class. We bonded well since we were the only two over 50 years old in the class. (The rest were 25 and below). Also, we were the only ones without any visible ink on our skin.

For both of us, it would be the first experience in riding a motorbike. Turns out we bought the same make and model of motorbike (different years). I have stuck to my good old 2017 Honda CTX 700 DCT from the first day I rode it. John, in the meanwhile, has gone thru about four motorbikes, one three wheeler and a scooter. Finally, as of two months back, he has come back to our original model. He has the 2018 version. But as you can see the bikes look near identical. Of course, John being John, his motorbike has been heavily accessorized with all sorts of gizmos and gadgets. Mine is still pretty much the same as it came when we brought it home in Nov, 2017.

It was a great ride together. The feelings that come over you as you cut thru the heavy breeze in the gently winding rural roads of Georgia on a motorbike with a friend in tow cannot be possibly described; only experienced!

Dropped by an outside bar to grab a refreshing gin and tonic towards the end of a two hour motorbike ride…

One of those days that you get to see all motor bikers come out of their garages. Great weather – bright sunlight and warm temperatures. Took a 70 mile spin by myself and then stopped for coffee at Espressos Coffee.

Woke up after the party last night a little tired. In fact, I was wondering whether to go out for a ride at all. I am glad I decided to soldier it on. “PoshGoonda” Rakesh Rao had planned a great route to a great destination. We landed up having lunch sitting by the river watching folks canoe and raft by on the Big Creek in a very small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains called Aska.

Avi was the steady sweep behind all the time to make sure nobody was left behind. Which in this case, means really me – since it was three of us who hit the mountain trails today.

I am most glad that I was able to do all those left and right turns in the mountains without making a single mistake.

All that said, the butts are really really sore 🙁

… in the 29th month of riding…

60 mile motorbike ride. Met up with Sharmila in Ballground. Sat in the sun with some coffee and watched crawfish being boiled and sold at a frenetic pace!

Rakesh, Avi and I rode independently to our favorite coffee spot – Barrel House Coffee in Ballground, Cherokee county. Rakesh, of course, took an hour and a half detour (via Burnt Mountain) for the 30-40 minute ride from his house! Avi came from home (around 45-50 minute ride). I went via E. Cherokee Rd to try out some twistys by myself before showing up at the coffee spot.

Ballground is all business now. The picnic benches are open. There is still social distancing going on and only some folks were wearing masks. But there were an incredible number – and I mean an incredible number of motorbikes there today!

Missed my ride with Rakesh and Avi today. Felt jealous that I could not join them on the long ride. But I have been really falling behind on my running miles. Had to give some time to running.

Took the bike out later in the evening. The idea was to go to Sawnee Mountain. On the way took two wrong turns. The first one brought me back in a loop after 10 minutes. For the second one, I had to take the help of Google Maps.

It was a nice warm 80 degree day. The motorbikers were out in droves.