Asheville Ride For Kids

                                                                                                                                                             Sunday, August 28, 2011

Ride for Kids - To the Bat Cave! - A cool, canine surprise 

Three weeks is a long time. Twenty-one days. Five hundred and four hours. I don't even want to count the seconds. That's how long it has been since me and my ST have danced the tango on the asphalt dance floor. Planets misaligning, mercury in retrograde, mundane chores, and travel have kept me and my dance partner apart these last long weeks.

But all that came to an end today. Ride for Kids (RFK)-Asheville was in full swing, and I never miss a planned RFK event unless Ma Nature says otherwise. But she gave her blessing today. A beautiful, clear, somewhat chilly early morning gave way to abundant sunshine and moderate temps.

The Ride for Kids program is put on by the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (PBTF), based here in Asheville, NC. RFK is a motorcycle fundraising program to help fund research to eradicate brain tumors in children. There are RFK events in 48 cities to date. The rides at these events are police escorted through rural countryside to a destination where a Celebration of Life ceremony is held (see below). Ruth and I do two events per year; RFK Atlanta in June, and RFK Asheville in August.

Ruth was out late last night with a friend, and as such, she didn't want to get up at the ass-crack of dawn to ride a motorcycle to Asheville. So she continued to snore away valuable riding time. Some people have their priority list backwards! I ate an eaaaarrly breakfast, geared up and was out the door with tires rolling at 6:45 AM, brother! Time was of the essence, as registration was to close at 8:30 and I had about an hour and a half flight ahead of me. Plenty of time, but who knows what on a Sunday morning, right? So I zigged and zagged getting out of town, then hooked up with the I-26 superslab to make the most efficient crossing to Asheville. Surprisingly, there were a number of vehicles on the road this early morning. With a posted speed limit of 60 MPH, the prevailing traffic was traveling at a bit higher velocity, say 75 or so. Five-O was nowhere in sight, so, when in Rome.........

The start venue for RFK Asheville was at the Biltmore Mall, which I arrived at with time to spare to register and then do the requisite bike shopping. Below are some pics from the start at Biltmore:



The mall parking lot was full of bikes



An estimated 400+ bikes participated this year



Our Po-Po escort. They did a great job of getting us to our
destination in Lake Lure safely and expeditiously!

Motorbikes of all makes and models were here. Customs, tourers, sport tourers, trikes, vintage.... you name it, you probably would see it. Check these few out:




These Can-Ams are gaining quite a following



An old American marque on a new model



These things really are sharp looking, but I'm not ready for
three wheels just yet.

Are the Eagles here?



Even pirates come to land locked Asheville to help the kids.

Guess who ? Harleys to the right of me, Kaws to my left;
here I am, stuck in the middle with you.....


At 9 AM sharp, the moto cops fired up their BMW's, and the procession left the Biltmore Mall parking lot snaking it's way towards the Blue Ridge Parkway. Riding down NC Hwy 191 was a blast, as the local constabulary blocked all intersections for us and our police escort kept us rolling at 10 -20 MPH over the posted 40-45 MPH speed limit. Getting all these bikes through the intersections and holding up traffic for as little time as possible was their primary objective I guess, which kept the speed up and the fun factor pegged for us!

Onto the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway (see previous blog post) for a few miles, then exiting onto NC Hwy 74-A. This road goes through some beautiful scenic areas and is a hoot to ride. Pin straight to start for a few miles, then the signage that all moto enthusiasts love to see: WARNING: 7% GRADE. SHARP CURVES NEXT 7 MILES.
And here the curves come as we all lean right, then left, spilling down into the Hickory Nut Gorge. Speeds are low of course as there are well over 400 of us doing this thing, but still a bunch of fun. I ride this road frequently, and it is an adrenaline fix when done at speed! Adults and kids line the sides of the roadway, waving and yelling as we ride by. This is a big thing for the people living in these small communities that line the route. Finally, we reach the bottom of the Gorge, turn onto NC Hwy 9, and snake our way through Chimney Rock, NC and onto our final destination at the Lake Lure Marina in Lake Lure, NC.
Here are some pics of more bikes at the Lake Lure Marina:




Lake Lure Marina



Lake Lure Marina



Marina parking lot. How's that for participation?
Scenic beauty like this surrounds Lake Lure.



Cool looking side car rig. The Beagles would love it! 

Lake Lure is a beautiful little town and has become a motorcycle destination through the years. Beautiful scenery, great riding roads in the surrounding countryside, restaurants, and a beautiful Inn make this a great getaway town. Lake Lure was on our list for places to have our wedding ceremony. We were captivated by it's beauty. Of course, the main draw to this hamlet is it's namesake: Lake Lure.




Lake Lure



Lake Lure

This is a very large man made lake where one can partake of any type of water recreation. Kayaks, canoes, and electric pontoon boats ply the waters by the marina, while way up on the northern end of the lake skiing and wake boarding is popular.

Parking the beaST among the streams of bikes, I strip off my gear and make my way to the "big top" where the Ceremony of Life is to take place.



The "big top"

Of course, at all RFK events throughout the country, it is all about the kids. They are the Stars of each event, and at each Ceremony of Life under the tent, they tell their stories of fear, pain, anguish and yes, triumph of life dealing with cancer. The passion for life that these children exude in light of what they are going through makes any troubles I myself may be going through in the moment seem trivial. The ceremony is very emotional; sad, yet uplifting, feeling for what these kids are going through and at the same time reveling in their accomplishments in life in spite of  what they are going through. The kids are upbeat, funny, shy, not so shy, grateful, exuberant, exhausted and happy. Happy to be alive. Happy to be talking to us. Happy to be riding on a motorcycle (all RFK Stars ride in sidecars with designated motorcyclists to the Ceremony of Life destination).
Parents get up to speak about their life changing experience with having a child with a brain tumor. A doctor speaks to the crowd at each event about the research advances being made in treatments and a cure for this disease. Door prizes are given away, and at each event, American Honda donates a motorcycle to be raffled off to some lucky winner! Here are the kids:

The STARS of RFK Asheville.The tiny, little kid on the left
(5 years old) was hilarious!



Here he is just making the crowd cry with laughter!



Each child got a chance to tell their story.



Dr. Grant from Duke University, one of the larger PBTF research sites in the country,
keeping us all up to date on new research developments.



The crowd of motorcyclists under the "big top"



Julia is a PBTF poster child. From brain tumor, to survivor,
to college grad and now working for the PBTF.
Ruth & I have seen her evolve through all these phases
of her life in the years we have been participating in RFK Asheville.



Can't let the folks who got us here quickly and safely go unrecognized.
Our police escort gets a standing ovation. When the officer holding the mike asked
how the pace was, loud cheers and clapping from the crowd ensued. In a slight dig to
his patrol car bretheren, his response was: "Well, it just shows it takes motorcycle
cops to lead motorcyclists on a spirited romp!" Amen brother! 

 When all was said and done, everyone had spoken, cheered, laughed and cried; door prizes given out and a new Honda motorcycle raffled off; it was time for the final scene. The unveiling of the check. All the kids on stage unravel a big, mock check with the total amount of money raised for the event. How much?

My shot got blocked, but the kids are unveiling the check in the amount of:
$110,000 !
Way to go RFK Asheville!

What a great event, as usual. Everyone started gearing up and leaving. I was very hungry at this point, having eaten breakfast waaaayyyy back at 5:45 AM (it was now about 12:30). I was scheduled to meet my riding partner for the day, Deirdre, for lunch. But I had a very cool canine surprise waiting for me as I bike shopped one more time. Are you ready for this?




This is Chewy! He is a Border Collie mix. As I was walking around I came upon him on the back of his Dad's Harley. The camera came out immediately, and as I was clicking away, his Dad (who I didn't even see standing next to me), shoved Chewy's business card in my face! Yes! Chewy has his own business card!

 And his own website: http://www.bikerdoggie.com/ . Is that just not hilarious? Check out his website. It's a hoot.

Finally, I was able to get the beaST out. I geared up and rolled on down the road to meet my riding bud at Larkins on the Lake Restaurant, on the north end of Lake Lure. I pulled into the parking lot and Deirdre was already there waiting for me. We sat down to a great lunch al fresco, right on the lake.



North end of Lake Lure, taken from the deck of the restaurant.

Another beautiful shot of Lake Lure from our table.


 Good food, great company, now it's time to ride. After lunch, Deirdre and I geared up for an afternoon ride in the Lake Lure area. Our route today would take us up through some beautiful, pastoral countryside to Old Fort, NC. The roads to Old Fort are well paved with gently sweeping curves as we climb up to this old railroad town. We stop for a break, then mount up for the return trip to da, da, da,...... Bat Cave! Yes, visions of Adam West or Val Kilmer, depending on how old you are may come to mind. Bat Cave is a little hamlet just outside Chimney Rock, NC. But the best part is the road to get there, because Bat Cave itself is nothing to write home about. Bat Cave Road starts out as a benign, easy two laner meandering it's way to higher elevations than Old Fort. Then the first holy crap curve hit's you without a warmup; an uphill, 180 degree switchback that can ruin your day if not carefully negotiated. That's it for the straights! The rest of the way down Bat Cave Road is all 20 MPH, 2nd gear curves, with a bit of good old North Carolina gravel strewn about to make things interesting. Not very long, but a great adrenaline inducing roller coaster ride if you do it right!
Into Bat Cave we ride. If Batman's cave is here, Bat Cave Road is one hell of a driveway leading to it! time to head home. We scoot down the mountain through Hendersonville, NC and on into South Carolina. We reach Greenville where Deirdre and I part company until next time and head for our respective domiciles. A great day: long, tiring, emotional, and a world of fun. Wouldn't have it any other way.

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