Well, we started the month of May off with a great ride. Since Mother's Day falls on our normal ride date of Sunday 5/11 we moved the ride up a week so everyone can spend Mother's day honoring their mothers. It turned out to be a great decision. The weather was just simply fantastic. The morning air heading to AMW was a little cool but still warmer than most the highs from prior rides. Kickstands went up at 9:30 with 11 bikes and 14 riders pulling out.

Doug led us on a great route up around Dahlonega and thru Cleveland to the West Family Restaurant. The ride was great. Doug picked a route we had never ridden before and it was a winner. The roads were great and the scenery beautiful. We took a restroom and beveragebreak a little over halfway. By then the temperature had already risen substantially and many riders peeled off a layer or two.

We arrived at the restaurant right at lunch time. Everyone was hungry and we hit the buffet hard. We were joined at the restaurant by the rest of G2's family and G1 & Maria's daughter and her kids. That gave us a total party of 20 people for lunch. Doug and Teresa surprised Maria with a big slice of cake for her birthday. (Which I ate a good part of!!). We had a great time.

With bellies full we reluctantly decided to move on. Some headed on home. The rest of us headed to Helen to do a little shopping and people watching.

There were plenty of bikes in Helen. Chattahoochee Biker Gear had moved into new stores that were very nice. We checked out some shops, stood around and talked, the kids fed the carriage horses and watched a lizard run around. I think everyone really enjoyed the time.

As time was ticking on and the day was slowly ending it was decided that it was time to leave. We all headed out and made our way home. As always we stuck together as a group as long as we could with everyone splitting off as needed.

All in all, it was a wonderful day....the best we have had this year. We had good weather, good riding, good food and a good turnout...which meant lots of friends. You just can't beat a day like that!!

Attending:

Doug Turco & Teresa Turco
Gary & Maria Kohl
Allen & Shirley Sales
Gary Kohl II
Henry Williams
Malon Metz
Jason Banister
Mitch Argo
David Hughes
Rick Curtis
Rick Campbell