Outer Banks Bike Week 2

WOW!!! What a difference a couple of day's make. If you read my last post you know that I rode to OBBW by myself on Sunday the 17th. I was a little dissapointed in the turn out of both riders and vendors. Well, on Wednesday the 20th my wife and were both off and we took a ride back to the event.

We did the same thing I did on Sunday with a few exceptions. First off, we stopped at the Kitty Hawk Baptist church and had lunch. There were more vendors in the parking lot than there had been on Sunday. I had a burger, chips, home made cookies, and a soda and Debbie had a cheese burger, chips an apple and a soda. Delicious food and all for $5.00 each. Pretty good deal.

We left the church and we rode straight to the Tanger outlets. This was so we could turn around and head North to see what biker events were happening. Did I mention I had my wife with me? Somehow we ended up shopping for over an hour at the outlet stores. My only consolation is that I wasn't alone. They really need a bar at the outlet stores for all of the husbands (biker or not) who get stuck shopping with the better half.

Ok, finally we are on our way. We headed back to Nags Head HD. There were more bikes than on Sunday but they were steady in and out, no one was hanging around.

We headed north and we hit both 158 and route 12 vendors. Things were definitely picking up. There were more vendors and more local establishments were getting in the swing of things. For example there was a bikini bike wash for charity taking place at the Port O Call restaurant. And other events scheduled for later in the week.

After checking out the vendors at Nags Head and kitty Hawk we headed to the Outer Banks HD dealership for a quick look around. Once again this is where it is all happening. HD demo rides, group rides, music and coleslaw wrestling (not as appealing as it sounds).







Anyway, things are picking up, unfortunately family commitments will keep me away for the rest of the events, but no problem, the Virginia Beach Bike Classic is right around the corner.

Outer Banks Bike Week 1

What an awesome couple of days. OBBW runs from April 16th to April 24th 2011. This is the 9th annual bike week and I have been to every one of them. This event has all of the activities of the better known events like Daytona or Sturgis. Of course music and vendors play a huge part in this event and there was plenty of both.

I made two trips to Nags Head. My first run was Sunday April 17th. It was a beautiful day although a little chilly. I left home at 8:30 and I rode straight to the Outer Banks. I rode straight through town to the southern end of the resort strip to the Tanger outlet stores. This is a good place to turn around and head back North. This gave me a chance to check out the vendor sites and kinda get the lay of the land.

My first stop was Nags Head Harley Davidson. This is a clothing and accessories store and it is where this event began 9 years ago. They had a booth setup selling event T-Shirts, but not much else was going on and there were not a lot of bikes/bikers hanging around. That's because no one was "hanging around" anywhere. There was a steady flow of people in and out all week. After buying my event T-Shirt I continued heading north on 158 to the next group of vendors. Once again I learned that getting to an event when it is just getting started is not really a good idea. There were only two vendors set up and very few bikes. However, there were more vendors setting up.

I continued heading north and stopped at the Kitty Hawk Baptist church. This appears to be the best kept secret at OBBW.
They tell me they have been doing this for several years but I never stopped here before. They had free coffee and donuts on Sunday morning and a fried chicken with all of the fixins for lunch for only five dollars. There were vendors in the paring lot, and a steady flow of bikes in and out.

I continued north a short way and then headed south on route 12. There are more vendor locations on 12. While these are traditionally the better vendors, it just wasn't happening on Sunday. Once I got back to Nags Head HD I turned aound and headed North one more time out of town towards home.

I stopped at Outer Banks HD on 158. This is the new hub for this event and it was were all of the action was on Sunday. Vendors, music, food, bike show etc. They had it all going on there. They also had several group rides leaving from the dealership.


Ok, one more stop. On the way down to OBBW I saw signs for Barrys Walnut Island bike show. As I rode into Grandy NC I followed the signs and found a mini event happening. There was a bike show, vendors and a restaurant/bar that was hosting the whole event. I strolled around and took in the sites before heading home.

All in all it was a very good day. There wasn't as much going on as I expected but there was enough to keep you busy and it was very early in the event and as I found out later (see Outer Banks Bike Week 2) as the week went on the event grew.

Head South to ride North

Me: Well babe, we did 173 mile today.

Wife: (Sarcastic tone) All that for a ham sandwich.

Well, Sunday finally arrived. This was the day that all of the weather forcasters were saying was supposed to be so nice. While it was a nice day, it was a little chilly on the motorcycle.

The wife and I had been trying to decide where to ride all week. We ended up going to Smithfield Virginia for a hot ham and cheese sandwich. Ok, so we have done this ride before and I already posted it on the site, but this time we went a little out of our way (just to make things interesting).

We left home and went out North Landing road to Centerville. Turn Left and head South to Battlefield Blvd. Another left and head south on Battlefield Blvd towards Moyock. Just before we get to Moyock we turn right onto Ballahack Road. We took Ballahack all the way to route 17. Another left on 17 and we headed South again into North Carolina and continued to route 158. We turned right on 158 and headed west. After about 40 miles we came to route 13. Turn right and head north to Smithfield. 13 eventually spilts, bear right on to route 10, just follow the signs to Smithfield.

Ok, get it? Head south to ride north.



Anyway, there is an ice-cream sandwich shop on the historic main street in Smithfield They make awesome hot ham and cheese sandwiches plus there's ice-cream for desert.




After we ate and walked around the historic district for awhile we headed out of town the same way we came in. We rode south on 10 until we came to route 32 (at Benns Church). we turned left and took 32 to the end where it intersects with route 17. Turned right and headed south on 17 into Portsmouth. Once in Portsmouth you can head home whatever way is best for you. We stopped at Bayside HD for a break (did I mention the restaurant has really good sweet tea too).

We left home at about 11:00 and got back home around 5:00. All in all it was a great first ride of the season. Even my wife admitted she had a good time and this time she said it without the attitude. We are both looking forward to the rest of the riding season.

Well, I got to ride to work today. It was about 75 degrees and a beautiful day. I rode to work (the long way) the I went for a ride at lunch time, then I rode home (also the long way). All local stuff and not very exciting, but it sure felt good to get on and go.

There are lots of events coming up starting on the 16th with Outerbanks bike week. I'm going at least one day and since I will be off for three days that week I'm hoping to go two days minimum. We will also have the Virginia Beach Bike Classic (VBBC) at the end of this month. I'll be posting pictures and I hope to tell you a little bit about what goes on so check back.

Probably heading to Smithfield on Sunday, stay tuned.