A beutiful afternoon to ride to Rockford, NC 9/912

Finally it was a beautiful day to ride today. After a couple of weeks of unseasonably high humidity I was glad to see a cooler day with drier conditions. I wasn't able to get out to ride until 1:30 this afternoon.  The temperature at that time of day was in the high 70s with a slight breeze. 

One of my regular rides for the past 20+ years has been to ride to Rockford, NC. The route goes through East Bend, NC and Siloam, NC. There are lots of hills and very few cars between Siloam and Rockford. The mileage for this ride is just over 70 miles.

 At Rockford there is a historic general store to stop and take a break. The store is a tourist attraction. Saturday, September 15, 2012 there is going to be the 15th Annual Sweet Potato Festival at the Historic Village of Rockford. There is going to be live music, craft vendors, local authors and blacksmith demonstrations. Of course there is going to be food; sweet potato pies, sweet potato sonkers, pound cake, country ham biscuits, chicken stew, pinto beans and corn bread. 

The music will be from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Click here for more information and directions.

Click on the photos to enlarge them.

It was a beutiful day to ride a bike. Between East Bend and Siloam there is this view with Pilot Mountain in the background.

These horses were enjoying the nice day and grazing on the grass in the shade.

There was one Mule in the pasture with the horses.
This mule reminded me of the movie star Francis The Talking Mule.

Below is the full movie; Francis goes to West Point!

Hutton Vineyard on Rockford Road gives this stretch an old world feel.

Some nice folks from Mt Airy, NC took this photo of me on the porch of The Rockford General Store.

The shady porch of the store is a nice place to take a break.
Inside, the store has lots of treats and antiques to look at.

Rockford, NC is beside the Yadkin River.
This is how the Yadkin River looks from The Rockford Bridge.

This is my friend Tom. I saw him twice during my ride. Both times our paths crossed we were headed in the opposite direction. We stopped and talked both times. After we went our seperate ways the first time, I thought to myself, I should have gotten a photo of Tom. So the second time we met, during our rides, I made sure I did. Tom is a great rider and makes sure that he rides 10,000 miles every year!

Poor ole' Joe kept me company as I cleaned my bike up after my ride. He is suppose to have knee surgery tomorrow, but his Ortopedic Surgeon put his surgery off till Wednesday. Poor ole' Joe enjoyed being able to be outside some today.