Gunnar Roadie - Soul Man - Riding to Yadkinville, NC

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Gunnar Roadie and Poor ole' Joe

Sunday afternoons are pretty much the only chance I have this time of year to ride outside. This Sunday the temperature was below 40 degrees the whole afternoon. I bundled up and went on out for a ride. 

My favorite type of ride is to roll down the driveway and just go where the bike seems to take me. This Sunday afternoon The Gunnar Roadie had me headed in the direction of Lewisville,NC. Shallowford Road is a popular road for cyclists. I have ridden out this way so many times I don't even think or plan to ride Shallowford Road. It just happens. I saw many cyclist going the opposite direction as I road away from Lewisville on Shallowford Road.

My ride ended up taking me to Yadkinville, NC. I was feeling good and the cool temperatures weren't an issue. When I looked down at my bike computer I realized that I was in the middle of Yadkinville and it was going to be hard for me to make back home before it got dark. 

Cycling has always been an adventure to me. Hammering to get in before it got too dark isn't the kind of adventure I had in mind. Fortunately I have a very bright flashing red light on the back of my bike. As I rode as fast as I could, I tried to decide which way would be the fastest and safest way to go. I popped out on Old 421 near Spear Bridge Road and time trialed back to Lewisville. The smooth surface of Old 421 was helpful in keeping my pace up. I made it back home safe and sound with minutes to spare before it became dark. My ride was a distance of fifty one miles with an average temperature of thirty six degrees.

Throughout my ride I was surprised at how much salt was on the roads from the previous weeks snow. It appeared the back country roads had been prepared for the frozen precipitation much more than the roads in Winston-Salem. Salt was coating my tires as I rode and flying around. I tried not to breath the chemicals from the road.

Steel frame bikes, e.g. my Gunnar Roadie, seem to just have soul. It's nice to look down at my bike on an adventurous ride, e.i. this Sunday's ride,  and feel the bike you are riding is an old friend. There are lighter materials to make bike frames out of. My favorite bikes over the years have all been made of steel. There is just something about riding a steel frame bike that I like. 

Jones Grocery on Shallowford Road.

Will A. Jones built this store building in 1926 and made his residence upstairs above the store.

Long horn cattle in a pasture outside of Yadkinville, NC.

Main Street Yadkinville, NC

Yadkinville is the county seat of Yadkin County, NC and the largest city in the county. Yadkin County was founded in 1850 and the city was named Yadkinville in 1852. The town is a total of 2.7 square miles.

Riding my steel framed Gunnar Roadie, feeling that the bike has soul, made the song Soul Man by Sam and Dave stick in my head. Sam and Dave, nicknamed the "Double Dynamite", performed together from 1961 through 1981. Their biggest hit, Soul Man, was released in August 1967. It was the number one song in the USA in November 1967 and their first gold record. In the video above Sam and Dave perform Soul Man in 1967.

The Blues Brothers perform Soul Man in the video above in 1979. Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi founded the Blues Bothers' Show Band and Revue as part of a musical sketch on the TV show Saturday Night Live. In 1980 The Blues Brothers movie was released.