Places to Ride

By Phill Floria

Click on the signs for a pictorial view of the MC road.

We all have favorite roads we just love to ride, and for those of you who have been reading the Last Page over the past year have noticed I have some favorites too. I have been photographing parts of them to share with you.

Some roads are just great because they are scenic, some because we just like to ride them. All of us love the feeling (freedom) when our riding and our motorcycle's fit the road, whether it’s a full dressed Harley, a Gold Wing, a cruiser, a sportbike or even your favorite moped. There is nothing in the world that feels as good as a good ride on a great road with good friends.

This year I intend to photograph as many of the great roads we have in this area and share them with you; so that you can get out there and enjoy them too. I decided to do this after reading about a fellow in California who has photographed and described almost every road in California. He’s been at it for the last twenty years.

My endeavor will not contain the whole state, but new riders into our area will be able to experience some roads it would take them years to find. Who knows maybe you can photograph your favorite road and send it in. What does it take, not much, just a camera and some patience.

How I did this in case you are wondering, I would take my first shot and then ride to the point where the road would disappear in the viewfinder and then shoot again. This was very tedious and not very easy to do. I tend to cover ground pretty fast and sometimes I missed the spot I wanted to shoot from. I tried to shoot enough of the road to get its flavor and you would be able to see how it rolls and turns. I don’t think you need to shoot the whole road as I did, but at least get the best parts on film. Some corners will take several shots just to get in all of the changes in elevation, camber and the radius of the turn.

I have mentioned the “Motorcycle Road” or the “Perfect Road” several times without giving away its location. Its not a secret, it was shown to me and well I fell in love with it. So I figured I would start with the “Motorcycle Road” as a lot of us have come to call NC county road 1200, Sandbanks Road.

A word of caution here, I didn’t measure the distances to any of the turns, they are my best recollection. So please use some caution when using my directions.

How to get there? Fire up you motorcycle and head towards Franklin on US 58. Look for the exit for 189 and head south on 189, if your coming from Suffolk once you get to the top of the exit bear left.

Follow 189 for about 5 miles, past a church on your right. Your next turn will come up fast. Make a left onto Gates Road. Be careful there is always some lose gravel here, if you miss it just go on and find a place to turn around.

About a mile you will come up on a fork bear to your right on to Camp Ponds Road, this should put the old abandoned building on your left.

From here it’s pretty easy follow the road and enjoy it, once you get past the homes, the road surface is rough as you follow the earthen dam on your left, don’t worry it will get better.

Roughly about five miles down Camp Ponds Road, you come up on a stop sign. To your left will be some old farm buildings. At the stop sign make a right onto NC county road 1200, yeah your almost there.

This fist section will be a thrill to ride but be careful for cars and driveways, once you drop down and pass the white farm house on your left you will see the road change.

You’re now at the beginning or the end of the MC road depending on how you ride it. It will run for about eight miles without a cross street, house or much of any living thing. Heavy trucks use the road during the week, but on Sunday most of the traffic is from motorcycles.

The shoulders of the road have been cut back about 25 yards allowing you to see any incoming wildlife. The road surface is sweet, no holes or groves to upset a tire. You can run this road pretty much as fast as your ability will allow. Run it easy to US13, then turn around and run it back. This way if your going to go full out you at least know what the conditions are.

Take some care the first run up the road, it does twist around a lot and can take you by surprise; there are some turns which come up after you crest a rise. I ran up the road on 03 January 04 last, and found sand where the trucks had been entering the road from the logging operations and some small tree limbs lying on the road surface.

I suggest you check this road out soon, when I reached US 13 where it runs out I found they had cut and bull dozed a lot of land to the right. It could be the beginning of construction and the end of a great ride.

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