Outstanding day enjoying the Easter Sunday weather. Nothing but sun, and some cloud streaks across the Carolina skies.

My "bad boy" biker attire must've been convincing this morning. Some elderly man and his wife in a minivan caught me at the red light just up the road from my neighborhood; "Take a right at the next light-we'll see you in Church".

Guess my appearance implied I was "lost". I had a few replies in mind, but time didn't permit. I just smiled and rode on. Bet I could open their minds a bit on the backroads soaking in some nature vs. a sermon. 

Father, brother Dain and I did one of our "short" runs to Morrow Mtn. We were craving pavement so Dain took us the long way in through Hwy 742 to 52. Loved it. Did some "Biker Fellowship" and socializing on top of Morrow, then headed back. About 130 miles total.

As an "Ad Man" myself, Church Marketing on kiosks along the backroads always make me chuckle on these rides. They try to keep up with Madison Avenue with catchy phrases and cute references.

Two I saw today:

"1 Cross, 2 Nails, 4 Given"

(I think those numbers are a lttle off but hey...)

And the other:

"You Can't Keep A Good Man Down. Happy Easter"

So creative.

As my brother says..."I'd rather be on a bike thinking about the universe and discovering it than sitting in a pew thinking about riding my bike".  Or something like that.

To date, I've received 27 solicitation packages in the mail. 19 Attorney firms offering legal services and 8 from Chiropractors.

As a Marketing Professional I'll give it to them for using the free Public resources available to them at the Courthouse. They're on it for sure.

Many of the Legal firms I've seen on TV. I've got my own Chiropractor - Dr. Park in downtown Matthews.

Little do they know, their diligence in pursuing an opportunity with me and my Son has actually just provided me with a nice prospecting list for my company, NR Creative Group (insert evil laugh here: "Bwahh ha ha ha!" ).

Many/most of these packages are crap and will end up in the garbage. I mean...they obviously need me. Right?

**Side note:  Turns out the driver that hit my Son provided outdated and incorrect information to the Police at the scene. They're in the process of chasing him down.

Forecast: Sunshine with high's near 60 "something".

That's all we needed to hear. A small group of us wrapped up 2011 in part this past Saturday, December 31st with a great day of backroads motorcycle riding in an attempt to suck the very last rays of sunshine from our unseasonable North Carolina weather. 225 round trip miles later, we succeeded. 

Thanks to Social Media maven, friend, motorcyle adventurer, and author Tamela Rich for putting out the call for a posse. She set the itinerary for Carthage, NC  - the home of Pik-N-Pig BBQ.

We weren't the only ones thinking about seizing the day via backroads and motorcycles. When we got to the eating hole (which is seated on some farm land disguised as small craft airport), there were a line of parked bikes.

Inside, the place was packed with people in biker leather, denim and bright yellow touring jackets. 

We had a total of 6 in our group which included my Dad Stephen Richie, my Brother Dain, Tamela and a couple new friends (to me anyway), Bill and Ken. 

Tamela's new book “Live Full Throttle: Life Lessons from Friends Who Faced Cancer” dropped back in early December and she's been out on a promotional tour ever since. 

I sat down with her for a quick NR VIEW.

"I made my mistakes

I seen my heart cave in

I got my scars

I been to hell and back again

Born for the blue skies

We’ll survive the rain

Born for the sunrise

We’ll survive the pain"