Allen made good use of a rainy Saturday morning by driving up to Sterling and visiting with the boys at Hard Core Choppers. The WORMS saw a few of the Hard Core chopper bikes this past January at the motorcycle show. What was intended to be a 20 minute visit ended up running about 90 minutes - and in reality, Allen was supposed to be home cleaning the house for guests coming over in the afternoon! Oh oh.... Anyway, these guys know how to build bikes, so there is a good chance that Allen will go with them for his 50th birthday chopper. However, Allen is still looking at what is out there, and we should see lots of bikes when the WORMS head up to Mountainfest in July. There are so many bikes and options to consider, so now is the time to start finalizing the look of Big Al's custom chopper. Here are three pictures taken in their shop, and this is a pro-street model (called the Shanks ) that felt just right when Allen sat on it. Oh yeah, it's pretty loud too!
The WORMS are getting restless with all the cold weather we've been having through February. Today was supposed to reach 50F so yesterday the e-mail traffic was hot and heavy - the WORMS were going to ride on Sunday! And ride we did. Our initial meeting time of 10AM at Jamie's General Bean was delayed an hour because it was around freezing when we woke up in the morning. It was about 40F as the WORMS were getting on the road between 10AM and 10:30AM. Once we warmed up with our coffee / tea and muffins, the gang (Jim, Rose, Woody, and Allen) headed down towards Manassas H-D to visit with the bikes.
At Whit's H-D in Manassas we saw the new Cross Bones bobber-style softtail and sat on a few bikes. Rose bought some glove liners to keep her hands a bit warmer too. Then we headed into Warrenton by going further south on Route 28 and cutting over at a street I can't remember (it was after Catlet). We ate lunch and then headed back home. Woody peeled off near Jamie's General Bean, but the rest of us headed for Patriot H-D and stopped in to see what bikes they had on display. What do you know - two new 2008 Screamin' Eagle Road Kings! My what a sight. We didn't buy anything - just looking!
We also have a few new pictures of Sandra's new Smart Car (Passion model) that she picked up about a week ago in Alexandria. She just loves driving the car to work and on the first tank of gas it got 34 MPG. Can't complain about that!
Saturday was an interesting day. It was cold, just above 40 degrees F, but not too cold to keep a few of the WORMS in their holes. Woody had to work in the morning but he was finished about the time that Allen was just heading out the door to check out a new Smart Car dealership in Alexandria, VA. After a phone call our usual meeting place (Jamie's General Bean) was selected and the boys met there for some lunch. While dining at Jamie's, Matt (one of the guys that works there) said that Jamie and Tom had just opened their new business over in Alexandria. It's at an apartment complex called the Watergate - not to be confused with the Watergate Hotel across the street from The Kennedy Center in Washington DC. Anyway, our cold weather riders decided to stop by Jamie's Cafe for a visit.
Jamie's Cafe is a combination eatery, general store, and ice cream parlor with a built-in clientele. Lots of people came in during our brief visit with Jamie and Tom, so as long as they don't drop from shear exhaustion business is looking pretty good. The establishment has been open about one week and they are already looking to hire some help. We wish them luck. If you want to stop by you will need to get a guest pass at the guard entrance. It's like a gated community inside the complex and it's just north of Edsal Avenue - not far from that old CompUSA building and the Landmark Mall.
Lastly, Woody and Allen rode over to the new Smart Car dealership in Alexandria. It's located just up Van Dorn Street and over by Route 7 (King Street). There were three yellow Smart Cars in their outside lot and wouldn't you know it - the middle one is Sandra's car! Her name was written on the sold sign. The dealership is so new that they aren't yet prepared to clean the cars or to process any paperwork. Sandra hopes to get her car within a week. Meanwhile we can always drive over there to look at it - something lots of other people were doing while Allen was taking pictures of their other cars. Woody and Allen were allowed to get inside a few cars they had in the garage too. These cars have lots of room inside them and the build quality is pretty good. Let's hope Sandra likes driving her new Smart Car! Now with that extra room in the garage due to the small parking space requirements of the Smart Car, do you suppose Allen might be thinking about that chopper he hopes to get on his 50th birthday?
