I hope your 2007 riding season has gotten off to a good start. Just a couple of weeks ago I sent off a shipment to a rider in Alberta who was waiting for the snow to clear before he could get out. Yikes!

Around the mid-Atlantic we've had typical May weather; clear and dry, sunny and seventy-five. For me, that's the very definition of perfect riding weather.

Let's take advantage of it, shall we? I've planned a ride this Saturday, May 19, from Open Road HQ in Sterling, Virginia, through the central Piedmont. The route will feature scenic back roads, a history lesson, and lunch at an original fast food joint, Baby Jim's Snack Bar.

We'll leave here promptly at 9:00 a.m. following mostly back roads through horse country to Culpeper, Virginia. We'll arrive at the Culpeper visitor center around 11:00 a.m. to meet up with Virginia Morton, author of Marching Through Culpeper, a historically-based novel set during the Civil War.

Virginia will lead the group on a two-hour walking tour of downtown Culpeper, sharing the stories of people and places gathered during her years of research. The cost of the tour is $8 and well worth it. For more background, visit www.visitculpeperva.com/civilwar.cfm

Following the tour, we'll grab some lunch at Baby Jim's Snack Bar and hang out as befits a band of gnarly bikers. When we start drawing too many looks from local law enforcement (or, we finish lunch and are ready to head out), we'll mount up and follow a northwestern route home featuring scenic vistas and fun roads skirting the base of the Blue Ridge. A rough guess would put us back in the area between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. You can always shortcut the return if you need to get back earlier.

When you show up Saturday, I'll provide a route map and rough itinerary at the beginning of the ride. You can choose to ride in groups or improvise your own route based on the one provided.

If you'd like to ride along, please drop me a line (dale@openroadoutfitters.com) and let me know how many will be in your party. I hope you'll be able to join me.

May 26-28 is the spring art studio tour in Berkeley Springs that is worth checking out, not only for the beautiful work created, but also for the great roads and friendly people of Morgan County, West Virginia. Link: www.frogvalley.com/studiotour.html

On June 9th I'll be presenting at Honda of Crofton's Open House. I think my gig is at 2:00 p.m. Guess I'd better get that figured out before the 9th, eh? Link: powersportsofcrofton.com

June 16th is the annual Camp Night in Blue Grass, Virginia to benefit the Children's Library of the Blue Grass Book Bank. This casual event continues to grow by word of mouth as people experience the genuine camaraderie of their fellow riders and the natural beauty of the Virginia Highlands. For years I've been trying to make it to this campout. This year, dammit, I'm going. Link: www.bluegrassbookbank.org

Carlisle Bikefest is July 20-22 this year. I'll have the Open Road Outfitters rig set up there with a display of motorcycle trailers and pop-up campers. I'll also be doing some book presentations.

On August 9th I'll be joining Stonewall's Steel Cavalry Tour offered by Steve Grissinger at Southeastern Motorcycle Retreats to lead a day ride. That's just part of the scheduled week-long tour that will include a personally guided tour led by Scott Harris, Director of the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park. Here's a link for more info on this unique event: www.semotorcycleretreats.com/VirginiaHistoryTour.html

The weekend of August 11-13, I'll be hosting a motorcycle campout at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, Virginia. True, it's not far from home, but I thought it would be good for first-timers who want to try out motorcycle camping. If you forget something critical, it's easy to run out and pick up what you need. More details to come on that, but mark your calendar now.

Some of you might be interested to know that we've recently added the American Legend line of trailers. If you have a Harley and are thinking about a trailer, this is the one. Bar none.

The American Legend is styled to complement the lines of the Harley in every respect, from AL's high-quality paint to the flare of the rubber-mounted fenders (mounted so they will vibrate at idle to respond to your bike's Milwaukee V-Twin). They also do an outstanding job at color matching your bike. They can duplicate the color and pinstriping scheme of any Harley factory paint job and custom work, too.

We'll be showing these trailers and others at the Carlisle Bikefest in July. Here's a picture of the one we have in stock: tinyurl.com/357cs5

We'll be posting more pictures of their trailers and bringing in stock in late June or early July. More info on these is at: www.openroadoutfitters.com/trailers/harley_trailers.cfm

Visit American Legend's website at www.american-legend.com. If you call them directly, tell them Open Road Outfitters sent you.