No flights during my stop

I sought new roads and landmarks in my latest trek around Charlotte. After zooming in on my routing app, inRoute, I found a number of small airports north of Charlotte to seek out during the day’s ride. When I have the freedom to ride, I don’t worry about destinations or times. Instead, I look for interesting things to see. This creates the perfect combination of exploring new places while being a spectator of life.

Heading northwest along Highway 16, I stopped at Little Mountain Airport in Maiden, NC. Unfortunately, the road leading to the grass runway was restricted to authorized vehicles. I politely turned the bike around to find a vantage point of the rolling hills that masked the airport’s location in a valley below. After dismounting my 2013 BMW R 1200 R, I snapped a couple of pictures of the scenery and continued the ride.

Just a few miles further north, I found the second airport of the afternoon - Laneys Airport. Also featuring a grass runway, Laneys had perfect front row seating of the incoming and departing planes. The control tower was a small wooden shaft with a large antenna and the curious controller inside watched as I took pictures. Unfortunately, there were no flights during my stop, so I enjoyed the scenery of parked planes along the runway.

Taking a quick break from aerial navigation, I meandered to Murrays Mill in Catawba County. Although it was closed, two peaceful dogs greeted me. I took a couple of minutes to snap pictures of the man-made waterfall and late-1800s/ early 1900s structures and moved along.

I proceeded eastward along Hudson Chapel Road and Pineville Road to Lake Norman State Park. With abundant hiking trails and boat launches, the park must be hopping on summer weekends with locals enjoying the great outdoors. On this winter weekday, however, I stopped for the right photo-op with the bike and lake, while the infrequent car wizzing by.

Continuing on Perth Road, I rode southward to Lake Norman Airport. Although not active during my brief visit, this grass strip of a runway leads to hangars that are behind the neighborhood’s houses.

I finished the day’s ride heading further east toward Salisbury, then back south to Charlotte. Avoiding interstate highways, the bike and I danced along country highways, passed countless farms, and received dazed looks from livestock.

All told, the 170-mile ride highlighted a spectacular cross-section of rural North Carolina - small towns, smooth tarmac, blue skies, and warm winter air. And all this started with an observation of an airport emblem on my iPhone screen, making me curious about the world around me.