Tale Of Two Bridges Tour

from November 2020 - Issue #268

by The Carolinas' Full Throttle Magazine

Home Grown Heroes & Harley-Davidson

By: dirty dAve BAker

his tale begins on sunday, september 6, 2020 at

8:30 am in Lexington with a quick meet and prayer for a safe ride. Shortly after the prayer, 35 bikes roared out of that parking lot towards Sanford, NC where a bit of history was going to be investigated by the Freedom Cruisers RC, Chapter 143. The Freedom Cruisers, led by President, Michael “Bone” Rathbone , Vice-President, William “Rubble” Wilson and Secretary, JoAnn “Jo” Cook Wilson , will travel toward Sanford where we will visit Gilliam Mill Bridge. There we will see in person the longest covered bridge in NC. We will have lunch and then travel to the Pisgah Covered Bridge. This is going to be an amazing ride. Both bridges are historical landmarks.

Located off NC-42 about six miles west of Sanford, our first stop is Ole Gilliam Mill Park is a private, non-profit park that is open to the public and is free to visit. The park consists of the mill and bridge with other standing buildings and a pond. The 140 foot long, red roofed bridge crosses Pocket Creek and is the longest covered bridge in the state. The near-exact replica of the mill runs alongside and across the highway from the bridge which was reconstructed around 2000 on the weekends by local residents. The original mill washed away in a flood in 1928. The bridge is a pedestrian-only crossing and a favorite point to visit with motorcycles.

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Pisgah Covered Bridge

Gilliam Mill Bridge

We saddled back up and headed out to The Pisgah Covered Bridge in Asheboro for the second stop on our list. The Pisgah Covered Bridge is one of the two remaining original historic covered bridges in the state. Built in 1911 when horse and wagon were common travel and automobiles were virtually unseen at a cost of $40, this bridge is 54 feet in length and crosses the West Fork Branch of the Little River within the Uwharrie National Forest in Randolph County. This bridge was used until the 1950’s when a two lane bridge was built.

The original Pisgah Covered Bridge was washed away in a flood in 2003 but most of the original materials were recovered and community partners came together to rebuild the bridge. This historic landmark has become a favorite to visit with nature trails, picnics tables and lots of exploring.

The group had a big day. We logged in 286 miles and set foot on two historical landmarks in North Carolina. We turn our sites back home where we say goodbye and look forward to another ride out on another group adventure in our great state. There are lots of awesome sites, landmarks and more roads out there to discover together, we just have to find the bond of the ride with the company of friends.

Congratulations going out to Michael and Lauren O’Rourke as they completed their 3rd ride and got patched into the Freedom Cruisers RC, Chapter 143.