A Swift Ride

Wilson Dam, AL

2009-08-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

The route, 227 miles:

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Filling up, just about ready to go...

Passing through Leipers Fork (look -- a KTM Super Duke in front of Puckett's.)
Down Natchez Trace...
under a beautiful sky.
A stop for food in Collinwood, TN
We'd never been there before, but apparently it's a popular motorcycle stop.
On down to Florence, Alabama and Wilson Dam

This guy was trying to photograph an osprey that lives on top of a tower next to the dam.
The dam

My trusty Lowrance XOG GPS

Jeff, muttering threats to litterers everywhere, does his best to be a good citizen and put the trash where it belongs.
Getting ready to head home.

Across the dam

Sunset -- time to make the long trek home in the dark.

Land Between the Lakes

2009-08-08T22:34:00.001-07:00

The route: Franklin, TN to Grand Rivers, KY (Land Between the Lakes)
Near Dover, TN I took a little lunch break. Wow, that guy needs to shave!
Beautiful Kentucky Lake

Supper stop in Grand Rivers, KY

Fall Creek Falls

2009-06-29T18:30:00.001-07:00

This Sunday's ride took us to Fall Creek Falls State Park. Besides beautiful scenery, the highway right near the park has some wonderful curves.

Here's the route:
The beautiful Fall Creek Falls

People playing in the pool below the falls
Wonderful curves (a couple of these took my by surprise -- I still have a LOT to learn. I'm definitely the n00b of this riding group!)

Riding buddy Sam
and Troy
Hack and Steve
Sam and his sister on the Suzuki SV650S
and last but not least, JB with his trusty FJR (also Steve's Yamaha TDM 850 and my SV650)

Cherohala Skyway

2009-06-08T07:30:00.001-07:00

Cherohala Skyway is not quite as spectacular as Blue Ridge Parkway, but it is quite a bit more fun to ride. The road is narrow and has enough great curves to please all but the most demanding of motorcyclists.

Here's a sped-up video fly-through of my ride. About half-way through I got stuck behind some slower Harley riders. Any wobbling or bouncing you see is me fooling around trying to get them to pull over and let me by. No such luck!

Blue Ridge Parkway - South and West from Asheville

2009-06-03T06:49:00.000-07:00

I took the Blue Ridge Parkway south from Asheville. It was more beautiful than I expected. Winding curves, scenic overlooks and morning mist made the ride nearly perfect. Hopefully the pictures and video can give at least a sense of this great road.

Misty morning on the Blue Ridge

A great view

Cato Coati enjoys the scenery.

Cherry Cove Overlook

Courthouse Valley Overlook

Another beautiful overlook.

Hanging Out in Asheville, NC

2009-06-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

These are some photos from the two days I spent with Aunt Martha and my cousin Stephen, his wife Colleen and their kids in Asheville.

We went to a park by the French Broad River, which was very high. The little trail next to the river was flooded. Stephen and boys decided to wade it.
A river of chocolate milk.
This little spider climbed along her barely visible thread just above the rushing water. I caught this pic just as she reached her destination, high and dry.
Kayakers putting in for a little fun in the high water.

After the park, Martha, Stephen and I headed downtown to an art show. I caught this very bad photo of a very cool coffee shop as we walked by.
Asheville Area Arts Council where the show was held.
We also checked out Minerva Gallery, where I was introduced to the fantastic art of Chris Sedgwick.
I had a great beefalo burger and a couple glasses of Highland Oatmeal Porter (the best beer in the world) at Barley's.
And off into the sunset, back to Martha's.
More inspiring than the art galleries was getting to be around my uncle's art again at Aunt Martha's house. Her brother died in his mid-thirties, but his art inspires me and I often refer to it in my own work. Here are a few of Zahn's pieces.

An unfinished painting, but beautiful as is.
To top off the visit, I left with this little crazy beauty. An acquaintance of my aunt's gave it to her, and she passed it on to me to be cherished.

Next installment: Blue Ridge Parkway and Cherohala Skyway on the way back to Nashville.

Franklin - Chattanooga - Asheville

2009-05-31T05:26:00.000-07:00

I decided to take a motorcycle trip to Asheville to visit family. Since I've been in the I-40 area way too many times, I went south to Chattanooga, and then east through national forest. Here's the route:
The bike all packed for touring.
Road, sweet road.
Crossing the Tennessee River near Chattanooga.

I took a break at Taco Bell, which happened to be occupied by the local fire department. This kind gentleman warned me about the police in the next county and told me about the Ocoee River area.
Dam
Peaceful lake
The Ocoee was home to the Olympic whitewater competition, and rafting/kayaking is advertised for miles and miles along it.
Kayakers
Taken on the fly -- a lot of the river was very low, mostly rocks. The road along the river was a lot of fun. Unfortunately my video camera turned itself off, so no helmet cam footage here.
Goforth Creek - a waterfall near the roadside.
Lunch at Burger King with the Star Trek crew.
This pink Fleetwood made me pull over. Then I noticed the store had hand-dipped ice cream.
This gentleman told me the legend of the pink Cadillac -- supposedly it belonged to Elvis. I doubt it. But the rocky road ice cream was good.
Smith Powersports in Hayesville, NC. Nice Aprilias and SVs.
Someone was trading in a Buell Ulysses. I'd like to test drive one.
Beautiful KTM 990 Super Duke.
More sweet road.
Canton, NC -- almost there.
Finally, Aunt Martha's house.
And here she is...
A great ride, all in all. The ride home was better. More on that after I blog about my visit to Asheville.

Rain rain rain rain rain

2009-05-24T10:23:00.000-07:00

To those of you who have noticed the lack of updates, it has been raining here every time I've planned to ride. Quirky Tennessee spring weather. But, dear readers, have faith -- the next chapter will come soon.

To Hwy 85 with the Tennessee Riders

2009-04-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

Total miles: 328
Weather: High 70's F.
Route: approximate
Click the map to go to an interactive version.

The Tennessee Riders have been meeting every Sunday for years. They are skilled riders with many many miles on their tires--riding with them stretches me and I learn crucial lessons each time. You can join them on a ride, just don't show up in shorts and a t-shirt: this is an ATGATT crowd.

Meeting at McDonalds on Sunday at 8 a.m.

Bikes: 2 Suzuki SV650's, 3 Yamaha FJR's, 1 Yamaha FZ1, 1 Suzuki DL1000 V-Strom, and 1 Honda ST1100

Cato Coati gets some love
This gentleman no longer rides a bike, but follows the group in his Mustang.
Phyllis: pillion rider extraordinaire.
Riding the green road...

Stopping to rest at a beautiful spot: Granville Veteran's Park

To missing heroes

Playground for the kids...

This is some of what we came for: lots of twists and turns on TN-85/TN-52 between Livingston and Jamestown TN. I'm a new street rider, so this was a challenging road for me. I've made a lot of progress, but I still have tons of work to do to confidently speed up my cornering. Here's a little video from my helmet cam.

I split off from the group on the way home and stopped by Dale Hollow Dam and Lake - posted separately.

Obey River / Dale Hollow Dam and Lake

2009-04-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

A quick visit to Dale Hollow Dam and Lake and the Obey River, here:

Peace

Dam
Buggyin' the dam
The Obey River

Simply serene

Shadows and reflections
The mad helmet cam man
Cato

Easter Sunday on the Fly

2009-04-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

I took a short ride on Easter Sunday. I hung my camera on a lanyard around my neck and tried shooting photos one handed, on the fly--not the best way to do it. Here are a few semi-usable ones out of the 146 I took.

Countryside:

Fellow travelers:

2-up

the motorcycle wave

BMW F 800 GS (yes, I'd like to steal this bike...)

Easter Sunday:

Spreading Easter eggs

Harley to church

The quiet ones

Riding:

Cato Coati, my riding companion.

Back Roads with Jeff

2009-04-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful, sunny spring day. We took the liners out of our jackets and headed south to play around on back roads between Franklin and Columbia, TN. I wanted to show Jeff the fun to be had on Old Natchez Trace which winds around the new Natchez Trace parkway for a few miles. Lots of twisty curves and beautiful scenery.

I used my action cam with a helmet mount, and cobbled together some road video. Our improvised route led us to Williamsport Fishing Lakes, where the video ends.

Left or right? We purposely got ourselves a bit lost. We had a little "where in the world are we" powwow at this intersection.

At one of these many "right or left?" decisions, Jeff chose right... I led the charge, and to my delight the road turned to dirt right around the corner. But... I didn't get too far before Jeff honked and flagged me down. For some reason he didn't want to ride his cruiser in the mud. Go figure.

Darn... Jeff ruins it just when my boots are getting in the mood.

We pulled in to find out what the Williamsport Fishing Lakes are. Jeff was practicing his "scary biker" look.

"You should have seen the one I caught back in 1989..."

We decided to follow the sign and view the wildlife.

Wildlife? I wish, but my life is pretty mundane.

Wildlife was here. Was here.

WHERE IS THE WILDLIFE?!

Trees are alive. This one's kind of wild. Wildlife, right guys? Right guys? Right?

OOOOHHH... I get it. The wildlife is a caterpillar.

Pretty lakes. Lousy wildlife. Time to go find lunch.

But first a scenic stop on the Trace.

Cool panorama thingy. If you want you can see the wide image here. The view is much better than the picture suggests. The camera wanted to focus on that darned power tower.

Dynamic Duo

Terrific Trio??

And finally lunch, cheap lunch.

We made a beeline for home to try to get ahead of predicted violent thunderstorms, so there was no more time for picture stops. But by the time we got near home it was obvious that the storms wouldn't hit for a few more hours. Not ready to get out of the saddle yet, I followed Jeff to his workplace. Jeff is groundskeeper and general keep-things-working man at The Castle Recording Studios. He graciously let me take a few pictures.

Another day well spent.

From Loveless Cafe with Randy R.

2009-03-29T17:15:00.000-07:00

Total miles: 210
Weather: High 40's F., windy
Route:

I met Randy R. on svrider.com. He organized a ride -- but only he and I showed up. We started with breakfast at Loveless Cafe. (Sorry, no food pics. Will try to do better next time!)

That's Randy and his beautiful 2006 SV1000 under the sign.

That's me and my beautiful bald head under the sky.

We headed down Natchez Trace. Our first break was near the Gordon House.
We tried to get some action shots. Not too hot... better luck next time.

I had never stepped inside a Krystal before. Today was the great and glorious day for it. All I ate was an apple pie -- still scared of those tiny burgers.

Randy spotted a car for sale. He thought it might work for his teenage daughter, so we stopped. I got acquainted with the local puppy gang.

Randy headed for home. I decided to ride around his side of town for a bit.

A finger of Priest Lake at Jefferson Springs Recreation Area.

Sneaky lake ninja.

Sneaky lake ninja thought this tree was cool.

An interesting bike (off Old Nashville Highway I think).

Thai Buddhist Temple

Part of Stones River National Battlefield

Not pictured: Lots of back road twisties. My rear wheel locking up at the top of a long hill... relief and a sense of pride at riding it out. An early supper/late lunch: Chinese buffet at Chef Wangs in Murfreesboro. My happiness at having heated grips. Arriving home safe, sound and cold... time for pajamas and a hot cup of coffee.

Spring ride around Leiper's Fork TN

2009-03-25T17:41:00.001-07:00

Old Hickory Lock and Dam with Jeff and Angie

2009-03-08T17:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick edit of handlebar video camera footage of our trip:

Raisin' 'em right

2009-03-07T17:19:00.000-08:00