2011  RIDE  JOURNAL

Here are some photos from recent day trips or just riding around.  All of the images are links to larger photos.  Click the image to view the large photo.  The large image will open in a new window on most browsers.  Web sites for destinations that have one may be visited by clicking the link below the photo or in the text of the section.

Many of the sections will show GPS coordinates in the title.  I try and remember to save the coordinates when I arrive at a site, but sometimes I forget to do so.  In those cases I get the coordinates from the GPS software on my computer and show them as "+/-" to denote that they are not exact.

Most of the photos were taken by me, but some were taken by friends and other riders.  ALL PHOTOS ARE COPYRIGHTED AND MAY NOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE OWNER

January - March, 2011
This year is starting out much like last year, very cold and very wet.  Temperatures were frequently in single digits at night through January and February with daytime highs barely peeking above freezing.  This started in November which has made this an unusually long and cold winter in Tennessee.  I flew to Arizona for a few days in January, and while eating breakfast and enjoying the mild weather one sunny morning I checked the Nashville weather on my cell phone.  It was 65° in Mesa and 23° in Nashville.  Now, at the middle of March, we are just starting to come out of the deep freeze for another season.

I've managed to ride about 400 miles so far this year and 100 of that was today.  The trees are starting to bud out, the grass is starting to get green again, so maybe the eternally long winter we've had is about over for another year.

April and May, 2011
I rode my bike to work every day this spring.  Both of them!  One Thursday in early April there was frost on the roofs as I drove to work.  The following Sunday the high temperature was 90° and it's been slowly increasing since.  The past two weeks have been virtually constant in the mid 90's which is absolutely unheard of for us this early in the summer.  It does not bode well for August in Tennessee.

I rode about 1,000 miles in April and May but haven't really been anywhere.  Mostly around the local area with a couple of short trips to adjoining counties.  I just really don't have an urge to go anywhere right now, there are too many personal issues pressing on me.

I have been a few places, just not on a bike:

I went to see the Trains at Cheekwood on April 9, the day the exhibit opened.
I went to the Kars for Kids car show in Brentwood on April 16, a gray and cold day not much good for anything.
I went to the WERA Sportbike Race at the Nashville Superspeedway on April 17, a brilliant beautiful day.  The main reason I didn't ride my bike to this even is that I hauled a ton of camera gear with me.
I went to the Great Tennessee Airshow at Smyrna, TN on May 7.  This one started out clear and blue and wound up gray and rainy as the photos will show.
I went to the Renaissance Festival at Triune, TN 3 times during May.  I really enjoy this event but by the last day oon May 30 it was getting unbearably hot and humid.
I went to the Fairgrounds Speedway season opening race on May 28.  If not for a strong breeze this would have been another miserable day outside because it was HOT!

June through November, 2011
The past summer was horrendously hot and this fall has been wonderful.  From mid May to early September we absolutely sweltered in a heat bubble across the entire middle of the USA.  In early September a hurricane blew everything out and it has been wonderful since.  Unfortunately I still have not been riding that much.

Once again, I have been a few places, just not on a bike:

I went to a Dragon Boat Race on August 20.
I went to the WERA Roadrace at the Nashville Superspeedway on September 24 & 25.
I went to the AACA Car Show on October 1.
I flew to Arizona for a few days in mid October and went to the NHRA Arizona Nationals.

And I did manage to make my annual Trees Along The Trace run down the Natchez Trace Parkway.  They were really pretty in some places and virtually gone in others.  It really did feel good to get out and ride for a while and clear some of the cobwebs out of my head.
 
The year is running out and it won't be long before it starts getting cold and wet around here so I probably won't get much more riding in this year.  Once again it hasn't been a great year on a bike and hopefully next year will be better.
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