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.

So now here we are at the weekend.  It was supposed to rain today so I didn't plan anything.  Naturally it didn't rain any to speak of.  Tomorrow I am OUT OF HERE!  It's supposed to be clear and 60° and I am on the road!  I don't care where, I don't care how long, I don't care which way I go, but I am going to ride a bike tomorrow.

Update - 01-06-08 - Oh boy did it feel good to get out and ride today!  It was really windy, gusting around 25mph, but it was so nice and warm.  According to the weather service it topped out at 65° today and after our freezer of late last week it really felt great.  I even wore my mesh jacket with a liner and lightweight gloves instead of all my heavy winter gear.

I was going to ride down around Center Hill lake since Highway 96 around the lake is a blast to ride, but the roads were wet from overnight rain so I decided to forego tight, twisty roads for today.  I rode to Smyrna, TN and cut over to Highway 231.  Highway 231 to Murfreesboro and then Highway 96 to Franklin.  Then, since I was so close, I had to make a run down the Natchez Trace Parkway for a bit.

To combat the mid-winter blues I met a friend in Crossville, TN and we drove (yes, "Drove", not "Rode!") to Atlanta, GA. to the Cycleworld International Motorcycle Show.  We left on Friday, spent the night in Atlanta, and came back on Saturday evening.  When we left Atlanta there was about an inch of snow on the ground there with a good bit more forecast for the rest of the day.

The show was good with all of the major motorcycle manufacturers showing off their 2008 models.  All of the big boys were there; Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Kawasaki, BMW, Harley-Davidson, Buell, and even Aprilia, Hyosung, and a few others.  There were booths set up by numerous distributors and a LOT of people there!  It was a lot of fun to see some of the new models and a lot of toys and riding gear in one place.

I rode over to Center Hill Lake and across the dam.  Then on up Highway 96 to Interstate 40.  From there I rode up to Baxter, TN and back to Lebanon via Highway 70N.  A hop alongside Percy Priest Lake to I-24 and back home.  About 175 miles round trip and it really, really felt good to get out and ride!

I left Nashville about 9:00 and headed east to Manchester, TN for some breakfast.  After that it was over to Monteagle, TN to see if there was any snow on the ground.  We had flurries in Nashville yesterday and I thought there might be some in that area.  No snow, but I found some great roads and some gorgeous views of the hills.

Needless to say the trip to Monteagle wasn't via the straight and narrow interstate either.  From Manchester I headed up Highway 41-A over to Highway 50 and then north to Altamont.  From there down Highway 56 through Tracy City to Monteagle.  I stopped at the South Cumberland State Park Visitor's Center in Monteagle and the lady I talked to mentioned that there was a natural stone arch bridge in Sewanee, TN so it only seemed natural to stop there for a couple of photos.

I left Nashville about 8:00 and stopped for some breakfast at a local Shoneys restaurant.  I had no real destination in mind and while I was eating I decided to ride down to Jackson Falls to see if there was some water there now.  I rode down there last summer (photos are Here) and it was just a dry mudhole.  Things were much nicer today as the photos below will bear out.

I headed out early for Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area.  I used to spend some time there when I lived closer but haven't been back in many years.  LBL is 170,000 acres of land located between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, crossing the Kentucky and Tennessee state line.  The area is completely undeveloped and there is not a single commercial establishment anywhere within the boundary of the area.  When you live in a large metropolitan city it is such a treat to be away from traffic, businesses, signs, billboards, interstates, people, etc.  LBL also has a large population of Elk and Bison that can be seen from "The Trace".  The Trace, not to be confused with the Natchez Trace Parkway, is a state highway that runs through the area.  It is a low-traffic highway and a great place to ride.  The biggest problem are the deer which are everywhere!

I stopped at the Golden Pond Visitor Center because I head been told that they have a dated stamp there that I could add to my Passport Stamp collection and sure enough they did.  This Visitor Center is roughly in the center of the area, and I had planned to head north on The Trace to view the Elk and Bison on the north side.  But, as I said, plans change and I was COLD!  Even though the actual temperature there was much the same as in Nashville it felt much, much colder than 41° because of all the lake moisture around.  It was also sprinkling rain and I didn't want to push my luck.  I didn't know at the time that it was 41°, all I knew was that it felt much colder than Nashville and I was concerned about it being close to freezing.

I was surprised to find that there were Bison ranges on the south end as well, and even more surprised to see a small heard of them garzing beside the road.  I had to stop and take a few photos of them since that isn't something that I get to see every day.  Photos of these huge monsters are below.  The cold didn't seem to bother them at all, but they appear to have pretty good fur coats to!

It was 39° when I left Nashville and I was actually comfortable heading northwest on I-24.  That changed as I got closer to LBL though.  I was grateful for my Gerbing heated gloves, and almost wished I had brought my heated socks (which I consider to be the ultimate source of pain in the universe.  I'd rather be cold than put those bear traps on my feet!).  A few miles down The Trace it started to warm up though and by the time I got to the south end at Dover, TN it was nice and warm again.

I stopped at Ft. Donelson to see if the eagles were around (I was told by a Ranger that they were nesting at this time) and lo and behold they had a new Passport Stamp that I hadn't gotten the last time I was there.  I didn't see the eagles but I scored another stamp so it was worth the stop.

Centennial Park - 02/23/08

Planes, Trains, and, well, "Bikes", I guess.  Sorry, no automobiles.  I was going to ride to Clarksville today but when I got up there was a little snow on the ground and it was 30°.  I don't mind riding when it's cold but I draw the line at snow.  So, I drove to Clarksville.  The roads were dry but sometimes I just don't trust the weather around here in the winter.  It's always a bit colder in Clarksville than in Nashville so I just didn't want to take the chance.  When I got back home it had warmed up a little so I decided to ride somewhere.  As a "Trip" this one is a complete flop since it was only 22 miles door to door, but since these were the first miles I've put on a bike this week it felt good to get out some.  Besides, I have a new Metzeler Z6 on the rear of my VFR that needed a couple of heat cycles put into it.

I rode to Centennial Park just outside downtown Nashville to take a few photos of the North American F-86L that I knew was on display there (GPS coordinates: N36.15056 W86.81566).  It was cloudy, damp, and cool (about 37°) or in other words a lousy day to do anything.  The photos below show a few breaks in the clouds but they didn't last long.

Oh well, at least I got a few miles in.  Next week looks a little bit better but not a whole lot.  I'll sure be glad when spring gets here, I am tired of cold weather and gray skies.

Natchez Trace Parkway - 02/24/08

Well as usual the weather guessers completely missed today.  The forecast was for 52° and I think it topped out at 42°  They started with a 60% chance of rain and then went to a 30% chance of rain.  52° with a slight chance of rain is good enough for me so I headed out.  It was 39° when I left and I kept telling myself, "It's gonna get warmer ... it's gonna get warmer ... it's gonna get warmer."  Then I changed to, "That's not rain on my face shield ... that's not rain on my face shield ... that's not rain on my face shield."  I finally quit kidding myself.  "It is in fact 39° and isn't going to get much warmer and it is raining all over me.  I'm cold, I'm wet, and I'm going back home."  I need a good "Disgusted Smilie" because I am disgusted with this weather and I'm not a real big fan of weather guessers right now.  The forecast for tomorrow is 59° with a 20% chance of rain.  That means it will probably be sleeting when I head home from work ;(

PART I - Saturday, March 1, 2008

The VFR and I headed west today.  I didn't really have a destination in mind when I left home, so I just headed west.  I stopped for some breakfast near the interstate and thought I might head west.  Just riding down the slab didn't seem like much fun so I headed west on Highway 70.  When I got to Dickson, TN I decided to head for Waverly, TN since I have been wanting to get by the airport there for a couple of years.

The engineering company I used to work for designed a runway and taxiway improvement for them and I did a lot of the design.  I changed companies while the project was under construction and never got to see what it looked like when it was finished.  That's one more of the places I wanted to visit on a bike off the list.  It's getting pretty bare now since I've manage to hit most of them.  Guess I'll have to add a few more new ones.

I took Highwy 70 all the way to Waverly.  Coming back to Nashville I took Highway 13 south to Linden and picked up Highway 412 east to Hohenwald.  There I picked up the Natchez Trace Parkway about 75 miles south of Nashville and rode it up to the northern end.  Finally a run down Highway 100 back home.  All told about 212 miles in absolutely perfect weather for a change!

PART II - Sunday, March 2, 2008

I was invited to ride with a friend from the VFR World forum so I took him up on it.  I met him in Lebanon at noon and we rode to Hartsville to meet up with a couple of his other friends.  His friends brought some other friends and by the time we left there were a dozen bikes.  Big groups are normally not the way I ride, but this was a lot of fun and I had a great time.  I appreciate the invitation and look forward to doing it again!

Update - 03/08/08 - We got between 2" & 3" of the white stuff.  The sun came out about mid morning and the streets cleared off and dried up but it stayed pretty cold all day.  I did go for a short "Ride", about 1 foot out of my basement.  That was just to say I have "Ridden" on snow ;)  The basement door is partially covered by my deck above so there was less than 1/4" of snow there.

Cumberland Gap was the site of one of the major crossings of the Appalachian Mountains in the mid-18th century.  There were few easy (easy being a relative term!) ways to cross the spine of mountains that range from Alabama to Canada on horseback or with a wagon, and Cumberland Gap was one of those crossings.  Hunters, traders, pioneers, and even buffalo used the gap as a means for crossing from the east to the west side of the mountain range.

I left Nashville at 6:00.  As usual when heading east on I-40 I stopped at the Waffle House in Gordonsville, TN and then met David in Crossville at 8:30.  We took the back roads to Middlesboro, KY, of course, and got there about noon Nashville time.  We didn't stick around very long because I still had a pretty good ride to get back to Nashville.  I got home about 6:45pm so it made for a long day.  I wish I had had more time to spend at the park, David really wanted to see parts of it, but I'm not a big fan of interstates around Nashville at night on a motorcycle.  They are bad enough during the day but get even worse at night, and Saturday is the worst of all!.  As it was I beat sunset by less than 30 minutes.

Saturday - 04/05/08
I recently got a line on some Tennessee Historical Commission stamps that are similar in nature to the National Park Passport Stamps that I collect.  There are a number of them located in close proximity to Nashville so today I decided to get out and try to collect some of them.  I got five stamps (Belle Meade Plantation,  The Parthenon,  Manskers Station (2 stamps), and the Sam Davis Home) and got skunked on three more (Cragfont, Rock Castle, and Wynnewood) because they were closed.  Two of the sites that were closed were supposed to be open but most assuredly were not (see the photos below).  The third looked like a tornado went through it, and in reality I'm pretty sure that one did.  It is under reconstruction so I have no idea when (or even if!) I'll ever get a stamp from that site.

All in all a good day for riding.  Not great, not even as warm as it was supposed to be, but compared to some of our recent weather it was still a good one.  It was in the mid 40's when I left home with a high of 61° forecast.  It appears to have topped out at about 53° so once again the weather guessers missed by a mile.  Oh well, at least it wasn't raining and it wasn't windy so those were good things.  We never did see the sun but it is supposed to be sunny and 74° tomorrow.  Guess we'll have to see whether they get anywhere close to being right.  I'm meeting a friend at noon to ride the Natchez Trace Parkway and it would be nice to see some sunshine for a change.

This backwater burg is governed by people whose credentials to manage a water fountain in the middle of a desert would be questionable.  It's amazing to me that in the 21st century we still manage to put people in positions of making decisions that affect other people's lives when they don't have the apparent intelligence to get in out of the rain!  To back these statements up I offer the following photographic evidence:

	This nice brick sign is one of three that I am aware of that were constructed last year.  Looks like a good idea, doesn't it?  Nice quiet suburban area, nice brick sign to welcome people.  Looks nice, great idea, spend a bit of the taxpayers money for something useful for a change.
	But let's take a closer look at things ..... Here's another view that shows where the sign is actually located.  Huh, you ask!  Surely that solid brick, 8 foot tall sign isn't located right smack dab in the middle of the intersection!
	It certainly is!  I told you we had a bunch of really bright people doing the planning around here!  Someone in the government of this town approved the construction of a solid brick sign right smack in the middle of the intersection of Trousdale Road and Elysian Fields Road.  And believe me there is no way whatsoever to see through it! But surely, you say, it isn't large enough to hide a vehicle behind!
	Well, let's see ...   How about a Ford Freestar SUV?  No, not the black car at the left of the photo, look closer.  Click the image to the left and look right at the edge of the sign.
	Oh, wait!  There it comes!

I only hope the person that approved this construction reads this.  Better yet I hope he has the opportunity to damn near get mashed while riding a motorcycle and turning onto Elysian Fields at the same time as someone else decides to turn left on Elysian Fields from the opposite direction.  Neither of us saw the other because of that damn brick sign stuck in the middle of the intersection but we nearly gave Southern Hills Medical Center some business!  Neither of us would have been at fault because there is so much traffic at that intersection at certain times of the day it is difficult to watch everything.  I was in a Yield lane so technically I would have been at fault, however there was a car behind me that went straight when I turned, and I didn't think the turning vehicle would try to beat him.  He tried, I couldn't see him, he couldn't see me, and we nearly met at the back of that damn sign.  Luckily I had enough power to get away from him so nobody got hurt.  This time!  I was lucky.

I didn't take any photos along The Dragon since there are not a lot of good places to stop.  If you want to see photos of the activity along The Dragon check out KillBoy.Com or US129Photos.com.  They are there just about every weekend and have many, many photos of the motorcycles, cars, and the area in general.

After The Dragon we headed back west toward Crossville.  Just west of Watts Bar Lake and the Watts Bar Nuclear Facility we were stopped in some roadway construction.  When the flagman let us go, I got about 1/4 mile or less and my bike died.  Literally.  It chugged a couple of times like it was out of gas, and that was it.  I knew it wasn't really out of gas since I had filled it up about 100 miles previously.  I pretty much ran the battery down trying to get it to run before finally giving up.  Luckily David had a motorcycle trailer at home so he rode home, got his trailer, and came back for me.  Right now it's still sitting in Crossville waiting for me to get it back home and to the shop.

Oh well.  I'll get it home, and I'll get it fixed, and we'll ride some more.  503 miles from the time I left home to when it croaked.

I decided to ride to Murfreesboro, TN (which is only about 30 miles from home) and grab a couple of Tennessee Historic Commission stamps for my Passport Stamp Collection.  They are at the Oaklands Historic Mansion and the Cannonsburgh Frontier Village.  The sites didn't open until 1:00pm and I just had to get out and ride earlier than that.  As usual when I have no particular destination in mind I headed down the Natchez Trace Parkway for a while, then came back up and cut across Highway 96 to Franklin and then on to Murfreesboro.

Cannonsburgh is a frontier village circa 1800-1925.  The name Cannonsburgh was the original name of Murfreesboro, and construction of the village was begun in 1974 as part of the American Revolution Bicentennial project.  It is immaculately maintained today and well worth a visit if you happen to be in the area.

Fort Donelson National Military Park at Dover, TN was the site of a major Civil War battle that began on February 14, 1862.  The park memorializes the soldiers on both sides of the battle.  It is rich in history, and is just an interesting place to visit.  I've been there several times over the past few years and enjoy the visit each time.

Personally though my favorite part is the family of Bald Eagles that flourish there.  There are a few photos of them below.  They are somewhat fuzzy because my camera was at maximum zoom and I was leaning against a tree trying to hand-hold it.  I never seem to have a tripod when I need one, and I have two of them at home.

For anyone wondering about the status of my V-Strom after it Stranded Me a month ago, it is back home and appears to be fixed.  Turns out that one of the wiring harnesses got pinched by a clip on the bottom of the air filter box.  Over time the clip cut its way into the harness and would intermittently ground out one of the wires going to the ECU.  When it did the fuel injection, the ignition, everything was dead.  The guy who fixed it (thanks, Ray!) is a very, very good tech and it took him 6 hours to find and fix the problem.  I'd still be down there looking for it.  It's still relegated to trips pretty close to the shop (close enough that my AMA MoTow service will get it there without me having to push it!) until I get some confidence in it again, but I suspect it's fixed.  Truth be told, I'm just having a great time riding my VFR!

I was also a bit disappointed with the museum itself.  While it does document the life of Buford Pusser it is just a regular suburban house in a regular suburban neighborhood.  I knew that before I went but I guess I expected more.  Oh well, it was a fun trip regardless.

Aircraft are machines, just like any other machine, but to some of us they are so much more.  They are a part of someone's life.  The pilots who fly them, the maintainers who keep them flying, even the staff who keeps up with where they are at all times.  I looked at the cockpit and I could almost sense a phantom pilot checking his instruments as he brought the machine to life and a phantom gunner checking his armament.  I could sense the vibrations in the airframe and the banshee howl of the turboshaft engine as the helo became a living, breathing entity once again.  I could see the airplane rock slightly on its skids as the rotor brake was released and the rotors began to turn.  I could see the 20mm M197 cannon on its chin turret start to elevate and train as if it had a life of its own as the gunner exercised it and checked its operation prior to takeoff.  I could see the Crew Chief salute the pilot and release the airplane to him.  I could feel the thunder in the ground as the rotor bit the air, the pilot increased collective, and the monster lifted into the air, tucked its nose and lifted its tail to go Fly The Friendly Skies like the great bird of prey that it is.

All in all a good day riding even if I didn't get the stamp.  311 miles door to door and some airplane pix!  I also passed 5,000 miles for the year so far, and it's still only May!

The club was the Tennessee Defensive Pistol Club, and we had some pretty good matches at that range.  We were more than just a group of friends, we were also competitors with a great deal of respect for one another.  But it all came to a screeching halt.  In the photos below you will see a "Road".  It's actually just a path that is grown up.  At the end of this "Road" are the remains of an old house.  I say "Remains" because there is virtually nothing left except rotted wood, a sort of foundation, and an uncovered well just waiting for someone to fall into it.  The owners of the property claim that it is the birthplace or childhood home of some minor politician, and as such is a "Historic Landmark".  We used to have a gate at the main road, just to the left of where my motorcycle is parked, to keep people from getting into the range, but the owners of this cheesy "Historic Landmark" decided that this was unacceptable since it prevented people from being able to "Visit" their "Historic Site".  Keep in mind that this is a weed infested, junkyard with absolutely nothing resembling anything "Historic".  But small-town politics talk and we had to take the gate down.

The board of directors of the club unilaterally decided that this was unacceptable and we moved the range.  All we had to do was put up a fence, which is there now and was put up after we left, but to the club's BOD this was not acceptable.  Can you say stupid?  After that everything started falling apart, the "New Range" was a joke, the BOD started making decisions as to the club's direction without consulting the club membership, the officers resigned, and eventually everything fell apart.  All that is left now is some weed infested pistol bays and a few rotting benches and target stands.  Oh, and a "Porta Potty" that hasn't been pumped out in over 5 years.

One of the photos below shows a gated road.  After the pistol club moved out the owners of the "Historic Landmark" put up a gate to prevent people from getting to their "Historic Site".  Did I mention anything about small-town politics?  It's all about who you know and what you know about them.  If you know somebody you can get anything you want done.

There are a few more photos from when I was there in July, 2006 at This Link.

Regardless of the temperature the V-Strom and I set of early this morning to try again to get a couple of Tennessee Historic Commission stamps that I did not get in April.  Both of the sites, Cragfont and Rock Castle, were closed for some reason when I was there in April so with nothing better to do today I decided to try them again.  I was going to ride my VFR since my V-Strom is still on my Not-100%-Trusted list after it stranded me a few weeks ago, but I'm pretty sure it's fixed and decided to take it instead.  Every mile I put on it adds a little bit more to the level of trust and I want to get back to trusting it completely.

I left early and stopped at a "Starbucks Of The South" (aka Waffle House) for some breakfast.  After I ate I realized it was far too early to head for those sites since they do not open until 10:00 so I decided to stop at Couchville Lake for a while and see what was going on there.  It is a great place for just taking it easy, so take it easy I did.

Couchville Lake is part of Long Hunter State Park in eastern Davidson County.  The lake itself is about 100 acres in size, and power boats of any kind are prohibited.  Even though the park adjoins Percy Priest Lake it is still quiet and peaceful.  I used to go there a lot just to unwind but during the past few years my visits have dwindled.  It hasn't changed much though and I still enjoy stopping by from time to time just to get away from the city.

From Van Buren, MO I headed northeast for Ellis Grove, IL to get a stamp for the Lewis & Clark Expedition.

Getting this stamp was a bit unusual.  I took the advice of my close friend "AGirl" (whose expeditions to get Passport Stamps are, to say the least, legendary!) and called the site the day before to insure that they did in fact have the stamp and that someone would be there on Saturday.  The gentleman I talked to at Fort Kaskaskia State Park was very helpful, he said that they do indeed have the stamp there, but unfortnately he would not be there on Saturday.  He said that normally someone is there on Saturday but that on the weekend I was planning to be there the site would be closed.  OK, this is a problem.  The next nearest stamp in Illinois is about 75 miles north in St. Louis, and that would tack 150 miles onto an already long 2-day trip.  Also, when reading the paragraphs below, keep in mind that St. Louis is to the north!  But then he said, "Oh, wait.  There is a copy of the stamp at the Pierre Menard Home just down the road and he will be there tomorrow!"  I may be back in business!

I found a phone number for the Pierre Menard Home on the Illinois Historic Preservation web site and gave them a call.  I got their voice mail so I left a message explaining who I was and why I was calling.  To my surprise the curator called me back in about 30 minutes.  He said that they did have a copy of the Lewis & Clark stamp there and that he would be there on Saturday from 9:00 to 5:00.  I AM back in business!

Pierre Menard was the first Lieutenant Governor of the State of Illinois, and this site is a semi-restoration of his home.  I say "Semi" restoration since parts of the structure are original.  It is a magnificent example of 19th century architecture, and kept in immaculate condition.

I got my Passport book stamped thanks to Andrew, had a glass of ice water also thanks to Andrew, and chatted for a few minutes.  Then I had to get headed back to the south!  Andrew, thank you so much for your help and hospitality.  It was greatly appreciated!

GPS coordinates of the Pierre Menard home are: N37.96072 W89.90469.  That is in the parking lot, right where my motorcycle is parked.

Earlier, as I crossed the Mississippi River headed for the Pierre Menard Home, I noticed some truly horrendous-looking thunderstorms to the north.  I couldn't tell exactly how far to the north, and not being familiar with that area I didn't know which direction they typically move.  What I did know is that I didn't want to get caught in them on a motorcycle.  The Pierre Menard Home is north of where I crossed the river by several miles so I was already very, very close to them.  All I wanted to do right at that moment was to head south and get some miles between myself and those black thunderheads.  That wasn't going to happen yet though.

I did get a few miles south.  I got back to Chester, IL which is about 5 miles south of the Menard home.  There I saw a sign indicating that Illinois State Highway 3, the highway I needed to use to get farther south, was closed due to high flood waters and to follow the detour signs.  Great, that's what I needed to see when I'm trying to get away from those ominous looking storms.  So I start following the detour signs, and is there any question as to which direction they headed me in?  Of course not!  North, right toward the heart of the storms.  I followed it a few miles and decided that this was just not going to work as a detour for me.  I turned around and decided to find a spot to look through my maps and find a way south around this mess.  When I did I happened across this little covered bridge.  I have a friend who loves to visit covered bridges so this one is for you!  GPS coordinates are N:27.94783, W:89.76635.  I don't know the significance of it other than what the plaque shows, but it is a nice little bridge.  Right on Illinois Highway 150 east of Chester, IL.

In this part of Illinois there are not a lot of highways running north and south.  The locals could probably tell me a dozen routes I could have taken, but looking through my map book my best alternative appeared to be to head southwest back across the river into Missouri to Interstate 55.  I-55 runs north and south on the west side of the river, and I could pick up I-57 headed east toward Paducah, KY which was my next destination.  What I needed to do was get back on Illinois Highway 3 but somewhere along the way it was underwater and I wasn't going to waste a lot of time finding out where.  I really wanted to get back to Nashville tonight and riding around southern Illinois and Missouri in flooded areas wasn't conducive to that goal.

After detouring out of my way about 50 miles or so I got back to Paducah about 7:30pm.  I felt good and could have made it the rest of the way to Nashville, but the clear face shield for my helmet was in my basement (damn good place for it to be!) and all I had with me was a dark smoked shield.  Not the best thing for riding at night on the interstate so I decided to spend the night in Paducah.  Took a shower (God that felt good!), got some food, got some sleep, and headed home Sunday morning.

This weekend I'm just taking it easy and doing some maintenance on my bikes.  The front tire on my VFR was cupped pretty badly and coming back from Paducah, KY last weekend I noticed that the front brakes were feeling somewhat spongy.  So, among other things, I'm replacing the front tire on my VFR and bleeding the brake systems on that bike.  My V-Strom needs a bath and it needs to have the chain cleaned, lubed, and adjusted so I'm going to get that taken care of as well.  Additionally there is a good chance of rain on Saturday so it's just a good weekend to take it easy.

Early next Saturday morning I'm heading out on a 3-day trip to Dayton, OH with a friend.  We are planning to pick up 6 National Park Passport Stamps in Cincinatti, OH, Dayton, OH and Chillicothe, OH.  We also plan on spending most of Sunday at the USAF Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB in Dayton.  Should be a great trip and I'm looking forward to it.

I did get out and ride a little this weekend, just up and down the Natchez Trace Parkway, because I needed to scuff in the new front tire on my VFR.  New tires are a bit slippery and I didn't want to head out on a 3-day trip on a brand new unscuffed tire.  OK, so that was just an excuse to get out and ride a little.  Like I ever take much convincing!

I took a LOT of photographs on this trip and trying to put all of them on this page would be a mistake.  The USAF Museum alone has over 200 pictures.  For that reason I separated the trip page from this page.  Here are the links:

• Main Dayton Trip
• National Museum of the US Air Force

From the Carter House I headed to the Carnton Plantation (GPS coordinates: N35.90656 W86.86375), also in Franklin, TN.  I didn't get a stamp there, it has been misplaced, but I did take a photograph of the home.

When I got to The Athenaeum Rectory there was a note on the window stating that everyone had gone to lunch so I waited.  While waiting I started wondering what it would have been like back in the 1800's when the area was much quieter, much slower, and much calmer.  Perhaps I would have heard the Tap-Tap of a gentleman's cane as he walked to the Rectory to visit a young lady, perhaps even a young James K. Polk himself since his home was only a few blocks away.  I would have undoubtedly have heard the clip-clop of horse-drawn carriages carrying the well-to-do about their everyday business.  It would be interesting to take a trip back there to see how things actually were.  I guess that's why we preserve sites like this, so people like me can take a few minutes to reflect on what it might have been like.  Certainly nobody I might have encountered would have envisioned someone on a motor-driven bicycle showing up with a plastic bucket over his head.

Ah, well.  Enough day dreaming.  One more stamp stop for the day at the Rattle and Snap Plantation at Mt. Pleasant, TN (GPS coordinates: N35.56371 W87.15699) a few miles west of Columbia.

I really enjoy days like this one.  It was terribly humid after our overnight rain but since I was close to home I didn't have to be in a hurry, I could stop when I wanted to and do what I wanted to do.  I picked up a few stamps, saw some historic sites, and rode about 130 miles or so.

Regardless it was a fun trip.  It felt pretty good early.  I left home about 6:30 to beat the heat and stopped for some breakfast in Murfreesboro.  Then east through McMinnville and Woodbury to Spencer.  The road from Spencer to the park is a blast and this was the first time I have had the VFR on it so it was a learning experience.

There was some patchy dense fog between McMinnville and the park that was really nasty.  It was so dense it was almost like riding in rain.  The good thing is that it kept the heat down and when I got to the park it was still only about 70°.  It didn't last though and when I got back home about 12:30 it was already 88° and still going up!

Summers in Tennessee are not much fun.  In the morning everything is damp from the dew and that drives the humidity up.  We normally start the day with a temperature around 75° and 90% relative humidity.  By mid-day the humidity is down to about 55% but the temperature is up in the upper 80's.  By the time the sun goes down the humidity is down around 40% but the temperature is frequently well into the 90's.  The net result is that we start the day sweating and end the day sweating.  I worked outside for a number of years and looking back now I really don't know how I dealt with it.

Today was a good ride though, and a lot of fun.  Photos are below but they look a lot like the 2006 Photos and the 2007 Photos.  There was a good bit more water of the falls today than there was last year though so apparently we don't have the same drought conditions we did last year.  You can also see the haze in the air caused by our humidity.  Visibility is frequently less than a mile this time of year because of the haze.  If you look closely in the last photo below you can barely see some additional mountains in the "V" formed by the mountains in the foreground.  Compare that photo to This One taken on November 11, 2007 from the same spot.

We met at the Murfreesboro Airport since the EAA has a monthly breakfast there.  After eating and ogling the airplanes for a bit we headed north and east and north and east and south and west, and so on.  The GPS track log below tells the story but basically we just hit a bunch of great twisty roads between Murfreesboro and Crossville.  We stopped for a little while in Livingston, TN and then headed on further east.  We cut south through Crossville and then back along Highway 30 through Spencer, TN. and then back to Murfreesboro through McMinnville.  We split up in The Boro and I headed on back to Nashville.

325 miles for me today.  I only took a few pictures when we stopped at Defeated Creek northeast of Carthage, TN.  Unlike most of my solo trips we actually spent a lot of time on the road today and I didn't get many photos.

I met a friend in Murfreesboro and we rode to Chattanooga, TN to ... well I don't know why we did, probably just because it was there.  On the way we stopped at Tullahoma, TN to look at the fighters they have on display there.  I didn't take any photos but they haven't changed much since I was there in June, 2007.  Here Is A Link to the photos I took then.

After mulling over the jets for a while we headed north to Hillsboro, TN and picked up old US Highway 41 and took it through Monteagle, Tracy City, and Jasper to Chattanooga.  Highway 41 from Jasper into Chattanooga is a really pretty ride with Nickajack Lake and the mountains for scenery.  Once again I didn't take any photos but Here Is A Link to some photos I took last year along the same road.

We got into Chattanooga, rode north for a few miles and picked up Highway 27 back west.  No reason to stop, other than for something to drink, since we really didn't have a good reason for going to Chattanooga anyway!

Highway 27 out of Chattanooga, also known as Suck Creek Road, is a fantastic motorcycle road.  Very twisty and relatively sharp curves but sweeping enough that you can get some speed up.  One or two switchbacks just to make sure everyone is paying attention, but really just a fast, twisty road.

While at the Cookeville Depot Museum I saw this sign and took a photo of it for nostalgic reasons.  It reminded me of so many similar signs I remember from my childhood that are now long gone.  These big neon signs were constructed in place on top of buildings, and seeing one again brought back vivid memories from days gone by.  No peeling the sign face off and sticking someone else's up in its place, these big steel and neon structures were meant to stay.  They are part of a bygone era.  A slower, quieter, and more permanent era. I did a little digging and this particular sign, while built in the 1950's, still works quite well.  Here Is A Link to a YouTube video of it at night.  Apparently the building below was the old Cream City Ice Cream company, but now is part of a retail center.

From the Cookeville Depot Museum I headed further northeast to the home of Sgt. Alvin C. York (Link to Wikipedia Info about him).  Sgt. Alvin York was a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor for valor near Chatel-Chehery, France on October 8, 1918.

The site I visited was his original homeplace in Pall Mall, TN and is a magnificently maintained site.  It is filled with memorabilia of Sgt. York's life and is a very interesting place to visit.

I did make one mistake though.  As I was leaving one of the rangers asked if I had any questions.  I thanked him and said no but that I was going to get my camera and take some photos.  I noticed that he had a State Park uniform on and it had "York" on it.  I assumed that this simply meant the Alvin York State Park, but when I got home and started writing this I found out that he was in fact Andrew York, the son of Alvin York.  Had I known that I could probably have thought of several dozen questions to ask!

I don't know what the tracked artillery piece is, but it was there, it had guns on it, so I took photos of it!  If anyone knows what it is please let me know.

From the Alvin York site I headed back southwest to the Cordell Hull Museum just west of Byrdstown,TN.  Mr. Hull was a Congressman, a Senator, Secretary of State, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and is considered to be the father of the United Nations.  He was active in national government from 1907 until 1944 when he resigned from office due to ill health.  This was in the era when we had an effective government, and Mr. Hull exemplified the qualities of someone truly dedicated to his position.

I got skunked all the way around on Tennessee Historical Commission stamps today.  They had been lost at all three of the sites that I visited.  Two of them did have an "I Was Here" stamp that showed the name of the site, but they weren't the "Official" Tennessee Historical Commission stamps.  Oh well, who cares?  I visit these sites to get out and see them, to ride my bikes to places I haven't been before, and to enjoy the scenery in my area.  The stamps are secondary and if I don't get any I don't come home unhappy.

Not a very memorable ride, I just blew up I-24 to Clarksville, got some breakfast at the local Waffle House, and then went to visit my mom.  The ride home was more scenic since I came back through Ashland City and down River Road back into Nashville.  A little bit longer ride but certainly more scenic beside the river.  It was most assuredly hot and humid today though.  When I got home the Weather Channel was showing 91° with 50% relative humidity.  The humidity makes that 91° seem much, much warmer because you can't get away from it.  Even in the shade it is still very hot.

Here Is A Link to the trip page.

I've included a few photos below just to keep this paragraph from getting lost!

The weather was absolutely gorgeous today so I had to get out for a while.  Not a cloud in the sky, about 50° when I left home and about 83° when I got back.  I decided that the V-Strom needed to get out for a little romp so I headed east on I-40 and stopped at my usual Waffle House at Gordonsville.  It was a little chilly heading down the interstate but not enough to be uncomfortable.  The hot coffee was welcome though.

It was also really nice not to be on a schedule for a change.  For the past few weeks it seems like every place I've ridden I've been on a schedule of some sort.  It seems like I always had to meet someone at a specific time, or I needed to get to a Visitor Center before they closed or I needed to get to a motel or home before it got dark.  Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy going places and I really enjoy riding with others but sometimes it just really feels good to be out by myself with no schedule except to go where I wanted to go and get there when I wanted to get there.

I was heading for White County and took Highway 56 across Center Hill Lake.  That is a really nice road on a bike, wide and curvy and a lot of fun.  A few miles off the interstate there is a Scenic Overlook (GPS coordinates N36.04448 W85.75118) and as I passed the sun was blasting down out of a clear, blue sky so I stopped for a couple of photos.  Sorry that they are a little bit washed out, I was shooting straight into the sun.

I was hoping for a little more color in the trees, they are really changing very early this year, but there isn't much.  There is some though.  Compare the three photos below to These Photos that I took at Couchville Lake on October 6, 2007.  Last year everything was still completely green at this time but this year there is some color starting to show.  You can also scroll up this page to last weekend and see the trees down the Natchez Trace Parkway.

I met Jason and a couple of his friends in Monterey and delivered his part.  We talked for a while and had a cup of coffee before they headed back to Knoxville and me to Nashville.  None of us planned on taking the straight-and-narrow home though.  They headed for Crossville via I-40 and thence along the backroads to Knoxville.  I headed slightly west and then dropped down Highway 84 to Sparta, Highway 111 to Spencer, and then Highway 30 to McMinnville.  Highway 30 around Spencer is one of my favorite roads in this area and I always enjoy riding it on a bike.

I do have to say that I didn't enjoy parts of Highway 84 though.  As far as the road itself goes it's a great one, I've been on it before.  It is, however, rather narrow with no shoulders and trees hanging out over the roadway.  Walnut trees!  I had never given it much thought before today but riding through a bunch of walnuts in a corner is a lot like riding over great big chunks of gravel.  It doesn't really inspire much confidence.  To make things worse there were a lot of leaves on the road and the walnuts were hidden in the leaves.  Most people can probably tell the leaf of a walnut tree from on top of a motorcycle but I'm not one of them.  It was fun when I could see but coming around some of the blind corners only to see a bunch of "Stuff" in the road was not a lot of fun.  I was glad to hit the area where the road had shoulders again and the trees moved back a little bit.  It's gorgeous through there with the trees starting to change color and peeks of the mountains in between but those damn walnuts kept me on edge the whole time.

As usual I stopped at a local Waffle House for some breakfast and then headed for the Natchez Trace Parkway.  It was actually on the cold side this morning, as in about 50° when I left home.  Fall temperatures are truly here but we haven't had any frost in the Nashville area yet.  I don't know about the outlying areas but judging from the trees there hasn't been much if any.

We met in Murfreesboro for breakfast and were joined by another rider.  After some breakfast we headed south toward Shelbyville, TN.

	We stopped at Bomar Field in Shelbyville to see this magnificent Douglas DC-3 parked on the ramp.  This aircraft has the tail number NC17334 and first flew on March 2, 1937.  It was one of the DC-3 Flagships for American Airlines and is named Flagship Detroit.  There is a lot of information about the airplane on This Web Site.
	We rode through Tullahoma and Winchester and headed for Sewanee.  The road up Sewanee Mountain is a great road, and we stopped at an overlook about halfway up to take a break and a couple of photos.  A beautiful view even though there is a good bit of haze in the air.

We headed across I-24 to Tracy City and picked up Highway 56 west.  This is another fantastic motorcycle road that took us through Beersheba Springs.  We rode north to McMinnville, TN, then south to Manchester, TN and back toward home.  A great ride and a great day to be out riding.  Our weather is supposed to change dramatically tonight and the high tomorrow is only supposed to be 51° so it looks like it's going to be an early winter for us.

I didn't even take any photos today since there was really nothing worth stopping for.  The colors were gone and the sky was milky blue from yesterday's clouds and rain.  The Natchez Trace Parkway is an enjoyable place to ride even without the color from the trees, but late fall is always depressing to me.  I love fall; the colors of the trees and the trace of cold in the air, but as I get older I really have begun to dread winter.  We don't get much snow in this part of the country so winter sports to us are foreign concepts.  Winter means nothing but several months of cold, wet sloppy weather.  There isn't much to look forward to and I really do not enjoy it at all any longer.  To make matters worse, since I started riding motorcycles again it means having to bundle up in heavy clothes and take short rides around the area as opposed to all-day rides to places of interest.

I just had to get that off my chest.

I decided to brave the cold weather and get out and ride a while today.  And it was cold!  When I left home it was 23° and when I got back home it had warmed to a sultry 32°.  I only rode about 80 miles or so but it actually felt pretty good.  The air was crisp and clear, the sun was out, and other than cold toes it was great to get out and ride some.  Strangely enough I only saw one other motorcycle out.  I wonder why.

I have pretty good cold-weather riding gear so the cold generally doesn't bother me that much.  My only problem comes from the bulkiness of my gear.  It makes it hard to turn my head to look left and right at intersections and it just generally makes me feel clumsy.  It's worth it not to be cold though, and really the only thing that does get cold is my toes.  I have some electrically heated socks but they are so painful to wear I'd rather put up with the cold.

Winter in Tennessee is depressing in and of itself.  Everything is brown and dead, the sky is normally slate grey and heavy with moisture.  We get a great deal of rain this time of year but luckily the temperatures are normally mild enough that it doesn't turn into snow.  Today was unusual in that the sun was out and the sky mostly clear for a change.

I rode down the Natchez Trace Parkway for a while, and then rode back into Nashville and stopped at Centennial Park for a little while.  There is an F-86L mounted on a pedestal at Centennial Park that, for some reason, always cheers me up a little bit.  I think it's because of the way that it is mounted.  It's mounted in a nose-high attitude and looks like it is climbing out after making a low pass on the park.  I get the impression that even after all these years he still enjoys the freedom of flight.  Being a former pilot myself I can understand and respect that, and I think that solitary freedom is a lot of what I enjoy about riding motorcycles.

The 2008 riding season is coming to a close now, and one of the goals I set for myself at the beginning of this year was to get out and see parts of this country from a motorcycle.  I accomplished that goal to my satisfaction.  I visited parts of 11 states on my motorcycles, and visited over 50 National and State Historic Sites or other interesting sites.  In one day I went from the sultry hot of the Atlantic Ocean at Tybee Island, GA to the misty cool of the Smoky Mountains at Asheville, NC.  I visited the homes of Presidents and Statesmen and I visited the Museum of the United States Air Force.  I saw the place where aviation was born in Dayton, OH and I saw the place where Alvin York was born in Pall Mall, TN.  I saw so many sites this past year that it's hard to keep them all straight in my mind but at the same time I'll never forget them.

I won't go so far as to say that I enjoyed every single mile because some of them were cold, hot, wet or otherwise miserable.  I will say that I wouldn't trade them for anything because cold or hot or wet they are all part of the overall experience.  When I get to my destination and warm up, cool off, or dry off the discomfort is quickly forgotten but the memory of the trip lasts forever and that makes it all worthwhile.

Traveling on a motorcycle is a joy that most people will never experience or understand.  I think all of us who do, though, understand how much closer it brings us to our surroundings.  The wet and cold and heat are obvious but there are also the smells and the sounds and the sights.  Everything is just so much more intense from a motorcycle than the sealed environment of car that there is just no comparison.  It is something that must be experienced to be understood and appreciated.  I'm fortunate enough to have enjoyed this experience, and it is something that I plan to continue doing.

I'm already planning some trips for 2009 and waiting for the weather to let me get out and start all over again.  I would love to travel parts of the original Route 66, and that just might happen in 2009.  I'll have to wait and see, but if you happen to see a red Suzuki V-Strom or a red Honda VFR with Tennessee plates out on the road somewhere it may well be me!