The weather here in East Tennessee, like many other areas, hasn't been the greatest due to rain, cold, freezing, etc. I have been able to do a few short rides but nothing more than running a few backroads or running errands. With the weather clearing by noon Friday biker friend Paul called to see if I was interested in riding Saturday. Our original plan was to ride up to Middlesboro, KY taking some good mountain coal country banjo playing back roads. But because part of those roads or shaded in the mountains and the recent rain and below freezing temps, we changed to a more southerly route.
I backed Sweet Thang out of the garage at 8:00 a.m. Saturday, Jan.17th for a meet up at Seymour's MickyD's by 10 a.m. I left early so I could gas up and have some coffee and a breakfast burrito with some of the local elderlies. Temp leaving the house was a brisk 28*. Gassed the Fat Lady up and pulled across the highway for coffee. About the time I finished my eats and greets, up rode neighbor biker Robert. He was going to ride with us today also.
About 8:35 up rolls Paul riding the White Rat scooter. Ten minutes later after he managed to get out of some of his riding clothing he ate his breakfast and finished off a cup of coffee. We three headed for the door and the day's ride. Paul had re-programmed his GPS to take us southweasterly to Sequatche Valley, an area running Northeast above Chattanooga to Crossville, TN. It actually starts around the small community of Pikeville.
As you can tell from previous posts, we never ride from Point A to Point B the direct way. It's always backroads, byways and small highways. This pic was taken by my new GoPro camera which I'm still trying to figure out the positioning and settings. Nothing like being a 19th Century person trying to operate a 21st Century piece of electronic equipment.
The sky was so blue this morning and with the sun breaking through the trees it made them look like a bunch of stick people.
One of the little towns has a sawmill at its edge. Small operation but big deal for some of these small communities. Provides jobs for mill workers and those cutting and hauling logs. Since they are within the city limits I'm sure they're paying a higher tax rate.
I titled this picture as "Keep America Beautiful". This was a self-made spare parts for anything type place.
Meanwhile, back on the road, we left Seymour, rode the back roads to the edge of Maryville and then onward to connect with I-75 down to Sweetwater. Here we left the interstate and was back on a nice two lane highway heading toward Dayton, TN.
That white stuff on the highway is what is left over from brining the highway to prevent icing. It's actually a salt water brine mixed with beet juice. After it dries there is a residue of fine white powder. You have to be careful of this when riding in the curves as it can get a little slippery, like sand.
One nice thing about the country roads we ride are the farms and various out buildings. Silos look like rockets, the older ones were made of brick and every once in a while you can see them still standing and performing their duties. Most are like the one in this picture. At one time there were a lot of dairy farms in East TN but like a lot of other businesses they are slowly dying out.
Some of the rural towns seem to never change. They look like the late 1940s or 50s and very few buildings are changed. The red vehicle is fellow biker and neighbor Robert's Spyder, a reversed trike machine.
Courthouse square on a Saturday afternoon. Since it was a sunny day I noticed a number of people stirring about. The gloom and doldrums of winter with gray skies and rain made the sunshine inviting.
From afar I couldn't figure out what this tower was. I first thought it to be a fire tower but since this is farm land and not forestry acres I couldn't understand why they would have a fire tower. As I got closer I could see it was some type of communication tower. Maybe even for me cell phone.
Sites continually change and this was a most unusual site. I'm sorry that I wasn't just a split second later in shooting this shot as the side, shown here, and the entire front of this building contained hundreds of gourds. Back in my young days they would have been made into Martin bird houses or used as dippers.
On this trip we crossed one mountain to get into the Sequatche Valley and then way later another mountain to get out. That white stuff on the left side is what remains of a recent snow in the area. You can usually see this on the shady side of the hills and mountains where the sun doesn't get there for very long if it gets there at all.
Our second break of the ride was near the North end of the valley. Paul with his White Rat scooter in the lead, Robert and his Spyder and pulling drag was Sweet Thang. Saddle bag lid was open because I had just pulled a snack out of it. Need nourishment to make those miles. And every once in a while a cup of coffee or bottle of water.
A nice little breeze was helping to keep Old Glory fluttering. Patriotic. See homes and businesses with flags a lot up here. And Tennessee was one of those states that during the Civil War was half and half, Northern and Southern.
A short ride later we were coming into the town of Crossville. At that stop sign we hooked a right to go around the town and headed toward West Knoxville area. The highways in this area are well lined by places that sell stone. There are a lot of quarries around this area of the state.
Since Crossville is on the Plateau we were going to climb a mountain and go down the other side to get to our ending destination. The Plateau is East of Nashville and a mountain ridge and Knoxville. This is one reason the weather is so unpredictable for our area. And one reason we often miss the really bad weather as it will run the Plateau NE and miss us.
That white stuff on the left of the highway is ice, very long icicles. The elevation here is higher than the Plateau and the temp is several degrees cooler. These icicles were well over 6 ft. tall. Sheets of icicles.
The city of Kingston has a nice lake on both sides of the highway which is a result of TVA having a very large power plant. We usually take the lake loop because it is so scenic. This is just one of the fingers off the lake.
Pellissippi Parkway or I-410 is on the final leg of our journey this riding day. A good place to clean out the carbs.
An old barn with silo on one of the backroads off the Parkway. It is getting to the end of its usefulness and we were getting to the end of our ride. I hate to see old houses and structures deteriorate but everything has to go some time.
Today's ride was great. Brisk morning, cool during the day and new sites to see. Good friends having a good time together. Total mileage door to door, 245. Total fun: Infinity. So until the next adventure, ride/drive safe and enjoy your life and the life of those you love.
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