Uhhra!! Twenty-four degrees, lots of clothing on and Sweet Thang snarling because we pushed out of the garage for a Polar Bear Ride with some friends this morning. Left the house a bit early, 8:00 a.m., to top off the tank before the ride started. Meet-up is MickyD's in Seymour. Grabbed a cup of coffee and a sausage-egg burrito to munch on while waiting for biker friend Paul to show up by 9:00 a.m. Started on my second cup of coffee when he comes strolling in like a gnome, primarily due to the amount of clothing he had on. A couple of minutes later biker friend Robert, who lives in the same subdivision I live in, comes driving up. He rode with Paul last year and was game to do it again.
After my fellow riders woofed down their breakfast we wrapped ourselves up again and headed out for our ride. You can see how nice the morning started but those clouds in the distance started moving in which will bring our rain tonight along with a little warmer air for tonight and tomorrow. Heading toward Knoxville from Seymour.
We were going to stay on the main roads as an effort to avoid ice. Since it was so cold last night, 22 degrees, any water or moisture can present a riding hazard. We passed some nice old homes along the route which now is heading Northwest to eventually connect with another major 2-Lane road.
John Sevier Highway in this picture is crossing the Holston River. The Tennessee River is made up of the Holston and the French Broad. They join up just a few miles north of Knoxville, TN. You can see the limestone bluff above the river and just beyond that is a huge quarry on both sides of the highway. Not much gravel on this end of TN so they use crushed limestone.
A little farther up the road the row of trees caught my eye along with the silvery coated pasture. The trees lined a driveway back to a house back in the grove of trees. In this particular area there was a considerable amount of glistening foliage.
You can see the silvery color glistening in the upper half of the trees and bushes along the roadway.
Enlarging the picture makes it more dramatic. I love to see this but do not like it when it breaks the branches and limbs along with the power poles. I've worked with crews doing line restoration after an ice storm and believe you me, it is not fun.
The sound travels in cold air like it does over water. But this morning all I could hear was Sweet Thang sucking that crisp morning air and enjoying it to the fullest. Or maybe that was me sucking in that air and she was enjoying it. Either way, riding early with very little to no traffic is a grand feeling.
And what better way to start off a new year than by riding those sweeping curves on a country road with friends that have similar interests.
Cold stones in the country side on a cold morning near the mountains. They're going to have to fence this place because people are just dying to get in there. The Devil made me say that.
Along the way, besides cemeteries, you can find little "fixer uppers" to while away your time or speed your investment portfolio to zero. Rustic isn't what really describes some of these buildings.
And don't forget the barns. Must be a million of them in this region of the state. Little ones, medium size and large. Some for storage, some for storage and animals and some for storing tobacco only. Of course the latter rarely have tobacco in them any more.
And every so often you find a neat old constructed home that makes you wonder how in the world that house found its place in the neighborhood.
I believe there is a church of one denomination or another about every 5 miles. Some have been around since the 1800s. Some a lot newer, but always they are plentiful.
This morning we rode by a natural spring pouring out of the hillside. Plenty of water draining off to who knows where and for what ever purpose.
We ran along no less than 4 creeks today and crossed about as many rivers. This particular small river had numerous rapids, mostly with a foot or so drop from one level to another. You could easily tell the bottom was solid rock.
For some reason this old house reminded me of the movie "Psycho" and the house where the owner of the Bates Motel resided. Almost made my skin crawl just thinking about it. No, that was just a little shiver from the cold. I'm a big boy and can take the scary stuff.
One of the several one-laners we took this morning. One of them was a little rough and had some patches of frozen drainage across them. Had to keep your eyes peering for damp spots, etc. Stability gets a little tricky on two wheels with ice beneath them.
And then you come to this, a view that just astounds the imagination. All of those ripples in the background rising and dipping. Can you just try to think of all the noise they made while the earth was shifting to make them. I would imagine it could shake a cup of coffee right out of your hand. One of the reasons I love this area. For nothing more than the views.
I left the other two riders around noon to head back to Seymour. Had to stop off and pick up lunch to take to the house. This view is looking at the intersection at the top of the hill in Seymour. Not a bad view even with the signs, etc., sticking up.
Door to door for me today was 128 miles with an average speed of about 45 mph. A little nippy but also a lot of happy. Hello 2015. It has started out with friends enjoying friends and I hope it will continue this way throughout the year. This being the first Valkyrie Adventure for 2015, I wish all of you a Very Happy New Year with loads of fun, miles of adventure, and God's Richest Blessings. Happy travelling, Friends.
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