Received a call from biker friend Paul about riding Saturday, June 6, 2015, anniversary date for D-Day. He and friend from WI were riding Saturday and the meet-up was the Pilot station, corner of Boyds Creek Hwy. and TN 66. Now every time we meet up I usually get there early and get a cup of coffee while waiting on Paul. He then gets there earlier than official time so I get a few sips or maybe a half cup of coffee down before we have to leave. Well, this morning I got there early enough to have a cup of coffee, a biscuit with sausage and finished it all before Paul rode up. Even Jim finished before Paul arrived. Of course Jim's RV is parked about a hundred yards from the meet up place. Since Paul had not planned where we were going we just called it "The Un-routed Route" ride. Just go where the wind takes you.
Saturday morning I pushed out of the garage at 7:40 for a 8:15 meet-up. I had about a 10 mile run which didn't take long. The sky was blue, Ole Sol was out and bright unlike the previous Thursday morning, which meant it was another good day to ride. Temp was in upper mid-60s with a high of 87 for the day.
This morning you didn't have to worry that someone was ahead of you or meeting you without their lights on. The visibility was very clear and the air smelled so fresh at this time of the morning.
Paul led the group, Jim in the middle on his Goldwing Trike and I brought up drag. We all had CB Radios which made it a lot easier to communicate what you were going to do or what was coming up to see.
Most of our riding today would be on back roads with an occasional main road.
The old dead tree to the left just looked so lonesome out in that pasture. I don't know why the land owner doesn't just go ahead and cut it down. But nature will take its course, it may take a bit longer.
This field was full of winter wheat that had not been harvested. I didn't go out and feel any of the grain but from the road it looks ready.
This red barn had a pretty "barn blanket" painted on the side of it. There are a lot of them up in this part of the country. Sort of like the Amish with their Hex symbols.
One good barn on the hill and one that has seen its better days nearer the road. I look at them and think of all the picture frames they would make with their old weathered appearance.
Rolls of hay from the first cutting of the season. A little rain every so often and there will be several more cuttings this year. Plenty of hay here and no grass out west. Shame transportation costs are so high.
It was starting to get warmer as we rode and apparently these cows felt the same heat. They decided to wade into the water to cool off.
With the canopy of leaves on the trees, riding on some of the roads is like riding in a sunlit tunnel. You can certainly feel the temperature drop when you ride in the shade they provide.
Along our route, which by the way was unplanned, we came upon a fairly large quarry. This is just one part of it.
While stopped at the quarry I took a picture of Jim and Paul while Paul was taking a picture of us.
This cluster of buildings was a large old home, very plain, a large barn and a later built double car garage or work shed.
At or near 10:00 a.m. we arrived at one of the first destinations, Sharps Chapel area. This is a small grocery/deli/community meeting place equipped with friendly people and even has outdoor eating facilities. A coffee and snack later we bid them farewell and headed out for another leg of our journey.
On the way back from Sharps Chapel we went by the end of the lake where the marina was and believe me when I tell you this, this bridge construction has been going on for over three years and is still a long way from being completed. I love the old bridge even though it is narrow, but the superstructure is all steel and riveted. Seems a shame to disband it.
At one of the junctions of a back road onto a smaller back road there was a slough with one old dead tree still standing. There was a boat and two guys fishing off to the left of the picture.
Over another mountain and around some more curves we came to the top of a high overlook. When you live in some of these areas you don't take a quick ride to the grocery or Walmart. You're lucky if you can get there in an hour or so.
Spring and summer bring on the gardens. And this one looks rather healthy. One area we passed through on the way back is through Greene County, known for its tomatoes. And I saw plenty of plants with green tomatoes just smaller than baseballs hanging from them. I can taste a fresh tomato sandwich riiiight now.
A lot of the roads we ride are very unforgiving to driver error. No guardrails, no shoulders, no traffic lights and if you happen to not be paying attention, you can have a very abrupt stop in your forward motion.
From one of our vantage points for surveying the scenery, this is one that caught my eye. It looks like a natural bridge, maybe the eye of a needle where the two trees have grown together. This hill overlooks a very large and long valley with fingers of the lake peeking in every so often.
Same hill but now you can see one of the many fingers of the lake.
My camera lens took a huge hit on this picture with these two old geezers being the focal point. Jim on the left from Wisconsin and Paul on the right from just a few miles north of where I live.
I took them both to this beautiful country church but couldn't get either of them any farther than the parking lot. I noticed the building quivering as we entered the parking area. It must have felt them well in advance.
Lakes, rivers and such on a day like today bring out the adults and the kids. These two guys probably won't catch anything but sun rays but who cares, they're having fun doing it.
Cherokee Lake, one of the hydro generating facilities in East TN. Makes a great place to laze around on a summer day, bring your boat, picnic under the many trees and just have a good outing for all.
We just rode by this church as I didn't want to risk any building material displacement with my other two riders. Today must be church day as it seems every few miles there's a church.
Traveling along we came across some beautiful farm land with grass so rich you could smell the chlorophyll in it.
Finally we arrived at one of our favorite destinations, Petticoat Jct. They had 25 cent coffee, biscuits and egg or biscuit and sausage or combos all at very reasonable prices. Cheap in fact. But they couldn't compete with larger stores about 8 miles away. Petticoat Jct. is now closed. Sad to see this little neighborhood facility die out. Men would gather in front early in the morning, sit in the chairs and whittle. There's about a 6" pile of wood whittlings in front of those white chairs. I understand some folks still come there to meet, talk and whittle. Hard to give it up.
It was also a nice place to take a break, eat a snack and drink a bottle of water. Riding with Paul you always carry water and snacks.
After our break we headed back toward the house. This time we rode some main roads but mixed it up every so often with a few curvy unmarked back roads.
This was shortly after noon and the clouds started building up for the potential afternoon thunderstorm.
We made a right turn at this junction of the road and I thought that old house had a lot of charm. I bet if it could talk it had a lot of tales too. About a half hour later we pulled into the parking lot of Mountain Motorsports, one of our hang outs and where I get my bike repairs. They also have free coffee for old bikers. After about 30 minutes I bid Jim and Paul farewell and headed back to the house.
This was a very good day for riding although it is summer now and the temps are getting a bit warmer, like 87 in the shade. But the roads were great to fair, the company was excellent and the experience, priceless. Road tally today was 190 miles door to door. A great day for riding.
I hope you're having some fun times this summer. Remember to look twice in all directions before pulling out into traffic. The biker you hit could be me and that would make me have a bad day. Enjoy your life, for on earth it only comes around once. Lighten up, there's fun to be had out there, so grab some of it.
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