The Last Ride of the Year

December 31, 2015, the last day of the year and the last chance to ride in the year of 2015.  Temp., 46 degrees, sunny day, no rain expected, high of 54.  A great day to turn the wheels.  Met biker friend Paul at the entrance of my subdivision at 9:40 a.m.  Heading West just kind of rambling.  Paul has several routes mapped out on his GPS and we adjust according to time and conditions.

Shortly after we headed West out of Seymour we started taking backroads in a SW direction.  Paul had to stop to adjust his camera in a very good place for if we get hit they can just throw our carcasses over the fence into the cemetery.

Just past the above cemetery is a beautiful old Methodist Church.











Roads were a little damp from the previous day's rains but still furnished a good grip for the tires.  As you can see, they are not 55 mph roads.









With the leaves all gone the woods look rather naked but does enhance visibility in some areas.

We're still riding in the outskirts of Knoxville on the SW side.  Some beautiful homes in this area, big houses.









The road we're on passes a fairly large marina, stuck back in coves, some places with sheltered slips and some, like sailboats, moored along the slip.









We arrived in Lenoir City and stopped to take a look at the new bridge being constructed.

Paul taking a picture of the scenery while I'm taking a picture of the bikes.  My Honda NC700X on the left next to his Honda CB500.

This art object is the impeller from one of the units in the hydro plant located here.  Water running over it is the driving power for the generator.

Lenoir City is an old town.  This is the first time I have ridden into the town center.  We usually take a by-pass route.

Down the main drag of Lenoir City.  I've been through similar towns all over the U.S., little country towns where everybody knows everybody.

Shortly out of Lenoir City, on another backroad, we passed this pasture with a number of colorful goats.  Need one or two of those to keep my grass clipped.









Some of the houses on some of the roads we ride just have a friendly look about them.  I can just imagine someone sitting on the porch waving at passing vehicles just because they are friendly.

To the right of the above house was an above ground propane tank.  Or maybe it's folk art and I just don't recognize it.  In some places it would be turned into a BBQ meat smoking lip smacking cooker.

These small country roads have a character of their own.  They just wind and snake their way from one small community to another eventually all being joined by this thin ribbon of black asphalt if they are lucky.  Some areas still connect over the mountain on crushed rock roads.

Notice no lane markings.  One reason to make sure you stay on your side of the road.  Meeting a vehicle requires some slowing down and moving over.

A little later we find ourselves on the back side of the TVA Kingston Power Plant.  This is a huge, let me repeat, a huge power provider in this area along with all of the hydros.  It's a coal burner.  An endangered species.

All of TVA's facilities are well maintained and provide boat ramps, camping, picnicking, walkpaths, etc., along with fishing.  Some have all and some have only one or two such facilities.

Later we roll into the outskirts of Harriman, TN.  And this neighborhood looked a bit rough to say the least.

On our way to Windrock ATV park.  It's a large operation where people, families, solo riders bring their ATVs, dirt bikes, etc., to ride.  Lots of roads and trails with lots of mud holes.

Near the parking area just inside the entrance to Windrock is the Windrock Coal Miner's Memorial Wall.  It has the names of all of the miners that worked in the Windrock Mtn. mines.

From Windrock we took a road over the mountain that was crushed rock.  With all of the recent rains the road was well packed and good to ride.  It is roads like this that I bought the NC700 bike for as it's suspension is sturdy.  You still have to be careful with the rock rolling from beneath your tires and you soon learn to stay off the front brake, use back brake only.

For a ways a stream ran alongside the road way.  Or maybe it was the roadway that ran along side of the stream.  Either way, looking too long at something could cause you some trouble.

Later the crushed rock turned into aslphalt.  Notice no shoulders, striping and no guardrails.  Not a good time to make an oops.

Way back off in the mountains are some old homes, mostly grown up with bushes and trees.  And it's a far piece to Walmart.

Up up and over the mountain we go.  This is about the 3rd or 4th mountain crossing today.










We were back on another dirt road but this one was a bit wider.  However, it did have some serious hairpin turns.

At the top of mountain we took a little break to climb up to the top of Walden Ridge.

On top is like standing on the backbone of a dinosaur.  It is not very wide and if you slip, a lot of hurt is going to occur on your way to the bottom.  This scene is looking South.

This is looking North.











This shot is looking down into the valley below from the top of the ridge.











Another view from another location on top of the mountain.  The valley below is very large with numerous farmsteads.

Up up and away but we're not superman just two crazy old men on motorcycles having a ball.

The road below is where we have come from.

And this is the way we're going.

And along the way is this slight blurred picture that looks like copper leaves.  The whole side of the mountain looked as if the leaves had been made from sheets of copper.  With the gray tree trunks they really stand out.

Some more miles but this time heading toward the house.  Afternoon is on it's way out.










It was a pleasant day with the sun coming out around noon or slightly before.  Blue sky was a joy since we've seen so much gray and rain lately.  The mountains are beckoning.  Time to get to the house before darktime.  Total mileage today door to door was 185.  Amount of enjoyment, 100%.  New bike gets phenomenal gas mileage.  Got 65.6 mpg and took 3 gals. to fill it up.


This was the end of 2015 riding season.  Total miles ridden this year, 16,363 between the bikes.  Almost 2,000 more than last year.  What does 2016 bring?  I hope health, happiness and peace.  Continued family and friends and maybe some new friends along the way.  I don't control all of the circumstances but those that I do control I hope to make sound decisions and enjoy life.  I pray the same for you.  Until the new year adventures start, stay safe.