Kentucky Loop Rides

I'm a little late writing this ride blog due to being in a bit of a slump.  Don't know exactly why but just not feeling the words pouring out like they normally do.  Maybe it's because of this head cold or whatever, any excuse is as good as another but here goes anyway.

Thursday, March 23, 2017 my Ole (Old) riding buddy, Paul, and I were to meet up at McD's in Seymour for around 8:30 a.m. for a quick breakfast and then zoom off toward Williamsburg, KY for some back road riding.  Temps were in comfortable upper 30s to lower 40s and no rain on the horizon, sun was up so the world was ready.  No Paul.  Finally he calls to say he's running late, can't find anything, don't know where anything is and but he would be next door to McD's in 20 minutes.  No matter, had all day to ride.

So at something after 9 a.m. we buzzed off taking the fast route north, I-75 out of Knoxville.  We got off at Caryville, TN and took US 25W northeast going through Jacksboro and LaFollette toward the Kentucky Line, the back way.

Beautiful crisp morning to start a ride.  This old farm house isn't too far from my house.  Many of the farms around where I live have become subdivisions over the years.

On the way to Micky D's for some breakfast and meet-up with fellow biker Paul.

Early and long rides require some sustainable food morsels.

Weird shaped Marriot Hotel in downtown Knoxville, TN.

Looking at town centre as we run the by-pass around it.

On the open road of Interstate 75 which, if we stayed on it, would take us to Louisville, KY.  But we're not going that far.

We took the Caryville exit from I-75 onto US 25W.  A nice smooth ride with even less traffic to contend with.  This route will take us through some of the Northern TN coal country.  This route will take us through some of the coal country of Northern TN.

No room for errors along here.

The face of the rock shines due to water seepage from the recent rains.

On the KY side of the mountain we crossed are some pretty farms.

Entering KY from the TN side.

More rock walls.  Better than barricades as these are natural and didn't cost the taxpayers any money after cutting the roadway.

Some nice farm scenery.

Shortly we were back in the rough mountain area but thank goodness the road was smooth.

Once an elegant place here in the mountains but now it's showing its age and use.

Lonely hillside cemetery.

Mountains in the distance as we rode through one of the many valleys on this trip.  We made two loop rides around the Williamsburg, KY area.

Farm house looks lonely sitting so far off the highway.  But with the fence built close you didn't have to spend a lot of time mowing grass.

Around the barn and up the hill to somewhere we're off to go.

A nice pasture framed on one side by the mountains.

Lots of horses up in this area.  I guess that white one on the ground is full or will eat later.  Rather young colt.

Simple country church.

Back to the narrower highways through the KY mountain country.  I think I hear banjos playing.

A community business establishment at one time.  It was also home too.

Gliding through the valley heading for higher ground, and rougher country.

Brushy roadsides, hoping not to have venison stepping out in front while riding.

Empty coal truck clipping along in front of us.  Glad he was empty and not loaded otherwise it would have been a long slow ride to the top of the mountain where the mine was located.

We stopped to see if we could get a view of the mine.  All we could see was a dam holding water back.  The mine was lower down on the side of the mountain.  Here's a pic of Paul going on his mine hunting excursion.

Redbug and the White Knight parked during exploration period.

Road leading from our parked site.  Was once used but rarely now.  Rather grown over around the bend.

I lost Paul but then noticed the weeds moving.  You can see a white spot slightly left of center of pic, that's Paul's helmet.

Then he stepped out onto the path.  I wonder if he gave any thought to rattlesnakes while rustling through the brush.

He came back with a garland of flowers, plastic, which he adorned himself with.  Would be ready for Mardi Gras but it has past and they don't celebrate it here in this part of the country.

After a break, a pit stop and some GPS reviewing we headed back toward the house.

A few more miles of back roads before hitting the Interstate for the fast route back.

Getting back into TN, homeward bound.  It has been a good day for riding.  Nice weather, good roads and lots of scenery, some of very poor living conditions and some rather nice farms.  Makes you appreciate what you have when you see people living in sheds and huts.  Hope the new changes allowing coal mining to start up will give these people an opportunity to improve their conditions.

Anyway, we enjoyed some old roads and some new ones as well.  Total mileage door to door for me was 250 miles.  The good thing about the ride was that we returned to our home base safe and sound.  I'm always grateful for that. 

So until the next Valkyrie Adventure, be thankful for what you have as others have far less.  Get out of the house on these pretty Spring days and do something.  Couch potato time has lapsed.  Ride/drive safe.

Doing Some Tellico Plains, TN Backroads

Thursday, March 9, 2017, temps starting in mid-40s to end around 71 for the day.  Definitely dress in layers.  All dressed up, bike full of fuel.  Time to push out of garage and meet biker friend Paul at Seymour, TN McD's for breakfast before departing.  I got there a bit early so I was finished eating before Paul arrived.  Yacked with "Elderlies" while Paul was sopping up all of that gravy with his biscuit.

We pulled out a little before 9 a.m. heading south to meet up with biker friend Terry at Vonore for about 10:30.  Taking some back roads to get there.

Everybody needs a wee bit of breakfast before heading out for a day of riding.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day, just enough brisk in the air to make you feel alive and all the color you could expect at this time of year.

There must be a billion Bradford Pear trees in this area and all are in some stage of blooming now.

Pretty old farm house.  Trees was trimmed about two years ago.

Country road snaking around through the farm land with winter brown still well implanted.

Love the little streams that run beside the highway, well maybe not highway, let's just say The Road.

Barn has seen it's best days but is still being used to this day.

Sunshine playing with the shadows as it filters through the leafless trees casting ghostly shadows on the road way.

Must remind myself to raise camera a tad bit more so I won't catch the mirror in my shots.

The various backroads like Goose Gap, Butterfly Gap, etc., finally brought us up the road that leads to Top of the World, a settlement that was partially developed to include a very pretty lake up on top of a mountain.

And the same road took us over to the Foothills Parkway and onward to where the Dragon starts, but just a little farther west.

The Chilhowee Dam having some work done to it.

Along he way a couple of tractors were trimming the brush away from the side of the road.  Good way to get a flattop hair cut.  No flaggers on the front side of the tractors, just in back of them.

How big is the sky?  Big enough that it makes me think I'm in Montana.

And these little huts aren't for friers, they contain fighting cocks.

We did run across another one of those government missile sites.  Here's 3 silos very close together.  And they think they're fooling me about not having missiles here.

Different roads but then they all look similar.  The just all don't go in the same direction.

In Vonor we picked up friend Terry and his big Indian which he rightly named "Scout".

We're going to run backroads to Tellico Plains where a Hardee's is located for our break and probably lunch.  We're loaded with coupons.

Horses still wearing their winter coat and it's a good thing as snow is expected this weekend with cold weather all next week.

Without their leaves the trees look rather scraggly, sort of Halloweenish.

Are those Bradford Pear Trees?

Beautiful rolling hillside farms here.

Yep, Paul has changed directions again.  This is a one laner road.

At this point we left friend Terry as Paul and I was going to travel on some gravel roads through the mountains.  Terry turned around and headed in another direction.

These roads don't give you many second chances so you really have to concentrate.

No guard rails and that drop will land you about a hundred feet below after you've bumped a few trees going down.

This, at one time, was a Conoco gas station.  But that's been a while back.

We're back on a paved road heading for the second gravel road of the day.

We're in a National Fores and stopped at an overlook.  That is the Hiwassee River and those are rocks you see in the water.

A closer look at the rocks.  During the late Spring and Summer you don't see them as you're tubing, rafting, kayaking down the river.

Not too far from where we stopped at the overlook was a farm house or maybe just a house that seemed to be very lonely here.

And there were some strange architectural structures also.  This house is very near the railroad tracks.

Meanwhile, after a few miles of gravel, we arrived at a National Forest shooting range.  Paul wanted to stop off and do some plinking.

After meeting several guys with some high-powered rifles and being dusted off with the concussion of them shooting (I did have ear plugs), Paul ran out of ammo so it was time to ride again.  This time several miles of gravel from that point out to US411.

If you see a man that looks like this or see a picture like this on a poster, take utmost care, for it is Pistol Paul, a member of the Backroads Biker Gang.  He could be flopping around in a large mud hole if he fails to negotiate the crossing.

The scenic roadway along the river.  Between the rock spots and the gravel it didn't give you much time to take pictures.

Dusty Trail Riding.

And then we hit the paved highways that were leading us back to the house.

Large hay fields, rolling hills and big blue sky.  Great scenic view.

This old house had been embellished with several gallons of red paint..  The garage didn't seem to fair out so well.

Big fields and most with electric fences.  Don't want to run off the road and fall onto one of those.

Then Paul took me by the airport near Athens, TN to see the Swift Plane Museum.  They were constructed in Saginaw, TX, just north of Fort Worth.  No longer being constructed this museum is also serves as the major parts supplier for those that are still flying.  It is a very neat two place flying machine.

Old style tail draggers.  Not too great in a cross-wind landing but a very neat little plane.  Next time I want to spend a little extra time there.

From here we hightailed it back to Seymour and on to the house.  About 20 or so miles of gravel, some nice mountain roads, great friendship shared with Paul and Terry and 217 miles for me door to door.  Another great day for riding and all done rather safely.

So until the next Valkyrie Adventure, I hope you and yours to be well and enjoying life.  Take advantage of seeing great and beautiful things in this The Land of Milk and Honey.  It has a lot to offer and not all of it costs money to look at.