“Keep The Rubber Side Down”

As the coffee is brewing, I am preparing to head for Louisville, Kentucky, home of the Louisville Slugger, to meet up with my son.  As I mentioned in an early post, Jonathan rode solo to Myrtle Beach, and is now on his way home.  We are trying to time it so we can hook up in Louisville, have a little lunch and then head home.

We have had a great deal of rain over the past few days, and the pavement is wet from an overnight storm, but forecasters are predicting an all clear for today. 

Well, the coffee has finished and it’s time for me to ride.  ”Keep the rubber side down!”

“Be careful!”, “I love you!”, “See you next Sunday!”, and with that, the phone was silent. Jonathan, my oldest son, is riding his motorcycle to Myrtle Beach, where he will meet up with his girlfriend and her parents. They will be spending a week enjoying the sun and surf. It’s a long trip for a young man to ride solo, but he has ridden this route with me and I have tried to teach him well.

Around 9 p.m. we rolled our trusty steeds into the driveway safe and sound.  This excellent adventure which covered 10 states, 3200 miles, lots of coffee, and too many McDonald’s cheeseburgers, had come to an end. 

We saw some incredible sights, ate some fantastic food, and passed through some magnificent cities… Dayton, Cincinnati, Lexington, Louisville, Knoxville, Nashville, Asheville, Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Savannah, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Tallahassee, Pensacola, Mobile, Biloxi, Gulf-port, New Orleans, Hattiesburg, Meridian, Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Huntsville, Nashville, just to name a few!

My son, Jonathan was an excellent riding buddy and handle himself  admirably both in and out of the saddle.  I was proud to ride with you son!

To my many friends across the Southeast, who sent e-mails of encouragement, suggestions of places to see, offers of assistance in case of an emergency, and offers to buy me a pint. I say a heart felt “thanks”!

Now it’s time to wash those big Alabama bugs off my bike, give her an oil change, and start planning the next adventure! Have a great weekend Y’ALL!

Rick

Change of plans!  Instead of heading Northwest, towards Memphis, we will travel Northeast, towards Nashville.  Picking up I-59 North, out of New Orleans, then catching I-65 North, towards Nashville. This diversion will cut approximately 800 miles off the trip, but we felt like this was the way to go. 

 Cities of interest on today’s ride; Tuscaloosa, Huntsville, Birmingham, and Nashville.

Later:
Hey folks this was a great ride! The pace was smokin’ as we cruised up I-59 reaching speeds of, well, we won’t discuss that here.  I hooked up with a couple local boys in their hemi’s, and suffice it to say, we hauled ass!

Once in Nashville, we did a little sight seeing,

and of course had some fantastic BBQ….

As we were preparing to leave Nashville, an extremely arrogant bastard introduced himself to us as a member of the “Brooks and Dunn“ team, to which I replied;  “Who’s that”, I politely asked?” Needless to say the conversation was short lived.  By the way, “Who is Brooks and Dunn?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lb1d-Yzr51w

It was not so easy getting to the ”Big Easy”!  A short 400 mile ride was quite a chore as a strong wind coming off the gulf, buffeted us all morning, But by mid afternoon we entered the heart of New Orleans and the difficult ride became a thing of the past. Due to the fact my body was weary, a storm was brewing off shore, and I was famished, we made the decision to spend the night in the French Quarter.   

We secured a room and headed out for some food and entertainment.  If you have never visited Nola put it on your list.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7T0AZnmREls

 After a dinner of gumbo and blackened catfish, we headed to Maison Bourbon, a small out of the way Jazz room just off Bourbon St.   This place works hard to keep the authentic New Orleans Jazz alive and well.  Later we took in some more sites and sounds of this great city.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzeoHGAEO5w

What a great night! 

Today’s ride was a pleasure.  The weather was perfect and we visited some of my favorite cities such as, Savannah, and St. Augustine.  In the early evening we headed west on Interstate 10, into Tallahassee.  I-10 is a great to me, I simply set the cruise, and burn up some asphalt!   Believe that BMW loves to cruise! :)

Our time at Bike Week has quickly come to an end, and it is now time to move on.  This morning we will have breakfast in Myrtle Beach, lunch in Savannah, a snack in St. Augustine, and spend the night in Tallahassee.  The weather forecast is sunny with temperatures in the high 80’s.   Before we head out I wanted to leave you a couple quick videos from Bike Week!

 http://youtube.com/watch?v=HFGUMIqe-vk

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bbDL61VADKM

After a good night sleep, Jonanthan and I headed over to Broadway, where many of the Bike Week events were taking place. We spent several hours walking around looking at many of the bikes, visiting the vendors, and of course people watching! 

Here’s one of the few BMW’s

Sweet!

Why not just buy a car!

A Bad Mother!

Oh yea, there were also a couple of Harley’s there as well!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaMIRa_aK1E

Heading South on I-26 early on Mother’s Day was amazing!  A slight drizzle dancing on the windshield with intermittent rays of sun peaking through, made for a magical display.

We soon settled in, finding the pace the road would give up so early in the morning. Turns out she was giving steady, and calm.  Out of  Asheville, this stretch of Interstate is filled with gentle curves, and amazing mountain scenery, the Smokies mountains are majestic, and  living up to their name with pillars of smoke reaching towards the heavens.  This Sunday morning no one is in a hurry;  at least not yet! 

2 hours into the ride we arrive in Columbia S.C. the skies are beginning to clear and the temperature is climbing.  We make a brief stop to rid ourselves of the rain suites and heavy gloves.  We are ready to RIDE!

The road has changed from gently rolling curves, to long straight aways, and an increased  posted speed limited.  This is no longer a sleepy ride!  We pour on the throttle and set the cruise some where between 80-110 mph.  (no specifics my wife is reading this).

Upon our arrival in Myrtle Beach we settled into our hotel, unloaded and quickly headed to the beach.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-07f-SkxA1I

It  was a fantastic ride to Myrtle Beach, more later!

On Saturday, May 10th, our 4,000 mile, 11 state adventure begins under sunny skies and warm temperatures.  Our destination for day one is Ashville, N.C. but first we need to make a little detour.

Five hours later as we arrive on the outskirts  of Knoxville, we head south on the infamous St. Rt. 129, towards the “Tail of the Dragon”.

A beautiful Saturday afternoon on the Dragon is no place for children, this road is packed with old men on Harley’s, and youngsters with nothing but power between their legs.  This riders haven requires constant focus, and exposes real riders from posers.  In fact, a tree at Deals Gap stands as a memorial for those, that  for one reason or another, lost their focus.

My son Jonathan, had an absolute blast! When the ride was complete he was grinning ear to ear, although I thought he needed a change of underwear the first time his pegs dragged the asphalt!  Later, he told me it was the most fun he has ever had on his bike.

Soon it was time to head east towards Ashville, next stop; Myrtle Beach!

The response to our trip has been overwhelming.  Thank you so very much!  The bikes were just picked up from the mechanics and are as ready to go as possible.  Many of you have e-mailed wanting to know our exact trip itinerary.  I have planned the trip but not overly so.  Here’s the schedule as I know it now.

Saturday:  departing Springfield at 7 a.m.- riding to Asheville, N.C.

Sunday/Monday:  arriving in Myrtle beach and staying for the festivities until Tuesday morning.

After this point it is a very loose schedule, but here’s a few scheduled cities…  Charleston, Savannah, Atlanta, New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Dallas, Memphis, Nashville, and several others.   I will keep you informed as we proceed.

 I want to take a moment to say “thanks” to all of you,  for your kindness, your musical suggestions, your invitations for a pint, or shelter as we pass through.  Many of you have given me your numbers in case of emergency as we pass by your area, to which we  are eternally grateful.  I now have a few last minute items to attend too,  but we keep in touch each night.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend , Thanks again for expressions of grace!

Tuesday:  Charleston, Savannah, Atlanta, Tallahassee.