Three Friends Two Bikes Two Days Part 1

The majority of the time I’ve spent on this planet has been alone.  There are many reasons for this.  One such is that it’s extremely difficult to find other people who enjoy doing things the way that I do.  Especially for as long as I do.  I do things somewhat differently when I’m leading a ride than I do as I wander and wonder alone.  Many times have folks said they wanted to go on a “Ronman Ride”.  Very few ever want to go again.  Therefore I reached the point that I just rode alone.

Don’t get me wrong, I love riding alone. Well two or three years ago I met some people who kept telling me they’d like to go with me on these rides.  I would always say we’d see.  Finally they were so persistent that I told them OK.  We had an experiment.  I told them that I was going to take them with me on a ride where I would stop for photographs or points of interest just like I was alone.  After the ride we would see if they were good with what went on and I would see how I handled the company.  Well lo and behold they actually got it.  This was no lip service I’d been hearing for the past couple of years.This year over the Fourth of July weekend we  decided to take a little overnight journey to East Tennessee mainly on back roads.  I think we succeeded.  In these two days we covered roughly 850 miles all but 48 of which were on back roads.  The beauty of Tennessee and North Carolina kept us amazed as we soaked in all the scenery that we could.From natural wonders such as this tree that has an eye of a needle to an old general store that intrigued us for a couple of hours.  The man-made wonders along with a fantastic “Rock-A-Billy Diner” filled us with laughter and goodness.

This is but a taste of the things we saw.  There’s more to come so keep watching.  I promise that I won’t keep you in suspense for too long.

Ride Safe,

Ronman

The Legend of the LoveBuzzard 100

There are legends and stories all over the world of strange yet true creatures.  All of us either know or know of one of these mysteries.  Perhaps you remember from some of my previous writings that I’ve seen one such creature.  I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment warn you of what’s to come.  If reading about such legends and creatures gives you the creeps then please don’t read any further.

These words are going to try to convey to you what I’ve recently experienced.  Please understand that it still makes my skin crawl when I think about what I’m going to tell you.

Legend has it that this creature has been around for a long long time.  Should you ever have the misfortune of an encounter you’ll see what I mean.  Most folks experience sightings in Kentucky.  I don’t just mean one particular area or region of Kentucky either.  From the far west around Paducah all the way east to Ashland he’s been known to prey on unsuspecting women.  That’s right women.  You see the LoveBuzzard has some sort of unnatural power that draws woman folk to him.  Many report smelling a fowl oder just before he swoops down upon them.

The ride I’m about to tell you about was just a simple little gathering of friends.  A breakfast ride that would be extended across the fabled LoveBuzzard 100 highway. Some folks say this highway has another name.  You can see by the photograph that they have even erected a marker to throw people off.  Those who’ve experienced it know otherwise.  Soon more people would understand that this road isn’t a safe and scenic journey like they thought.

Since the LoveBuzzard’s age is not know we can only say he’s be around many a decade if not many a century.  You see he seems to prey upon ladies as they take in historic places such as the “Old Mulkey Meeting House” located just outside of Tompkinsville Kentucky.  Some folks say that the LoveBuzzard was around these parts even before Mulkey Meeting House.I was minding my own business like I always do and simply taking a few photographs when suddenly the hair stood up on the back of my neck.  I heard blood curdling screams coming from over near the meeting-house.  What on earth could be wrong?  I looked up searching for the commotion.  I had my trusty camera at the ready so that I could document whatever it was.  Rounding the building I was in utter amazement.  Let me warn you this next photo is graphic.  Some may find it offensive and disturbing.  Don’t say you weren’t warned.I’m only putting this photo up here in the hopes that it will save some others from falling under the spell that these beautiful ladies did.  You can see their eyes are all glazed over.  They have lost all control of their faculties.  What else could explain their actions.  Who in their right mind would be so close and even touching this ……… this……….snaggle toothed, pot-bellied, smelly, double naught………..LoveBuzzard……………………….I can’t go on…………..

Ride Safe,

Ronman

What’s This?

This is a local landmark.  Now I know those of you from across the world don’t have a chance  at knowing what this is.  I just thought it would be fun to see if anyone else knows where and what this is.  There have been lawsuits to save this landmark.  The widening of a US highway was changed because of this.  Take a peek at these two photographs and rack your brain then let me know the answer.

Ride Safe

Ronman

Champ Ferguson

Nestled along the Calf Killer River  on Tennessee Highway 84 is a quaint little cemetery.  Lying in rest here are heroes to some and villains to others.  No matter what side of this debate you are on you still must understand that the soldiers buried here helped mold and change the history of not only the region but also the nation.  Back in 2003 I read a book written by Thurman Sensing titled Champ Ferguson: Confederate Guerilla.  Learning of this man’s story rekindled a fire inside me to learn about the terrible conflict between the states back in the 1860s.  I’d kept this story in the back of my mind until I happened across this place while on a ride with some close friends.  I wanted so badly to stop and visit but I knew that I  needed to stop here alone.

One of only two men that didn’t receive a pardon for their actions during the War of Northern Aggression.  Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find out who the other man was.  I encourage you to dig deeper into this man’s story.  Champ Ferguson isn’t the only Confederate soldier buried here.  There are others here as well.  Each one has a story.  Each man fought for the country he believed in.  Each one paid the ultimate sacrifice for the country he  loved.Highway 84 aka Calf Killer Highway runs from Sparta, Tennessee up through Monterey, Tennessee.  Should you ever get the chance ride this road.  The scenery and  curves will satisfy your needs.  The history along this road will mystify you and cause you to wonder to a time long ago.

Get out and ride through some history!

Ride Safe,
Ronman

A little old fashioned soul ride

Recently I took an afternoon and ventured out with no particular destination in mind.  I wanted to do some Geocaching and some scooter riding.  Two goals well worth my time and effort if you ask me.  As I wandered and wondered I soon found myself in the ‘Boro.  Being the growing boy that I am I was a tad bit hungry.  Always a quandary it seems.  Ah ha!  I have it.  Slick Pig it is. Having eaten here for years I can safely say I’ve never had a bad meal at Slick Pig.  You owe it to yourself when in Murfreesboro to take a ride out East Main Street and enjoy some wonderful Bar-B-Q.  Needless to say I left here with a full tummy and ready to ride and Geocache.

This is one of the many reasons I LOVE Tennessee so.  Always something historic and beautiful to soak in.  Old barns will forevermore have a special place in my heart.  This particular one I’ve ridden past many many times.  Today I just had to stop and share.

I  hope you enjoyed this little peek into this ride.  I may not have posted lots of things in a while but I have been busy researching material for the blog.  This is just a little taste of things to come in the very near future.  That’s right, I’ll be getting caught up on blogs very soon.

Thanks for taking this little ride with me.  Hope you enjoyed it too.

Ride Safe,

Ronman

A Ride to Historic Rugby

Everyone knows that the most important meal of the day is breakfast.  Well what could be more important than a good breakfast before a ride?  That’s why we met at Kym and Bev’s  to get this great day started.  Should you ever get to LaVergne be sure to check them out.  Don’t show up too late though.  Their hours are Monday through Friday 7 am till 2 pm and Saturday 7 am till Noon.

This small group of friends headed east after enjoying our breakfast.  We took Jefferson Pike out of Smyrna over to Hwy 96 up to Hwy 70 at Liberty.  Going east on 70 we rode up to Sparta where we picked up Hwy 84.  Let me tell ya this is one NICE scooter road.  Curves galore along the Calf Killer river.  We wound our way up the tree covered route to Monterey.  Here we picked up Hwy 62 east over to US 127 north.  Just outside of Jamestown we picked up another great scooter road, Hwy 52.  Let me take a minute to say both 84 and 52 are MUST RIDE roads if you are ever anywhere near here.

Soon we were entering Historic Rugby.  Rugby is said to be the most well-preserved historic English village in America.  This once vibrant utopia hasn’t changed much in the past 120 or so years.  You can take a small tour of the library, church and one of the original homes.  Take the time to view the movie in the visitor’s center to get the entire story of this amazing and enchanting place. I like combining more than one of my hobbies at a time.  Geocaching has become an addiction with me.  So I loaded up some caches on my GPSr and soon we were finding them.  Here is a picture of Paul with his first Geocache. On the way to another Geocache we happened upon some ripe Mulberries.  Needless to say the caching came to an end.We enjoyed some of the fantastic back roads on the Cumberland Plateau as you can see of these next couple of photographs.  First Dennis leads the way and then here comes the rest of the group.  Get out and enjoy some of the beautiful things near you.  Ride, geocache, learn history and enjoy time spent with your friends.

Ride Safe

Ronman

Getting Back to Basics

Monday I did something that I haven’t done in a very long time. I took off on a little ride like the ones that got all this blogging stuff started for me. I didn’t travel very far from home at all. In fact I was surprised that I racked up 76 miles.

I did take some time to send out a couple of text messages to some friends that were off work for the day. Unfortunately none of them could join me. Then again that’s not always a bad thing either.

First order of the day was to capture a photograph of this old barn. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve ridden right past this one saying to myself that I need to get a shot of that one of these days. Well today was the day.

Next I just started taking roads. Some of which I hadn’t been on in years. Others I’d never been down. Hopefully I now have these filled away in my memory for future use.

I grabbed a shot of some of the new safety/sexy things that I’ve added to CC lately. I’ve added a Bright Ass Light tail light. I think you can see how it gets its name. I also, at the urging of Super Goochie, added the module that converts your turn signals into running/turn/brake lights. One other addition is the LED light at the bottom of the fender that’s also a brake light. That’s right there are six, count them, six brake lights on the back of CC. Safety first you know.

I hope you enjoyed this “old school” post from Ole Ronman.

Ride Safe,

Ronman

Cumberland Mountain State Park

Here is a picture from Cumberland Mountain State Park in Tennessee.  This group had just finished a very enjoyable visit to the park restaurant.  The bridge in the background is the trademark of the park.

Winding Roads and Wildlife

There is nothing like a great ride with some wonderful friends to create memories that will last a lifetime.  This weekend that is exactly what I did.  I absolutely love riding the back roads of this great country.  I call it seeing the true America.  Sure you can see scenery from the interstate rolling 70 mph.  But really folks,  slow down and take the two lanes to get the true feel of our great country.

Let’s take a moment and see what makes a great ride.  To me it takes only a very few things.  First thing is a great route.  Be honest, if the road isn’t fun to ride then the ride isn’t that fun.  We need twists and curves to add excitement to the ride.  Throw in some breath-taking scenery and the senses are soaking in the flavor.  Speaking of flavor you’ve got to eat.  A great meal is a must on any ride.  Especially one with a group.  That gives us another essential for a ride.  The friends we ride with.  Face it, what good is a story without friends to share it with.

Our ride today had all these elements so how could it be anything other than spectacular?  The temps for the start of the ride were in the thirties.  Yes that’s what I said thirties.  We didn’t let that stop us because the forecast called for upper sixties before the day was over.  Our first stop after making our way down some great twisties was for food.  Not just food, trash plates.  That’s right I ate trash and loved it.  The little eatery at the cross roads know as Payne’s Store is fantastic.  Well worth the hour it took us on our route to start the day.

Leaving Payne’s Store we took highway 25 over through Hartsville where we turned north onto highway 10.  10 took us into Lafayette and the intersection of highway 52.  We would spend the next couple hours taking our time enjoying the sights, curves and scenery on 52.  Oh how could I forget we got close to nature as well.  Perhaps a better way to put it would be to say nature got close to us.  Specifically a deer.  It was one of those you had to be there to see it and believe it situations.  If you’ve seen the video online of the deer jumping over the rider then you will have some idea of what it was like.  Word has it from one of the eye witnesses that after the deer made it across the road and my bike for that matter, the deer turned around and gave me the finger.  Or would that be the hoof?  Either way no one or no wildlife was harmed in the making of these memories.

Soon we turned north on U.S 127 and rode to the Alvin C. York Home.   This quiet little setting on the banks of the Wolfe River is very peaceful. You can see all sorts of family photos and belongings of the most highly decorated citizen soldier of World War I.  Across the river from the house is the grist mill.  What a beautiful setting for a park.  On this day there were many families enjoying picnics and using the playground.  I think a few folks were even fishing.

Continuing north on U.S. 127 we stopped  at the general store located at Forbus.  Most of us enjoyed a taste of some of the fudge that they make there.  A couple of us devoured thick cut bologna sandwiches while others had some hand dipped ice cream.  We even sat on the porch and chatted with the locals.  Even though one of the so-called locals wasn’t from around there.  No hiding that New York accent around me.  Uh huh I’m too cleaver for that.

Just north of here we turned onto highway 111 south and soon came across our final stop for the day.  The Cordell Hull Birthplace Historic park is located just off the highway in the rolling hills around Dale Hollow Lake.  It’s interesting to me to sit and think of how the visions of a man from such a humble beginning changed the world.  Hull  is known as the father of the United Nations.  I can’t help but wonder what Hull would think of the state of his U.N. today.

We continued south on 111 into Cookeville where we jumped onto Interstate 40 over to Lebanon and then took 840 back into Murfreesboro.  All in all it was around 329 miles for the day.  Not too shabby don’t ya think.  We learned some things about the history of our nation and enjoyed the company of friends.  All this while partaking in this passion we all share of riding our motorcycles.

Ride Safe,

Ronman

Good Food Historical Places and Geocaching

The first Sunday in March of 2010 brought us hope of Spring.  Seizing the moment two other couples joined Trish and myself for a little scooter time.  It was planned that we have a fairly early start for this time of year.  8 o’clock was to be the departure time.  Granted it was still rather chilly but who cares we were going on a ride.

The three Ultra classics roared to life and off we headed via back roads to Dickson Tennessee and our first stop of the day.  Trish and I would spend our day with David, Brenda, Tim and Ellie.  David suggested we eat at Farmer’s in Dickson.  One look at how corpulent he is and you know he understands good food.  Farmer’s is a buffet to die for.  In fact I can’t wait to go back and try them for supper some time. 

Now that we were sufficiently foundered it was time to get some riding in.  We took highway 48 out of Dickson over to Nunnelly.  Here we turned onto highway 230 which wound us over to highway 13 just south of Waverly.  This is where we made our second stop of the day.

Back in 1978 the little town of Waverly was nearly blown off the map by a propane tanker explosion.  The tanker was part of a train that derailed.  The L&N railroad has placed a Caboose here along with some markers to commemorate this horrid event.  Several people lost their lives in this tragedy.

I had stopped at this location back last November while I was out doing some Geocaching on a camping trip.  I searched high and low back then for the hidden cache to no avail.  Today the story was different.  While the group was reading the info on the markers I made my way over to the rail car.  Soon I was rewarded with finding this micro cache.

We continued west to our next stop.  Johnsonville State Historic Park is located on the banks of the Tennessee river.  I led our group up to an overlook.  We took a break and enjoyed the view.  I always enjoy soaking in the historic surroundings of such a place.  The rifle trenches dug back in the 1860′s are still visible.  Nothing like stepping into the middle of History.

Our next stop would be on the other side of the Tennessee River.  Camden lies on the west bank of the river.  Some three miles west of Camden is another historic marker.  The crash site of the plane that killed Cowboy Copas, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Patsy Cline, and Randy Hughes is marked by a giant stone.  There is a small cross that marks the spot Patsy’s body was found.

I had been toting a travel bug with me for some time now.  I wanted to find a fitting site to move the TB along.  Somehow today seemed to be the time to do so.  Seeing as there is a cache at this location I felt it would be a great opportunity.  Not to mention showing my friends what Geocaching is all about.

Soon we rode to the other side of Camden and up Pilot Knob at Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park.  From here we could see the view of the Tennessee river from the Confederate side of the battle of Johnsonville.  This marks the only spot in history in which a cavalry defeated naval gunboats.

Riding north out of the state park we made our way to Big Sandy and the Danville road.  Danville is where we rode onto the ferry-boat to cross the river.  Soon we would be back in Middle Tennessee and on our way home.  All in all it was a great ride.  We covered some 300 miles for the day and many miles through history.  Not to mention all the wonderful memories we created to last our lifetime.

Should you want to learn more about Geocaching you can go to www.Geocaching.com.

Ride Safe,

Ronman