77 Degrees and Sunny Skies

This past Sunday I was the sweep road captain for one of our chapter rides. The weather was incredible. The high was 77 degrees and the skies were clear and blue. We had some fairly new riders among us so we took it easy. Riding in a group like this helps these newer riders build their skills and gives them the comfort of knowing they aren't out that all alone. After our second rest stop we had a little reminder talk about how to ride in a group and the rest of the ride was awsome. Just a couple of simple reminders and pointers is all it took.

Our ride took us up hwy 231 N out of Lebanon to the intersection of hwy 25 at Payne's store. Travelling west on 25 we passed through some of the tornado damage from a couple of weeks ago. Even though I've worked many tornado dissasters as a Ham Radio Operator, a tornado's destructive force still amazes me.

Reaching Galatin on hwy 25 we took hwy 109 N into Portland. This is were we picked up hwy 52 east back across through some more of the tornado damaged areas. Reaching Westmoreland we stopped for a quick bite to eat. Everyone knows we live to ride and ride to eat. Just as we were getting ready to head back out one of our ol' riding pals caught up with us.

Bobby had been playing phone tag with Miss Velma all day trying to find us. I became close friends with Bobby last year as we put many thousands of miles on our scooters together. We've shared some really great times together as well as some of the ugly times too. Damn it was great to ride with Bobby again.

Leaving Westmoreland we continued on 52 down to Lafayette. Here we picked up hwy 10 back down to hwy 25 just east of Hartsville. Travelling east on hwy 25 we passed through Carthage and had a great ride along the Cumberland River for a few miles. Just passed Carthage we took 141 west back over to Alexandria were we picked up hwy 70 through Watertown.

After a short break at Cherry Valley we worked our way back down to Murfressboro to complete a wonderful ride around norhtern middle Tennessee. What could be better than spending an afternoon riding through rolling hills with a group of friends? Granted today it's raining and spitting snow and the temps are in the 30's. Ah but spring is close at hand. As Swag over at BikerSwag puts it "the dark months are over".

Ride Safe

Ronman