DDT (12)
Member
Posts: 4139
Sometimes ya just gotta go...
Winter Springs, FL - Occasionally...
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« on: April 17, 2012, 11:44:30 AM » |
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Yep, I had that old familiar itch... intensified by the notice I'd received on the phone on March 1st that I would die in two weeks if I didn't get the medicine only the guy on the phone could send to me. He had hung up on me before the conversation ended, so I don't know much else about his special elixcer... Anyway...
I'd immediately taken a road trip up to Maggie Valley right after the call... When I didn't die, I figured I was already on borrowed time, so nothing else to do but hit the road again... and the Bardstown Eat thing was coming right up. I showed up, was warmly greeted, and was introduced to several folks I'd only seen on this board before that... Good time, and good riding all the way there and around.
While there, I'd been tipped off on a BBQ place in western Kentucky, the Wood Shack in Hopkinsville. Now, I do love me some 'Q', don't ya know, so as long as I was in the neighborhood, it seemed entirely natural for me to scoot on out there and give it a try... It was pretty good, but as has been true for me on all of my 'Q' ventures, the further away from the deep south I go, the less the 'Q' seems to measure up to my palate's expectations... Texas, of course, is included in my reference to the deep south. Oh well, the really hefty portion I was served did compensate well enough to suit me... I reckon.
Well, the weather forecast was still looking good for the Scoutin' Ride thing Highbinder and SmokinJoe were conjurin' up for the following weekend, so I toyed with the idea I just might haul off and go to that too, as long as I was already out anyhow, and since I probably didn't have long to live and all...
I rolled into Clinton, TN, on Wednesday and informed SmokinJoe of my plan... To my relief, he said that would be fine... he went on to invite me over to his place the next day... He and Lucky 13 then proceeded to give me a very special gift... they washed my bike for me and even cleaned the front wheel! My bike ain't looked that good since Swoppie and TwoTone did that for me a few years back!!!
We went to Bike Night in Knoxville that evening, and we met up with Wimp, Dubs and some other riders to dine and watch some very attractive gal do a rather impressive hula-hoop demsonstration. Lots of bikes there, even some riders with Hells Angels patches... No trouble though, as there were plenty of cops all around.
Friday morning was the big day... We rode up near Johnson City and met up with Big Tom, then through Bristol and over the mountain to Shady Valley, TN. We rode right past the church where my Great Grandmother's funeral service had been held (it was the first one I'd ever attended, I was ten years old at the time) and within three miles or so of the house she and my Great Grandfather had built back at the turn of the last century... Nice remberances for me, as I'd spent parts of three summers on their farm as a boy...
We rode on to Marion, VA, after a stop at Backbone Rock, and the roads we'd taken were good enough for a special ride all by themselves... This was turning out to be a very nice outing for yours truly, and a fitting way for me to conclude my life, which was due to have ended about a month before... or so I'd been told...
Highbinder led us on a 170 mile, give or take a couple, ride that was simply awesome! Lots and lots of twisty roads with switchbacks and challenging curves up and over mountains, down through beautiful valleys and through small hamlets that all combined really told the story visually of that part of Applachia that words simply couldn't convey. Amazing... We got to see a for real coalmine, talk to locals, look around and ponder life as they know it, and as some of my own people had lived it... then back to Marion for Part II of the parking lot tire-kicking session begun the evening before...
I got home Sunday evening... pooped but grinnin' from ear to ear... My most recent ten days on the road had been extra special, and I found even more reasons to respect Highbinder, SmokinJoe, and a couple of dozen others along the way, as well...
If anyone reading this is considering goin' on the actual ride in June, let me say that you might as well go ahead and work it into your schedule... The roads, the group, and the ride leaders are all tops... It'll be the sort of ride that has the potential of making your entire year for you... perhaps even your riding career...
DDT
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Don't just dream it... LIVE IT!
See ya down the road...
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santa
Member
Posts: 866
Santa Tom
Ardmore, Alabama
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« Reply #1 on: April 17, 2012, 11:52:49 AM » |
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Glad you got home safe Bruce. I enjoyed the time spent with you.
Santa
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Dubsvalk
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« Reply #2 on: April 17, 2012, 12:43:54 PM » |
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DDT, It was good to meet you at Quaker Steak & Lube Thursday nite! Wish I could have gotten there sooner and stayed longer but I had to work the next day. I'm glad you enjoyed riding roads in my old stompin grounds in W.Va. Almost Heaven is an apt tribute to those mountains I grew up in.
Dubs
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Vietnam Veteran 1968/69
MSF Instructor
PGR
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Black Dog
Member
Posts: 2607
VRCC # 7111
Merton Wisconsin 53029
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« Reply #3 on: April 17, 2012, 01:00:15 PM » |
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Nice report Bruce... For all of us 'desk jockys', lemme tell ya, I love hearing about being able to ride! Glad ya kept a few steps ahead of the Reaper  Black Dog |
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Just when the highway straightened out for a mile And I was thinkin' I'd just cruise for a while A fork in the road brought a new episode Don't you know... Conform, go crazy, or ride a motorcycle...  |
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Oss
Member
Posts: 12886
The lower Hudson Valley
Ossining NY Chapter Rep VRCCDS0141
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« Reply #4 on: April 17, 2012, 01:10:33 PM » |
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reading of your adventures is always a real pleasure
You write in a similar style of Will Rogers (no relation that I am aware of but ya never really do know)
Look forward to your next adventure Bruce
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If you don't know where your going any road will take you there
George Harrison
When you come to the fork in the road, take it
Yogi Berra (Don't send it to me C.O.D.)
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Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005
Member
Posts: 13848
American by Birth, Southern by the Grace of God.
Beautiful east Tennessee ( GOD'S Country )
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« Reply #6 on: April 17, 2012, 01:51:01 PM » |
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Enjoyed hangin' out and ridin' with you Bruce always know you are welcome in my hood  Hope you make the June ride when we " Return To Hillbilly Highway " .  |
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 I've seen alot of people that thought they were cool , but then again Lord I've seen alot of fools. |
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LandElephant
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« Reply #7 on: April 17, 2012, 03:37:33 PM » |
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DDT,
Good visiting with you in Bardstown and hope to visit again in Marion VA.
I know that itch and I did scratch it. I know you'll understand this Norman Rockwell moment.
Left you all Sunday morning and was heading down a back road when I came upon a small community church. Common in this area. As I slowed down there was a family unloading for church. It was a Dad, Mom, and three children. The small boy was standing there dress in his best. Gray shirt, gray vest, gray pants, sneckers, and a purple tie. As he waited patiently for the rest there was an old dog with him. Black and tan and sitting like old dogs do. The young boy had his arm around the neck of the dog and stroking his throat with the other. As most of us old dogs he had his nose in the air with the look of complete contentment.
I love the back roads.
Take care and we'll cross paths again.
Charlie Morse
Land Elephant
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Michael K (Az.)
Member
Posts: 2471
"You have to admire a healthy tomatillo!"
Glendale, AZ
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« Reply #8 on: April 17, 2012, 03:48:26 PM » |
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Nice report on your 10 day sojourn, altho, I may have a concern due to the fact of your cheatin death and all, you might have messed up the odds for everybody else! Man, always thinkin of yourself!   P.S., That could be the cleanest I've ever seen your bike! |
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"I'd never join a club that would have me as a member!" G.Marx  |
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R J
Member
Posts: 13380
DS-0009 ...... # 173
Des Moines, IA
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« Reply #9 on: April 17, 2012, 04:54:54 PM » |
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Good report Bruce.
How many miles you got on your rig now?
I'm stuck on 242K, since I can't ride mine right now.
Doctor's orders and the SO, thinks his word is law.
Hope to see ya somewhere this year.
RJ.
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44 Harley ServiCar   |
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Highbinder
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« Reply #10 on: April 17, 2012, 05:26:10 PM » |
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Great ride report Bruce, glad you enjoyed the weekend for the scouting ride....I've been running into you over the years at different events and this was the first time I actually got to sit down and talk awhile, I glad you made this ride and I hope to see you again in June.... |
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fon1961
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« Reply #11 on: April 17, 2012, 07:10:07 PM » |
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Bruce,
Let's ride again soon!
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Charlie McCready
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« Reply #12 on: April 18, 2012, 05:36:59 AM » |
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Hey Bruce, I enjoyed meeting you and doing the scouting ride. Hope to see you again in June. It was good to learn that you were born in my "hood" !!! See ya again down the road !!
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RedValk
Member
Posts: 1253
Hangin' out here beats a tree on the head any day!
Titus, AL
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« Reply #13 on: April 18, 2012, 06:34:20 AM » |
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Enjoyed hangin' out and ridin' with you Bruce always know you are welcome in my hood Hope you make the June ride when we " Return To Hillbilly Highway " . ok....there's something wrong with the picture in Joe's post. i know it LOOKS.....like DDT's bike. BUT THERE IS ONE HUGE PROBLEM.....the bike in that picture looks MUCH, MUCH too clean to be his bike. What happened? Did a group of elfs come in the middle of the night and wash that thing I mean, usually....you can look at the bike and TELL the man has 4 "gigamillion" miles on it. That picture makes the bike look suspiciously clean........  |
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 RedValk/Tim Titus, AL |
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hotglue #43
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« Reply #14 on: April 18, 2012, 06:54:32 AM » |
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Yeah.... that bike don't look right!!!! The bug killer has lost it's evidence...  |
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 blue=3 times green=at least 4 times When they are all 'green'.. I'll stop counting. |
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hal47
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« Reply #15 on: April 18, 2012, 07:10:03 PM » |
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Good report Bruce really injoyed meeting you,hope to see you again soon.
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hubcapsc
Member
Posts: 16824
upstate
South Carolina
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« Reply #16 on: April 19, 2012, 04:57:01 AM » |
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Joe and Lucky 13 then proceeded to give me a very special gift... they washed my bike
What happened? Did a group of elfs come in the middle of the night and wash that thing
How dare you call Joe an elf!!!
-Mike
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Rams
Member
Posts: 16940
So many colors to choose from yet so few stand out
Covington, TN
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« Reply #17 on: April 19, 2012, 05:56:09 AM » |
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DDT,
What a wonderful adventure ride you took. I love the freedom. I gotta be honest, I didn't realize I was meeting such a legend of the Valkyrie world when we met in Bardstown. I am honored you came to the Eat, Meet and Greet and only wish I had been able to spend more time talking to you.
Ron
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VRCC# 29981
Learning the majority of life's lessons the hard way.
Every trip is an adventure, enjoy it while it lasts.
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hotglue #43
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« Reply #18 on: April 19, 2012, 06:30:25 AM » |
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DDT.... I don't know what kind of elixor was being offered....... but I do have some pretty good spider bite medicine here... .. next time yer down.... we will have ta find a spider and try it out!!!!! ! |
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blue=3 times green=at least 4 times When they are all 'green'.. I'll stop counting. |
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ChromeDome
Member
Posts: 2177
Aurora, IL.
60 miles West of Chicago!
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« Reply #19 on: April 19, 2012, 01:58:02 PM » |
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Great ride report Bruce. See you in June! |
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BigAl
Guest
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« Reply #20 on: April 19, 2012, 03:54:09 PM » |
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Yep, I had that old familiar itch... intensified by the notice I'd received on the phone on March 1st that I would die in two weeks if I didn't get the medicine only the guy on the phone could send to me. He had hung up on me before the conversation ended, so I don't know much else about his special elixcer... Anyway...
I'd immediately taken a road trip up to Maggie Valley right after the call... When I didn't die, I figured I was already on borrowed time, so nothing else to do but hit the road again... and the Bardstown Eat thing was coming right up. I showed up, was warmly greeted, and was introduced to several folks I'd only seen on this board before that... Good time, and good riding all the way there and around.
While there, I'd been tipped off on a BBQ place in western Kentucky, the Wood Shack in Hopkinsville. Now, I do love me some 'Q', don't ya know, so as long as I was in the neighborhood, it seemed entirely natural for me to scoot on out there and give it a try... It was pretty good, but as has been true for me on all of my 'Q' ventures, the further away from the deep south I go, the less the 'Q' seems to measure up to my palate's expectations... Texas, of course, is included in my reference to the deep south. Oh well, the really hefty portion I was served did compensate well enough to suit me... I reckon.
Well, the weather forecast was still looking good for the Scoutin' Ride thing Highbinder and SmokinJoe were conjurin' up for the following weekend, so I toyed with the idea I just might haul off and go to that too, as long as I was already out anyhow, and since I probably didn't have long to live and all...
I rolled into Clinton, TN, on Wednesday and informed SmokinJoe of my plan... To my relief, he said that would be fine... he went on to invite me over to his place the next day... He and Lucky 13 then proceeded to give me a very special gift... they washed my bike for me and even cleaned the front wheel! My bike ain't looked that good since Swoppie and TwoTone did that for me a few years back!!!
We went to Bike Night in Knoxville that evening, and we met up with Wimp, Dubs and some other riders to dine and watch some very attractive gal do a rather impressive hula-hoop demsonstration. Lots of bikes there, even some riders with Hells Angels patches... No trouble though, as there were plenty of cops all around.
Friday morning was the big day... We rode up near Johnson City and met up with Big Tom, then through Bristol and over the mountain to Shady Valley, TN. We rode right past the church where my Great Grandmother's funeral service had been held (it was the first one I'd ever attended, I was ten years old at the time) and within three miles or so of the house she and my Great Grandfather had built back at the turn of the last century... Nice remberances for me, as I'd spent parts of three summers on their farm as a boy...
We rode on to Marion, VA, after a stop at Backbone Rock, and the roads we'd taken were good enough for a special ride all by themselves... This was turning out to be a very nice outing for yours truly, and a fitting way for me to conclude my life, which was due to have ended about a month before... or so I'd been told...
Highbinder led us on a 170 mile, give or take a couple, ride that was simply awesome! Lots and lots of twisty roads with switchbacks and challenging curves up and over mountains, down through beautiful valleys and through small hamlets that all combined really told the story visually of that part of Applachia that words simply couldn't convey. Amazing... We got to see a for real coalmine, talk to locals, look around and ponder life as they know it, and as some of my own people had lived it... then back to Marion for Part II of the parking lot tire-kicking session begun the evening before...
I got home Sunday evening... pooped but grinnin' from ear to ear... My most recent ten days on the road had been extra special, and I found even more reasons to respect Highbinder, SmokinJoe, and a couple of dozen others along the way, as well...
If anyone reading this is considering goin' on the actual ride in June, let me say that you might as well go ahead and work it into your schedule... The roads, the group, and the ride leaders are all tops... It'll be the sort of ride that has the potential of making your entire year for you... perhaps even your riding career...
DDT
Ole Gordon and Joe live to wash a bike, you made them happy just letting them wash it. I just put a little pig snot on mine from time to time and only when salty give her a good washin. AL |
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