The Natchez Trace Ride....Thank's

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

A special thanks for everyone who joined us on this ride . WOW what a beautiful weekend we had the weather for both days could not have been ordered any better with abundant sunshine nice cool temps and dry roads the entire 445 miles of The Natchez Trace .Strider made a post about Fourtyniner ( Jeff Wilson ) going down after hitting a deer about 20 miles from Natchez, Mississippi on The Trace friday evening. Friday we did get wet and Jeff was just ahead of us as we came upon the crash site with only a couple other folks who had stopped in cars to help him.I've talked with his wife and son both and Jeff got busted up pretty good with broken ribs , broke collar bone and the worse is the head trauma with bleeding on the brain.Please keep Jeff in your thoughts and prayers...Many of you folks have met Jeff he was at the Cheaha Rally this year and both he and his wife rode with my group when we did The Tree House Ride this year.We hooked with hubcap ( Mike Marshall ) in Resaca , Georgia on the way down thursday and took a ride over to The Confederate Cemetery in Resaca giving Highbinder ( Don ) and Lady Draco ( Tracy ) time to catch up with us ridin' down from Virginia.There were 6,100 combined casualties at Resaca: 3,500 for the Union and 2,600 for the Confederacy.





Thursday's weather was beautiful as well and we did'nt hit rain until well into the ride on friday to Natchez.We was within a hundred miles of Natchez when the turd floater hit us and I'm sure the wet road was a factor in Jeff going down along with the deer strike.The lady working with Jeff is a RN who stopped to help the other young lady in the white pants is the first on the scene and is also going to nursing school.Jeff's bike faired much better than he did in the crash it may have bented the left fork if so thats the worse damage along with bent handlebars all the left side controls and engine guard.. We stood  the bike up as you see in the picture ...It fired right up.



I took pictures of the deer and on second thought made the call not to post them here I will say he almost cut it in half.

Saturday morning we had ( 2 ) Goldwings ( 1 ) Spyder and ( 24 ) Valkyries rollin on The Natchez Trace.





Strider's post on the saturday ride covered The Windsor Ruins very well so I'll just post a few pictures along with a link if you're interested.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor_Ruins









The man the legend and in this photo the thorn between two roses   DDT ( Bruce ) now has 406,000 miles on his Tourer if there's any out there with more miles I've never seen or heard of them.



Again I'd like to thank everyone that made the ride it was a outstanding group of riders and I would ride with any of you again in fact I hope to do so  

I also want to thank my friend Punisher ( Allan ) for helping me set this ride up and being road captain on both days of the ride.

Please remember Fourtyniner ( Jeff Wilson ) in your thoughts and prayers.

[sugarbee]

We enjoyed every minute of it.  We enjoyed riding back with Flamingo Babe yesterday.  We stopped at the casino in Philadelphia and of course Beekeeper won some on the slot machine.  Had enough to pay for the lunch buffet. 

Awesome time with some great folks.  Looking forward to the next ride. 

[RTaz]

Looks like you guys had some fun ...(besides the unfortunate crash) ...Just got back on two wheels Joe ... looking forward to riding with you someday........

[thumper]

Great pictures and great report, Joe. 

Very sad to hear of Jeff's accident.  I was at Cheha so I would probably recognise him if I saw him.  I wish him a speedy recovery.

Sounds like you guys had a great ride.  The Windsor Ruins look incredible....hope to get to see them someday.

Glad you got home safe.

See you in October....if not sooner.

[big turkey]

I remember Jeff when on the ride in our Stomping Grounds he lost a Camera near Lake Norris and Norris Dam.

Did not get his picture though on the road , they were coming by too fast.

Gordon spotted a Deer on the side of the road today and I never saw it, monster Doe about to take a leap.

Glad she stayed put till we got by, on the Devil's Triangle.

Hope Jeff is out of the Hospital soon.

Big Al

[Strider]

Thanks Joe for putting this ride together bro!  Great group of people and nice ride!  Punisher did an awesome job leading the ride.  Hotel was great and a great price for what you got - couldn't have asked for a better hotel to start out with.

Thanks again - great ride with good people! 

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Thanks Joe for putting this ride together bro!  Great group of people and nice ride!  Punisher did an awesome job leading the ride.  Hotel was great and a great price for what you got - couldn't have asked for a better hotel to start out with.

Thanks again - great ride with good people! 

I'll agree 100 % about the Isle of Capri Casino and Hotel those folks are some of the best I've had the pleasure of dealing with. I would recommend them to anyone wanting a nice clean place to stay.The lady I was dealing with knocked off $30.00 on a double and $20.00 on a single giving our group a flat rate of $69.00 for both double and single.

[Strider]

And they never complained once about us working on the bike right in front of the hotel.  Or my seat over on the bench or anything.  Never complained about the bikes parked under the overhang - as far as I know - they never complained about anything.  And the room was the largest I think I have ever stayed in on the road.

Plus the little lady who drove the shuttle van was cool to boot.  Even drove it with fingerless biker gloves on.

Thanks again, my friend.  Good ride!!!!!

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

And they never complained once about us working on the bike right in front of the hotel.  Or my seat over on the bench or anything.  Never complained about the bikes parked under the overhang - as far as I know - they never complained about anything.  And the room was the largest I think I have ever stayed in on the road.

Plus the little lady who drove the shuttle van was cool to boot.  Even drove it with fingerless biker gloves on.

Thanks again, my friend.  Good ride!!!!!

The little lady in the shuttle bus also did a beer run to the store ....She was cool 

[ChromeDome]

Thanks for the ride report Joe .... I was hoping to make this but things just didn't work out for that to happen.

See you in Robbinsville!

Prayers & Good Thoughts for Jeff.

[Ice]

Hey Joe,

Awesome ride we missed AGAIN  but at least we were able to get a few good miles in, we will see you in a month though, looking forward to it.

Wishing Jeff a speedy recovery our thoughts are with him.

Your Reeedneck German Friend, Yuri

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Great pictures and great report, Joe. 

Very sad to hear of Jeff's accident.  I was at Cheha so I would probably recognise him if I saw him.  I wish him a speedy recovery.

Sounds like you guys had a great ride.  The Windsor Ruins look incredible....hope to get to see them someday.

Glad you got home safe.

See you in October....if not sooner.

We can ride down when you get to feeling better Paul and hit both the Windsor Ruins and the Vicksburg Battlefield.

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Thanks for the ride report Joe .... I was hoping to make this but things just didn't work out for that to happen.

See you in Robbinsville!

Prayers & Good Thoughts for Jeff.

I was wonderin' why you never made reservations....You missed a good one Thom...Lookin' forward to ridin' with you again on The Fall Color Ride....Bring It...LET'S RIDE  

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Hey Joe,

Awesome ride we missed AGAIN  but at least we were able to get a few good miles in, we will see you in a month though, looking forward to it.

Wishing Jeff a speedy recovery our thoughts are with him.

Your Reeedneck German Friend, Yuri

You will love the Carolina mountains Yuri I'm just hoping for nice dry roads and peak fall colors.See you next month on The Fall Color Ride...Bring It...LET'S RIDE 

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

Looks like you guys had some fun ...(besides the unfortunate crash) ...Just got back on two wheels Joe ... looking forward to riding with you someday........

Whenever we can I also look forward to sharin' the wind with you   

[Smokinjoe-VRCCDS#0005]

We enjoyed every minute of it.  We enjoyed riding back with Flamingo Babe yesterday.  We stopped at the casino in Philadelphia and of course Beekeeper won some on the slot machine.  Had enough to pay for the lunch buffet. 

Awesome time with some great folks.  Looking forward to the next ride. 

See y'all in Oct. Donna