Carolyn had to miss the Fall Color Ride this year... if she had gone, we'd have
taken the Red and White Valkyrie, she likes its Ultimate seat and Mustang backrest
and Ultimate armrests... going alone, I took Chewie.
I left in the afternoon and got to the good old Phillips Motel around 4:30 or so...
Not only was Trout Dude there, but all the hurt riders from the Meet-in-the-middle
ride were there... Bill and Trish even came on their bike
Britman's new bike was there, but he wouldn't let me touch it, or photograph it.
On Saturday morning the most of us took off down The Dragon...
The Dragon is an easy day ride from my house, but I don't come here
often. In a way, The Dragon is like a circus...
... a Roman Circus sometimes... I think a bike went off the side
here...
It sure is a good road, though...
There used to be be a river down in the valley at the end of The Dragon,
then it was a lake... now it is a river again... they let out all the water
so they could work on the dam.
So, the ride started at a famous place, and ended at a famous place - The
Cherohala Skyway... Robbinsville is nicely situated.
The color was best on the Cherohala...
The crowd seemed to be turning off into an overview, so I followed... I noticed
that Reb and Allan and Larry kind of just kept going out the other side...
We didn't stop until we got back to the Phillips Motel... where Joy (Mrs. Reba's
daughter) had been working all day to fix us a giant pot of pinto beans, fixins,
cornbread and pork roast - plenty for everyone...
Unfortunately, the whole story is that the ride took a very bad
turn about half way through... in an unsettling deja-vu kind of way...
on a really nice narrow curvy country road Foster, a Tennessee rider,
got off the side of the road and, as I understand it, cartwheeled
his Valkyrie
... Last I heard he "only" has a few broken
ribs (one of which punctured his lung) and pain in his shoulder.
Good 1st responders got there quickly, and he is in good hands now.
One of the responders who lives near by has Foster's bike safely
away in a protected place... Joe and Wimp have talked to his
wife...
I look forward to next year's Fall Color Ride, and I really enjoyed
being with all the folks again. Let's all stay safe.
-Mike
