1st Long(ish) Ride for me!

[phoenix63]

4.5 hours out on the bike today. YAY! I just got out and started riding at about 9:00am, heading South toward Franklin, TN (Franklin's about 20 minutes from my place). Got "lost" on a few back roads (the nice, twisty kind). Did that back and forth for a couple of hours.

Then rode down to Leiper's Fork, TN for lunch at Puckett's Grocery (local hangout for a lot of riders). Chatted with a really nice gentleman who rode a very tricked out Honda Goldwing. There were probably 20 motorcycle in the parking lot and along the street by the time I was done with lunch. He gave me a tip on taking a more scenic route on my way back home. Lots of picturesque valleys along some of the higher elevation curvy roads. Almost zero traffic... horses and cattle in their paddocks... red barns and white farmhouses.

It was beautiful.

I would have taken pictures along the way, but my camera came back from a Christmas-time trip to London (my son's college study trip) without it's memory card and the new card didn't make it here this weekend from Amazon (bummer). I really have to decide what camera I want to buy next because the sights were just too beautiful to NOT capture on film. I'm going back that way next weekend, so I'm sure I'll have my memory card by them.

Weather was great... about 88 degrees, clear and sunny skies. Traffic was relatively light this morning. I avoided the major roads around my house, and it was a pretty good day.

I'm wobbly in tight spaces and really tight curves. Need more work on that. But, I actually got the bike leaned over a little bit in a few of the curves. It's just practice, practice, practice, huh :-D

At any rate. today was my first long(ish) day on the bike. And it ROCKED! :wootrock:

[ridingAK]

:congrats:

Wow! It sounds like you found a great route! :thumbsup: I can't wait to see pics from a follow up trip.

[ImaSoftT]

OMG Phoenix I love Puckett's Grocery, they have the very best desserts in the whole state of TN. I'm so glad to hear you had a nice ride, and the getting lost is sometimes the best ridding of all. If I make it back to TN next year, maybe we can ride out to Puckett's for blackberry cobbler.:yahoo: Thanks for sharing your day with us it sure brought back some good memories for me (and sure made me hungry).

[LiLiBug]

AWESOME!!!
:smiley:

[sweptwingnut]

:clapping::clapping:

[zukilady]

:congrats:

That's just awesome, p63!

[Follow]

:clapping::clapping:

[Chem Chick]

Sounds like a ton of fun! I'm looking forward to seeing pictures. My husband always talks about wanting to ride through the mountains in Tennessee.

[phoenix63]

OMG Phoenix I love Puckett's Grocery, they have the very best desserts in the whole state of TN. I'm so glad to hear you had a nice ride, and the getting lost is sometimes the best ridding of all. If I make it back to TN next year, maybe we can ride out to Puckett's for blackberry cobbler.:yahoo: Thanks for sharing your day with us it sure brought back some good memories for me (and sure made me hungry).

Puckett's for blackberry cobbler.... that would be AWESOME! I'd love to go riding with you, when you make it back up here. :ecstasy:

[zee]

:yahoo: Sounds fabulous. Can't wait to see pictures!

:wootrock:

[Astir]

:cloud9:

:wootrock:

[RetroRider81]

congrats phoenix on your first long ride! sounds like it was wonderful!!! :)

[KansasKawboy]

Now you went and did it! You will be out riding all the time. :riding:

Glad you had a great day.

[phoenix63]

Thanks, guys! It was such a lovely day, and I can't wait to get back out there! Funny... I was ready a novel tonight, and one passage described a twisty two-lane road. I immediately thought about how much fun it could be to ride. And it's a FICTIONAL road! :lol:

[Unforgiven]

Awesome! I hate you guys with good roads. Florida has the worst roads in the country for riding. Thank God for a track nearby. We will be back in Asheville in October with the bikes for some good riding.

[lecruz]

4.5 hours? That's not long-ish...that's LONG!!! Congrats!

[Luna Tique]

Sounds wonderful I look forward to your pictures next time.:D:

Going for a "no destination ride" and getting lost along the way:wootrock: I love to flip a coin and decide left or right :ecstasy:I am glad you got a chance to chat to a rider that shared information on some great roads :perfect10:

I try never ride back the same way I went. For me discovering new roads or just riding them from a different direction mixes it up and keep things interesting making every ride an adventure :yahoo:

[msyzf2u]

:clapping::clapping::clapping:

[bekefi1]

Way to go!! :thumbup::clapping:

[kamilshka]

That's awesome, it sounds like a really relaxed yet adventurous trip, and how cool to stop for some chat with others riders along the way - perfect! And i'm with lecruz, 4.5 hours is definitely long! :D:

[phoenix63]

Thanks, guys! I want to go out on the Natchez Trace for a bit of riding in the next week or two, and I"ll probably stop by Puckett's on the way back. SOMEbody has me craving their blackberry cobbler :drool: ... yeah, ImASoftT, I'm lookin' at you...

[ImaSoftT]

Who Me??????? :envy: Please think of me as you savor that first bite. Oh yeah and enjoy your ride on the Trace also. I haven't ridden it but the cousins say it is great with a capital G.

[ridingAK]

Love the Trace! It is especially fun when it is deserted and you can ride along feeling like the only person on the planet. :cloud9:

[chienjouet]

Woot!! Woot!! Sounds like an awesome ride. AND all by yourself. That's my dream.

So, far I've done a lot of riding, but all of has been either my husband following me or I'm following him.

I bet it's an entirely different feeling, when I'm out there on my own.

Can't wait to see pictures! That landscape sounds just spectacular!

[ridingAK]

Chienjouet you will love it! As much as I enjoy riding with Nut, I find a peace when riding alone that makes it much more relaxing and allows me to be as introspective as I want.

[chienjouet]

Chienjouet you will love it! As much as I enjoy riding with Nut, I find a peace when riding alone that makes it much more relaxing and allows me to be as introspective as I want.

I'm so glad you said this. It's been my suspicion:D:.

Each time I ride I find this little added bonus I'd have never have guessed. Like this free, independent feeling that comes over me. I love that no one else can hear inside my helmet. It's the little space that's all mine.

No wonder people just love to ride, regardless of the risks.... it's...well I hate to use such a feminine term, but at times...it's enchanting; the trees buzzing by your peripheral vision, noticing the smells change and the temperature changes.:cloud9:

I'm :yahoo:hooked!

[phoenix63]

I'm so glad you said this. It's been my suspicion:D:.

Each time I ride I find this little added bonus I'd have never have guessed. Like this free, independent feeling that comes over me. I love that no one else can hear inside my helmet. It's the little space that's all mine.

No wonder people just love to ride, regardless of the risks.... it's...well I hate to use such a feminine term, but at times...it's enchanting; the trees buzzing by your peripheral vision, noticing the smells change and the temperature changes.:cloud9:

I'm :yahoo:hooked!

YES! Enchanting is exactly the word. And, since I'm a Harry Potter fanatic, I'll add "magical". The smell of the flowering trees (the magnolias are in bloom), and the water as I went by a creek, and the freshly mown grass. You don't get those scents in a car as strongly as you do on a bike. I almost feel like I'm smelling them for the first time!

@ ImASoftT, I'll take a picture of the blackberry cobbler and me for you. :D:

I've only ridden solo because... well... I have no one to ride with me (yet). The girls in my MSF course all live too far away. None of my other friends here in Nashville ride. I've a friend who told me that my life would change once I started riding. It has already, but I'm looking forward to widening my social circle, too... with others who ride... like YOU lovely people! :wootrock:

[Astir]

Oh Magnolias! You know, I was in my 30's before I saw and smelled my first flowering magnolia tree.

:drool: Blackberry cobbler. Have a second for me?

[Flight49]

:wootrock: I love riding by myself. I have done all my long rides with my husband. But, when I come home from a stressful day at work and I want to relax, I go out by myself and it is awesome because I can do what I want when I want and the direction I want! Plus, I don't have to focus on someone else. I can look at the fields, horses, birds, the smells, and just the feel of the wind and the freedom.

You will be all over the place now - :smiley:

[chienjouet]

I'm 63 and my friends think I've lost my mind.

But, my philosophy is 'Try It!!'.

I did. And I really like it. But, I'm guessing I'll gain some new friends also, as none of my friends ride, either.

[ImaSoftT]

@ ImASoftT, I'll take a picture of the blackberry cobbler and me for you. :D:

You're killing me Phoenix, I want to be in the picture too http://www.myemoticons.com/images/what-s-hot/popular/eating-pie.gifhttp://www.myemoticons.com/emoticons/what-s-hot/popular/eating-pie-025/

[Luna Tique]

Blackberry Cobbler :drool:

[Dualsport Chic]

Blackberry Cobbler :drool:

+1 :drool:

p.s. Can I have it hot & a la mode please??

[kamilshka]

Oh man this thread it making me so freaking hungry...

[phoenix63]

That's it... I'm definitely stopping for cobbler this weekend. Prepare for :LT:

[ImaSoftT]

Are you going to the one in Franklin or the one in Leiper's Fork? The only one I've been in was Leiper's Fork. Hope you have a Great ride cause I already know you're going to have a Great lunch.

[phoenix63]

Leiper's Fork. They have the best food. Somehow, it just doesn't taste the same in Franklin.

[Astir]

:yahoo: Cobbler pics! :yahoo:

[Luna Tique]

:popcorn1:

[Pawprint2104]

Delighted for you and your first long-ish ride. Those first couple of rides as a new rider are real confidence builders. :kcd: You'll be effortlessly cruisin' through those turns before you know it. :thumbsup:

And, riding burns calories and really builds up an appetite, doesn't it. Makes the cobbler extra yummy. :cloud9:

[Alcyone]

I'm 63 and my friends think I've lost my mind.

But, my philosophy is 'Try It!!'.

I did. And I really like it. But, I'm guessing I'll gain some new friends also, as none of my friends ride, either.

You didn't lose your mind. You found it!! It was right there in that motorcycle helmet all along! :D

[Pawprint2104]

Good answer! :lol:

[ImaSoftT]

:iagree:

[chienjouet]

Nice.

[phoenix63]

You didn't lose your mind. You found it!! It was right there in that motorcycle helmet all along! :D

THAT is fantastic. I think I'll borrow that one, if you don't mind Alcyone! :D: