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Rant Archive - April 2007
April 29, 2007 - PRIORITIES... AND A GREAT RIDE
Back in January I started making plans to attend the Thunder Beach Bike Rally in Panama City, Florida which is this coming weekend. Originally 12 of us had planned to make the 450 mile trek but over the weeks more and more people started dropping out for various reasons and as of last week the total was down to 6. Of course, I thought the guys that dropped out were crazy but this weekend brought a new perspective. My daughter informed me on Friday that next weekend (Same weekend as Thunder Beach... can you smell trouble?) there was a special Father/Daughter event at her school that I was not only supposed to attend but had somehow been volunteered for a starring role in the program as well. To make a long story short, after discussing most of the weekend... things came to a head today and after an hour of tears, I started to realize how important this event is to her. (I'm pretty quick...huh!?!?!) I was really looking forward to this trip but the bottom line is that my daughter is more important than a bike trip or rally so Swag will be staying in Tennessee this weekend to be with one of the loves of his life. And... speaking of Tennessee... the weather here today was unbelievable! A clear sky with temps hovering around 80 made for a near perfect day to ride so I headed Northeast this afternoon on one of those rides where I have no particular destination in mind. First, I ended up at one of our State Parks called Long Hunter and cruised around there for a few minutes. Later I somehow found myself in the heart of downtown Nashville. I rarely ride downtown but today it seemed to be calling me... and it was nice. If you've never been to Nashville, I have to say that there is something special about lower Broad. Musical history is still being written today in some of the same honky-tonks that the greats of yesterday started in and it's just way cool to grab the vibe of the area. Next I found myself on 65 South, eventually settling in the town of Brentwood where I grabbed a burger at one of my favorite places. It's called The 5 & Diner and it's like walking back into the 1950's. The staff even dresses appropriately for the era and the atmosphere is tons of fun. The burgers aren't bad either. By the time I got back home I had logged close to 100 miles on my aimless loop around Music City. In the end I felt good about my ride and I felt better that my daughter knows that she is more important to me than a motorcycle rally.
April 21, 2007 - FIRST GROUP RIDE OF THE SEASON
The one we rode with today is a group that I started nearly four years ago and in that time it has grown from 2 to 3 bikes to the point that we now have a pretty good size group of riders that participate on a regular basis. I think there were a little over 20 bikes today and it was good to re-unite with old friends after the winter layoff. And honestly, it was also good to just sit back and ride. I decided a few months ago that I would be taking a sabbatical from the leadership role this year, just to give myself a break and find a little rejuvenation and I have to say that it was nice to just ride and not have to worry about any of the details. Our route took us south of Nashville to the town of Columbia, Tennessee where we enjoyed a meal at Betty's Parkway Restaurant. The meal was decent, the Camaraderie was excellent and we logged a little over 100 miles on the beautiful backroads of Middle Tennessee.
April 18, 2007 - THUNDER ROADS TENNESSEE - MAY 2007
The May 2007 issue of Thunder Roads Tennessee should be in the stores by the first part of next week. My column in this issue recaps a recent morning run that I went on and paints a good picture of what riding should be all about... the experiences. All of my Tennessee visitors can pick a copy up at their local bike shop (if they don't have it, ask them to get it) and my out of state visitors can check it out on-line at www.ThunderRoadsTennessee.com. I've been getting some really good feedback from many of you on these articles. Thanks to all who have sent positive comments and also thanks to the surrounding states who have been consistently picking up the articles. I know Kentucky is featuring my work quite frequently and some other states have picked up a few things too. If you have Thunder Roads in your state, drop the Editor an email and ask them to pick up "Out & About With Swag" from the Tennessee publication. It would be awesome to be Nation-Wide with my little monthly column!
April 12, 2007 - THE FIRST CRUISE-IN, BIKE NIGHT OF THE YEAR
One of my favorite things about the warm weather season is the local cruise-in, bike nights that take place throughout the Nashville area. I love going to these things because you get to check out all kinds of bikes from vintage to hyper-tricked out new ones. Last year I didn't get to as many as I would have liked because of other commitments but this year I plan to change all of that. To start things off, a buddy of mine and I headed to the north side of town tonight to check out the first area cruise-in, bike night of the year. This particular one is pretty sportbike dominated so we were in the minority on our cruisers but the folks there were super-nice and we had a great time checking out the over 150 bikes on hand. It got dark on me so I didn't get any pics... just the one above with the Electra Glide (bottom left) in the midst of all the sportbikes but I can tell you that by the end of the evening I was pshyced about getting another sportbike! It's been almost 2 years since I sold the CBR and after tonight I am feeling the need to acquire another one!
April 10, 2007 - RE-PACKING THE CR250 SILENCER
Tonight I took advantage of the warming trend we are having and re-packed the Pro Circuit Silencer on The CR250. I'm quite sure the previous owner had not done this in a long while so I knew it needed to be done. It's a pretty simple job and pack only costs about 6 bucks so it's a no-brainer "preventative maintenance" task. CLICK HERE to check out pictures.
April 7, 2007 - YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!
Well, I guess I spoke to soon when I titled my last RANT. It is now a week later (9:30 am on April 7th) and the picture above proves that Middle Tennessee weather is to say the least, a bit erratic. All week long I have been enjoying mild, summer-like weather and then out of nowhere old man winter has decided to throw a late punch to my psyche by dropping temperatures by about 40 degrees. Have I ever mentioned that I HATE winter? |
Today
was a gorgeous day in Middle Tennessee and to take full advantage of the
rider friendly weather, the wife and I participated in our first group ride
of the season. If you have never been on a group ride before, I highly recommend
it. There is something about traveling down a winding road in formation with
other bikes that must be experienced by every rider. Most dealerships offer
group riding events either independently or via more organized groups such
as The Honda Riders Club of America, Gold Wing Road Riders Association or
the Harley Owners Group so you don't have any excuse for not having a group
to ride with.
