It's So Flat, and So Straight

So, I've taken to using motorcycleroads.com to look for rides. The ride I did today was in the bottom 10% for Ohio, but goddamn... that anyone thought this was an especially noteworthy ride?  I've taken shits that were more exciting.

Here's The Rocinante, parked at my "scenic" destination. A municipal park, an hour west of my location. I fueled up on the way, as the one gas station where my Ohio Lottery points count towards free fuel was on the way, here. I only had two gift cards, both with about $1 credit on them, so after gassing up to the tune of $2.01, I was on my way!

After docking The Rocinante and walking up a steep hill, I was at the bottom of another steep hill. I need the cardio, so up I go.

Fraboulous joy -- a roadway bridge. Hiking for 10 minutes, into... the somewhat-manicured rural... greenery. This was visible from the top of the hill depicted in the prior photo.

Fifteen minutes later, I arrived at what three park markers assured me was the "scenic overlook." Um. Yeah. About that. I've seen more scenic ditches filled with mosquitoes and tadpoles.

Walking back, I notice Escape Stairs. As in, "God, get me away from this tick-infested hellscape of a completely non-interesting nature."

Well, it was a nice ride. I saw soybeans on my left for miles, and corn on my right. Then, I saw miles of corn on my left, and soybeans on my right. My grandchildren will tell this story for their entire lives, I'm sure of it.

9/9/16

First scooter ride since November, 2014. First scooter ride in Washington. 2003 Honda Ruckus. Yes, I'm a heart patient, and I ride.

Scootnashville Saturday Social Scramble

Glorious morning, feeling more like September in Nashville than August!  75°F upon leaving Smyrna @ ~9:50 a.m., and little to no humidity! This is odd. Above: Ed and Dan converse al fresca at Eighth and Roast.

Ross welcomes all, and explains the lack of a route, and the non-lack of ride rules.

Ed is The Man.

These ladies are also The Mans.

"Git yer helmets on, effers!"

Bomber art on a modern Vespa.

The coots pull into a spot across from the Percy Warner Golf Course, to receive n00b instructions from Rossifer.

Ancient Mayan architecture. Left by aliens. From space.

I like stone walls.

Wanda, with Nashville down in the hole behind her. Luke Lea Overlook, in Percy Warner Park.

The well-stocked Wanda.

Repost from the Catblog

Wink is deceptively simple... for morons, apparently. If I hadn't seen this screen 100 times since Friday evening, I wouldn't have had to viciously cockpunch that old man for innocuously uttering "uh-oh" in my presence, today.  ;)

Eighth and Roast's hipster/quasi-vegan (not) biscuits are small, pricy and delicious.

Landlady felt guilty, gave me this.  :)

There are good people doing good works in Nashville. Click to, well, you know. h/t Ed.

Honda kicks major ass, forever and always, ramen.

Mormons can  be people, despite the majority who present as advanced androids with can opener personalities.

Awww, KITTEH!

Awww, HOPPY BEER!  I want the 12pk/2-flight "Deconstructed" set... brewmaster preparatory classes!

Steve is a fellow Smyrnan, rides a kickass Vespa 300ie Super and knows some awesome backroads in Roofie County. Also?  Hell of a Nice Guy, and newish friend. Here's our ride today, map junkies!

Steve and I are considering a counter-club alternative to Nashville's The Snakes SC. That would be the Volunteer Scooter Cooter Collective of Middle Tennessee. Must be age 40 or over to enter. And if your main ride is Chinese, under 100cc or pink and/or flowery, you must have a visible tattoo.  ;) Face/neck, preferably.

GoodYear is spying on me. I knew I shouldn't have started with the Michelins and the Wink mesh net.
.

1P1P: No-One-Cares Bear

It's a bit Creepshow, really. Enhanced with Google photo editing tools, of course.

Independent Lens

I got out for a perfect ride, today. Given the rear tire situation (to be remedied Monday!), it needed to be close to home. I had to get out and enjoy this 84°F day without humidity  and bright sun, though. Gregory Mill Park, 2.4 miles away (and on the way back from the ATM) was perfect.

Three parks within a 3-mile radius! Time to explore one of them.

Just a few feet from the walking path, is what I assume Google Maps calls "the dam." A peaceful pool of water formed by Stewart's Creek and these rocks. A nice day to visit, as most people are at the shelters, grilling out, or at the splash pad at the northern end of the park. One woman was there, and saw me whip out the LG, and said, "I was just leaving!  I know you'd like some good photos without people in them." Okay, sure, but I don't mind, either way.

The spillway. NOICE.

It's like something out of a movie. Breathtakingly beautiful, IMO.

Here's some panoramic views of the park:

It Was More Awesomer

... than Google Street View would have you believe. Jason led Steve & me through a ride south of town, always skirting the icky boundaries of Brentwood. Lots of nice ridin' down there, though. We took Granny White Pike south into Brentwood, and then ended up on Murray Ln, then to Holly Tree Gap Rd., S. Berry's Chapel Rd., N Berry's Chapel Rd., etc. Map.

Behind The Cupcake Bus

'Nuff said.

Today's Random Road Debris

A child's shoe. This made me sad for some reason.

Milled? CHEWED.

The state is chewing the road surface of Murfreesboro Rd. just SE of Bell Rd. (as of today) all the way to the Rutherford County line (La Vergne). GROOVY PAVEMENT. Just a heads-up for y'all who like to avoid that kind of stuff. It makes me a little nervous, but I'm getting used to it at 50MPH.

Two PCXii!

From our Percy Warner Park ride on July 20, after the Saturday morning coffee klatch. These photos courtesy of Mark, our new pal who pulled up just  as we were pulling out for the ride on his brand new Honda PCX 150 (still has drive-out tags on it!). He and his wife, Melissa came to last night's scootnashville meet-up at Pizza Perfect -- welcome, new friends!

Nice to have two PCXs in the scootnashvile family, at last.  :)

Friday Night

A Short Flick by Jeffraham

It's boring, and mostly deals with some of what I do at work, but it has scooter moments, and really great tunes by Tuna. Rated PG-13 for language.

Closest Call Yet

Photo used by Creative Commons license, courtesy of Fort Meade.

Riding home from work, yesterday, scant blocks from the house, I had a very close brush -- literally -- with a bad, bad accident.

This week, I had already avoided our (Wanda and me) going down on a wet road, taking a right turn on an oil patch. I was almost to work Tuesday morning when this happened. I instinctively put down my right foot when the rear tire slid left, righting the bike through the turn, but at the cost of hobbling into work, and drawing the concern of my co-workers. Turns out nothing was seriously wrong... a mild bruise, and no pain an hour later.

Thursday night was different. There could have been two serious injuries, had slightly less distance been between Wanda and a teen who was paying a lot of attention to his ball handling skills, and very little attention to the traffic stream into which he had decided to step.

I'm guessing that if he had been 2" closer, my right handlebar would have caught the fabric of his t-shirt. I was riding west, heading home, so the sun was in my eyes. I was unaware of him even being  on the sidewalk until I was within 20 yards of him, and that was just about the time he decided to step right into the street. Directly in my path.

My heart leaped into my throat.

"Brake or swerve" didn't have time to enter my mind at 35MPH. Instinct took over, and decided "swerve" was the ONLY possible course of action, and it turned out to be the correct one. A hard  lean to the left, and a deca-second later all I heard was "Daaaaymn!" and the reflection of my exhaust note far too close for comfort on my right.

I had to concentrate to keep the post-adrenaline surge from allowing my body to purge itself of what remained of my lunch at that point.

I got off the bike a minute later, having parked at home, and was shaking like a leaf. I needed a drink, and then, sleep.

ErrMehGerd

Holy carp, has spring finally  arrived?!  Hells yeah!

We'll be rockin' tornado warnings by week's end, yeah. Kickin' it southeast style.

I rode home today, and saw eleventy-hundred motorcycles and several scooters on the way. 77°F, and mostly sunny @ 5 p.m., so even the wimpy Harley riders were out in full-force. With their fake DOT helmets, an' all.

Me?  I'd rather ride than talk about  riding.  ;)

Off to dodge the pollen. Latah!

Suck It, Ken Burns

Now, go register!

Oh My

Good ride, today! I got ahead of the other six riders, and pulled off to get some photos of them coming at me down Old Charlotte Road.

Brady (L, blue), Ross (R, grey), Glen, Michele & Ed roaring down a nice curvy stretch of OCR.

Brady pulls off, and Glen starts to, as I madly wave them on.

Michele & Ed are not falling for the "pull off" trick.

Ed gives the thumbs-up.

Of course, it didn't take long for them to find a side road to pull off to wait for "Fearless Leader" to jump back into pole position (they weren't sure where they were going, heh).

Taking a quick break at the end of OCR @ Sam's Creek Road.

Glen and Michele share a chuckle as Ed enters the frame.

Ed, Graham, Brady, Glen and Ross @ Lakeview Market. Graham's scooter (the white one) is actually a Vespa!

Well, so is Ross'. His badge is magnetically attached, as is the rally graphic. The "DON'T PANIC" is a decal, and matches his tattoo. It comes from some obscure, 20th Century novel, I hear. Something to do with towels.

Brady's funkified Stella 2T. Which actually used to belong to a guy named Funky. Well, that's the only name I ever heard for him. Not sure what that was all about.