A New Personal Record

This morning I achieved a new personal record for low temperature riding. According to the bank thermometer it was 18 degrees. I was a little late leaving the house, or I could have hit 14. I will have to wait for next time to achieve that low. I have to admit, one can get a lot of attention and a lot of questions, even from strangers, when riding a motorcycle at 18 degrees. May be a good way to meet people. A man in the bank, as I was standing in line to make a deposit, wondered if it wasn't a "bit cool" riding this morning. He said he never rode his below 70 degrees!!! Why bother??? A car stopped beside me and rolled down their window and asked how the ride was. There was no lack of curiosity, and I thought I must seem somewhat crazy, that is, until I saw the UPS delivery man come in the bank WITH SHORTS ON!! Well, even I have enough sense to cover up the skin at this temperature. By noon, we were breaking the freezing point in Cookeville, and the sun was shining as you can see in the photo of the West Side, and it was actually quite nice for a ride.

Having ridden at 18 degrees with no extra heat, I am thinking I should be able to take a longer ride even in the 20's by using all my heated clothes. OR, I may even be able to push my record into the single digits, if I get the opportunity this year. I expect that would really raise some questions about my sanity.

The Big Six 0

Today is the big 6-0 for me. Yes, that's #60 birthday. No riding today. Not because it is too cool, but because Betty had a full day of pampering planned for me. The photo of Betty and I is in front of Cracker Barrel where we started the day with breakfast. After breakfast, she had a massage scheduled for me, actually for us, since she had one too. At lunch, I was surprised at Cheddar's with lunch with Becca/Eli/Jonah and Heath/Lisa/Rain; second picture. This was a really nice surprise to be with all three of my grandson's on my birthday. Nice, as well to be with Becca, Heath, and Lisa. Ryon called while we were at the restaurant. I missed seeing him, and missed Scotty as well. We had a great time with the boys all afternoon. Then, Betty surprised me tonight with a cake after choir practice. Pretty good 60th birthday, thanks to a wonderful wife and family. I will be on the bike tomorrow.

I rode to Chattanooga this morning to "help" Ryon with his bike. Not sure I was much help, as after we got it back together, we rode to lunch. No more than 2 miles down the road, his bike quits again. Here you see an unhappy rider on the side of the street. I guess there are two things that can make a rider unhappy: not being able to ride, or maybe worse, being able to ride, but the bike won't run.
Well, maybe the day was not a total loss. Ryon said he learned a lot. I got to try out my new electrically heated socks. Kept my toes toasty warm the whole trip. So with the heated socks, gloves and vest, it was a nice warm trip. Beautiful view going through the Sequatchie Valley. I stopped to take a photo of the valley but my camera phone was full, and the wind was about to blow me over, or off the side of the mountain.

Cookeville Square

Here are a couple pics from the ride around town. First is approaching the square from South Jefferson; second is from the square looking at Poet's Coffee Shop, one of my favorite early morning hang-outs (if 8:30-9:00 am can be counted as early; which it can if you are retired!). So, if you don't know Cookeville, you can see just part of this nice town. If you do, then maybe this will be somewhat nostalgic for you, unless you still frequent the same place. Anyway, enjoy.

This is pretty country

Yesterday was a great day for a ride. It started off a little cool, about 33 hear at 8:00. But it warmed up quickly. I ran some errands around town and then headed east on Hiway 70. Not many people use this road any more except for local runs. But this really is a beautiful drive, especially as you go east from Cookeville. I rode to Crossville. I was looking for a camping store which I thought I had seen there before. I couldn't find it this time. Does anyone know where it is? Anyway, that was just an excuse to ride up there. I took in some of the area around Crossville before heading back home. Total ride time as about 2.5 hours. This helps to keep the butt in shape, which I will need next year. Weather was great, traffic was almost non-existant, the road is in good shape, and the scenery can't be beat. What else can a rider ask for?
I did take some pics around town here while riding, but haven't uploaded yet. Cookeville is a pretty town, which most of us residents take for granted. I will post those later.