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The 2010 version of our Trail of Tears ride is now history. And, it was a success. We had eight bikes show up for this ride and two of them were new machines. Paul Romesburg was on his recently acquired 2008 Harley that replaced his old Vulcan and Joe Shoemaker was aboard his newly triked Wing. Nice rides both.
We pulled out of the Kroger store on time, rode the back roads as far as Middleton where we took a leg stretch. From there we took Highway 57 through Counce, across the Tennessee River then picked up highway 69 south to Holland Creek Road. Holland Creek Road by the way is a top flight motorcycling road, the best road we would be on this day. It's all curves, hills and hollers, an exhilarating finale into Waterloo.
We have not ridden to Waterloo since the two factions that started the Trail of Tears Commemorative ride started fighting amongst themselves. They claim this ride is a tribute to the Indians who were forced marched from their homeland to Oklahoma in 1830 but it seems as though it's more about a tribute to their personal ego the way they childishly split a great event into two not so great events.
There was a time when you couldn't find a place to park a motorcycle at Waterloo but we had no problem this day because half the bikes were thirty miles away in Florence. We easily motored right to a prime parking down on the lake. There were several picnic tables available to us and we also had plenty of shade to park in. As soon as we were settled everybody started dragging out Vienna sausage, chips, cola, cheese and crackers and we had a fine lunch in the shade right there on the lake with house boats and yachts bobbing in the water behind us. Perfect.....
Around three o'clock we packed up and hulled out for the Catfish hotel where we didn't have to wait to be seated for a change. After a fine meal we left for home on what would become, to me anyway, one of the worst rides ever. As soon as we turned west on Highway 64 we rode headfirst into the blinding rays of a late summer sun. It was like staring at a welder for a hundred miles. I couldn't see a thing, especially when going from sunshine into shade. And I was looking through three protective lenses too, a tinted face shield, an almost black rotating visor and a pair of sunglasses and it still wasn't enough.
We rode home non-stop and as I write this my neck muscles are still sore to the touch from holding my head in one place for a hundred miles. Actually, I was afraid to move it; afraid something I couldn't see would stop in front of me or pull out of the shadows. It was a miserable ride and I was certainly glad to get home.
We rolled into the drive at 7:00 PM and naturally the sun chose that exact time to drop behind the horizon. But overall, it was a good ride and another successful and safe one in the books for MTR.....
ROLL CALL: Paul Romesburg, Joe Shoemaker, Richard & Donna Hightower, Tim & Linda Duncan, Tod & Cindy Beers, Chat Lofton, David Elston and Brenda Crawford, Buck & Donna Perminter, Hildia Max and last but not least,...me!
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Tour Riders® 2010
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