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Here are some photos from recent day trips or just riding around. All
of the images are links to larger photos. Click the image to view the large photo. The large
image will open in a new window on most browsers. Web sites for destinations that have one may be
visited by clicking the link below the photo or in the text of the section.
Many of the sections will show GPS coordinates in the title. I try and remember to save the
coordinates when I arrive at a site, but sometimes I forget to do so. In those cases I get
the coordinates from the GPS software on my computer and show them as "+/-" to denote that they
are not exact.
Most of the photos were taken by me, but some were taken by friends and other riders. ALL PHOTOS ARE COPYRIGHTED
AND MAY NOT BE USED FOR ANY PURPOSE WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE OWNER
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January, 2010 |
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Yeah, January. The whole stinking month of January ;( As I write this on January 29 I have a whopping total of
208 miles on a bike this month. Of course, looking at the bright side, that's 78 miles farther than I rode in
December! This has really been a cold, wet, sloppy winter and riding a motorcycle much has just plain been out of
the question. It snowed about 4" today and the forecast is for another 4" or so overnight. By Sunday morning
the temperatures will be in single digits again. Note that I said "again". We have already seen single digits
more than once this year, and for several days this month the temperature never got about 20°. While that might
be balmy weather in parts of the country it isn't around here. So, for me, not much riding since November.
I have gotten out though, just not on my bikes. I've shot 1,600 photographs this month, a few of which were even
pretty decent, so even though my bikes are sitting idle waiting for warmer (or at least drier!) weather my camera has
not been idle. I've spent a lot of time at Centennial Park taking photos of the birds and ducks there, as well as
Radnor Lake. I also visited the Lane Motor Museum here in Nashville and took a number of photos of the
snowfall. As I said, I have been getting around and enjoying myself, just not on a bike.
Centennial Park Photos
Radnor Lake Photos
Lane Motor Museum Photos
Snowfall Photos
At some point this cold, wet winter is going to end and I can get back on a motorcycle. I've got a lot of miles to
make up and a lot of places I want to visit. For now though I'll leave the bikes on the battery tender and just play
with my camera until the weather decides to give us a break.
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February, 2010 |
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Yeah, February. The whole stinking month of February ;( Much like January this has been a really
lousy month for riding. In fact I didn't even get as many miles in this month as I did in January! I
haven't checked my odometers but I think it's somewhere around 100 miles for the whole month.
The only bright spot the whole month was the weekend of 2/20-2/21, and that's when I got the 100 miles
in. It was a beautiful weekend and the first time we have seen temperatures in the 60's since
November, I think. We got about 6" of snow on January 31 followed by several days of really cold
temperatures for this part of the country. The highs wree around 25 for several days with lows at
night in the single digits. As I write this on February 23 there are still piles of snow in some
parking lots left over from that one.
Oh well, March is coming I think.
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March 6, 2010 - Old Stone Fort - Manchester, TN |
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Saturday - March 6, 2010
Finally, a decent weekend is in the making! This is only the second weekend this year that we've been
able to get out and enjoy the weather a little bit. Mid-50's with clear skies is so much preferable
to gray skies and mid 20's.
Last weekend I drove to Old Stone Fort State Park in Manchester, TN to take photographs of Blue Hole
Falls. I didn't realize that there were two relatively decent waterfalls until I got back home so
this weekend I rode my VFR back to get photos of the second water fall. A few of the photos are
included below and there are a few more, as well as photos of Blue Hole Falls, on
This Page of my site.
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Big Falls
Old Stone Fort State Park
Manchester, TN |
Big Falls
Old Stone Fort State Park
Manchester, TN |
Big Falls
Old Stone Fort State Park
Manchester, TN |
Big Falls
Old Stone Fort State Park
Manchester, TN |
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Sunday - March 7, 2010
I rode my V-Strom down the Natchez Trace Parkway today because, once again, the weather was
fantastic! After the cold and gloom and rain and snow of the past 6 weeks it just felt
so great to get out and ride without freezing.
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I'd like to point something out though. To the left is a photograph of a plague mounted on a granite
pedestal at the Gordon House along the Natchez Trace Parkway. I took the photograph in November, 2009
so the plaque had been there for 18 years.
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Here's a photograph of the same plaque today. Obviously something is missing. I seriously
doubt that the brass plaque fell off or got up and walked away or was removed for maintenance. I
suspect that some worthless prick stole it.
It's absolutely amazing what some people will do these days. Why some idiot would think it's "Cool"
to steal a plaque from a historic site is beyond me. I guess whoever it was felt it was more important
for them to have it than for everyone to see it, or perhaps they felt it would be more useful hidden in their
house than mounted on the granite pedestal where it belongs. Some people are just plain worthless.
On the other hand perhaps it will return one of these days. I'm not going to hold my breath though.
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March 27, 2010 - Natchez Trace Parkway
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April 3 & 4, 2010 - Natchez Trace Parkway
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April 10 & 11, 2010 - Out and About
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Saturday - April 10, 2010
An absolutely fantastic weekend is forecast for us this weekend. I didn't ride far but I did get out and
ride to Springfield, and then just putter around town for a while. I stopped at Centennial Park for a few
minutes, and I stopped at my office for a little while. Fantastic riding weather for a change.
After the winter we have had I am certainly glad to see the colors of spring return once again. During late
winter I get so depressed and tired of seeing nothing but gray skies and brown trees and foliage. Once the
colors start to come out again I feel like I can survive once again. Even a Dandelion is a welcome sight!
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Sunday - April 11, 2010
As far as the weather goes today was a repeat of yesterday. Blue skies, sunshine, mild temperatures. I
rode down the Natchez Trace Parkway again since that is one of my favorite riding areas. It's quiet, it's
relaxing, and I can think about things that are on my mind and just enjoy the ride. Plus, as can be seen in
the following photos and they dozens of others on my web site, it's a very scenic place to ride as well.
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There were a number of others out on two wheels enjoying the weather as well.
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There are several photographs of bicyclists on the Natchez Trace Parkway on this page. Scroll up and take a quick look
at them, I'll wait. Notice anything wrong? Probably not, and apparently several of the people in the photographs
don't either so I'll point it out: The Natchez Trace Parkway has published rules for riding bicycles on the Parkway. Two
of those rules are: 1) Keep RIGHT, and 2) Ride SINGLE FILE. Now scroll up through those photographs again and see how
many are right and how many are wrong. Especially the guys riding THREE wide all the way over to the center line.
Most of the time these people are completely oblivious of traffic coming up behind them. They will not drop into
single-file, they will not move over. They ARE breaking the law and by doing so they are endangering themselves
and the traffic on the Parkway. Sooner or later someone is going to get badly hurt because of them. It isn't
much fun popping over a hill and finding your lane completely blocked with bicycles going about 10 mph.
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April 17 & 18, 2010 - Out and About
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May 8, 2010 - B, B, B & B
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May 29-31, 2010 - Out and About
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Saturday - May 29, 2010
There has been quite a bit going on lately, and while I have been out I haven't been riding a lot. There is an
exhibit of Dale Chihuly glass art at the Cheekwood Botanical Gardens in Nashville, and I have been there several time
Taking Photographs. I have
also been to the Tennessee Renaissance Festival twice
Taking Photographs (and I may go
one more time tomorrow). Last weekend I did get out and ride to Ft. Donelson at Dover, TN but I never got around
to listing that here.
Which brings us to this weekend, one that has a good chance of rain every day. I rode to Murfreesboro today to try
and get a new National Park Passport Stamp at
Stones River National Battlefield but the place was literally packed. I couldn't even find a place to park a
motorcycle so I decided to return later. I stopped at one of the memorials and took a few photographs and then
cut across to Franklin and thence to the Natchez Trace Parkway. Lots of motorcycles on the Parkway today, they
actually outnumbered the bicycles, I think.
A big 100 mile loop on my VFR that really felt good.
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Monday - May 31, 2010
Monday, Memorial Day, I rode to Lynnville, TN and visited the Lynnville Railroad Museum. I'm sure it's a cool
place if you are into railroads, but I prefer riding so I didn't stick around very long.
One thing that struck me as unusual, since I live in Nashville, is that when I arrived the museum was open but there
was not a soul there. Leave something unlocked in Nashville and it will be empty when you come back. Leave
something unlocked in Lynnville and it's apparently pretty safe. That says a lot for their town, and I'm envious.
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Since it was in the vicinity (Hey! I consider 30 miles away to be in the vicinity!) I cut over to the Natchez Trace
Parkway and rode it about 60 miles back into Nashville. 175 miles on the clock finally, and it felt great to be out!
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June 5-6, 2010 - Out and About
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I got out and rode both days this weekend but didn't go anywhere to speak of. Summer has blazed into Tennessee
with a vengeance. It has been around 90° for most of the past week and the humidity has been in the 65% range
making thoughts of helmets, boots, jackets, and gloves fall way down on the list of things I enjoy. I get home
from riding and sweat is pouring off of me in torrents. I refuse to ride without my protective gear, but I do have
to admit that it takes some of the fun out of riding. As long as I can keep moving everything is fine, but unfortunately
I have to stop for traffic and then it gets hot quickly.
I did get out and ride about 75 miles each day though. Saturday I had to get some work done on my VFR and when I
left the Honda shop I rode around for a while just to get some fresh air. Sunday morning I got up and tried to beat
the heat by leaving early (as in around 7:30). It helped but not a great deal. I rode into town and took some
photographs of the old Marathon Motor Works
facility, and then I rode to Murfreesboro to pick up another
National Park Passport Stamp. All told,
maybe 150 miles or so for the weekend but it still felt good just to be out riding.
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The Rest Of June, 2010 - Out and About
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July, 2010 - Out and About
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July was an utter waste from a riding standpoint. I rode a whopping total of 550 miles this month
and very few of them actually fell into the "Fun" category, they were more "Just Riding". Like
most of June I got out and rode early in the morning, mostly on the Natchez Trace Parkway, because by
midday the heat indexes were horrible. We have seen afternoon heat index values of 105 to 118
degrees most of the month, and that just takes the fun out of riding for me. August is not looking
any better, and the first few days are forecast to be right at 100° with our accompanying high
humidity.
Hopefully the fall will be better, I'm really getting tired of hot weather. We had a very nice
spring but some personal issues kept me from riding much. I complain about the cold in the
dead of winter and I complain about the heat in the dead of summer but I guess that's human
nature. I love to ride in the spring and fall because the weather is comfortable. I'm
ready for fall to get here now.
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August 8, 2010 - Downtown
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October 30, 2010 - Trees Along The Trace 2010
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End of Year
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The normal interpretation of the word “Memorable” is one that brings to mind times of joy and happiness. Memories
that one allows to surface to enjoy a time or event over and over again in their mind. In reality “Memorable”
simply means something easily remembered. Admittedly this year has been a "memorable" one for me, in the
strictest definition of the word, but most of the memories are not something that I choose to recall and enjoy. Rather
I would prefer to consign them to the back of my mind where they can be forgotten.
I only rode 5,000 miles this year. That averages to about 96 miles a week but in reality most of them were during
the spring months. I rode very little during the summer, fall, and winter months for various reasons of my own. The
interest was not there, the lure of the road was not there, so much of the time I chose not to ride my bikes.
I did get out on weekends and take some photographs, slightly over 14,000 of them as a matter of fact, but they were all in
the local area. Most of them may be found on
This Page of my site.
Hopefully 2011 will be a better year for me. There are still a lot of miles to roam and many places still calling my
name. I still have my bikes, I still have the urge to get out and ride, and hopefully 2011 will allow me to do that.
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| Copyright © 1997-2024, Scott A. Craig, All Rights Reserved |
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