went for a dam ride ;j

Well, Melissa had the day off, the skies were clear of ANY chance of precipitation, the mercury was predicted to hit the 70s today (nice! especially for fall), and I need more seat time in Dad's hack'd wing. We headed out about noon with no plan in mind short of going to a parking lot and riding in circles, until I felt comfortable.

The parking lot exercise was short lived as I quickly found a comfort zone so her and I conferred on where to go and what to do with the day. She suggests a ride up to nearby Norris Dam and with a lack of any other ideas, that is where we went.

I came up with a route in my head that would put me on some twistier sections and provide the test I need. It wasn't "Dragon"-technical, but there were some tight bits involved.

I have done a LOT of reading about how to ride a hack since first getting on the thing and having it scare the crap outta me.   ; )      It is funny (ironic funny, not HaHa funny), that just about everything I have read has basically been a manual of  'what not to do' as opposed to preferred practices. I am not totally useless, I can serve as a bad example.   ; )

According to the 'experts', riding a sidecar rig with the sidecar empty is a big no-no. I have only been doing so to be able to establish some ideas what the rig wants to do and how to make it do what I want it to do without compromising others' safety.

I have also since learned the proper way to use the brakes and how to shift my weight to assist in steering.  These new-found techniques have helped me overcome the apprehension I have had since I first got on the thing and it tried to pitch me off the road.

After about 120 miles of riding, I have finally found enough of a comfort zone that I was ready for a passenger. Melissa was my first guinea pig ... errrm ... passenger.

So anyway, we head out on  US 411 over to TN-92 headed into Dandridge. The last time I mounted a motorcycle without full gear was one October morning a few years back.

It was the last time I had gotten on a bike without full gear because I had hit a deer on TN-92. Here I am some years later, wearing the same gear I had wore that morning (leather jacket, helmet, and gloves) and rode right past the same spot I hit that buck, albeit in the opposite direction. Luckily, this time no deer were involved.

I have totally gotten a rhythm down as to when to lean which way with each turn -- and more importantly, am reacting and doing so without thinking do I lean right or to the back and left? Do I apply rear brake or front brake? Should I be accelerating or decelerating? as I maneuver through the turns. Sweet! I am getting the hang of this sh*t!

We get to Norris Dam and spend at least an hour and a half there. The path out to the dam from the parking area was easily a half mile, maybe more.  I snapped some pics while there ...

 (I hate that a stitching programs warp the foreground of pictures to make the horizon fit together)

left click on this for a larger view of the classic piece of history .....

After a while, it's time to Motor-vate again! Melissa suggests stopping somewhere to get lunch. I am not really hungry, but a piece of pie and some sweet tea sounds like an *excellent* idea!

There is this little ol' country cookin' mom-n-pop style restaurant up the road from here that has ALWAYS got a full parking lot EVERY time I have passed it, so I suggest that. She is game, so that is where we go.

We get there and the lunch crowd has vacated, and honestly, this is the very first time I have EVER seen the place this empty when open. I am not hungry, but as soon as removing my helmet, I can smell their food. The olfactory senses tickled the pallet and stomach enough that now a piece of pie alone will not do. Man, it smelled good!

Melissa ordered a smoked turkey plate with two sides and I ordered a smoked ham plate with two sides with intent on sharing the meat. As soon as my plate arrived Melissa dipped into my sweet potato casserole. Damn , ya gotta watch that woman! The other side I ordered she didn't touch because she ordered some of her own -- fried mac-n-cheese (gotta love the south! we fry EVERYthing down Heah!).

Every thing was excellent, but while waiting on food, I still had a craving for pie so I had to spy the dessert menu to see what pies they offered. As I read the menu, I felt my eyebrow raise, and Melissa must've seen it as she giggled at me.

Orange Dreamsicle Cheesecake! Oh yeah baby! You KNOW I am ordering me some of that!

I somehow managed to finish my plate. The meat had a great smoky flavor to it, and the fried mac-n-cheese was pretty damned good, but the star of my plate was the sweet potato casserole.

There were chunks of brown sugar and cinnamon mixed amongst the creamy sweet potatoes. It was a textural sensation that just had the taste buds dancing.

I wasn't hungry before entering the restaurant, and I have eaten MUCH more than intended already, but the allure of the dessert menu made me gorge myself. I must say that even after eating it, it wasn't regretted, just decided that I ate lunch and supper at one sitting.   ; )

We waddled out to the bike and are headed back home, or so I thought. Again, no maps, no plan, I head south figuring to pick up TN-139 east towards home. While on 139, I come across US 25W/70 and cross the road, but somehow lose 139 and it dumped us on I-40 at the 407 mile marker.

Okay, no problem. I get on 40 east and head to the next exit and turn south to get back on 139 when I see the sign for Douglas Dam. I hadn't been there in a while so I head that way, instead of homewards.

We make it to Douglas Dam and take some more pictures ...

after that, THIS time, we head towards the house. What a great day!

Not only because I got to spend it with my wife, which is far too rare these days, but also that I gained a LOT of confidence on Dad's bike. I told him upon returning I have no problem putting him in that sidecar and taking him. Up until now, there has some apprehension, nervousness, and outright fear that I would kill him, me, or someone else .... not anymore.

I am quite pleased that I have gotten to this comfort level with a mere 200 miles under my belt since first mounting this sidecar-ring. It is sooo different than motorcycling.

However, there are still some habits I would like to break. The hack is conducive to a totally different posture than a motorcycle is.

I find myself flat footing the pegs, rather than using the balls of my toes like I am accustomed to on a motorcycle.  I have found that I have gotten lazy about not putting my feet down (no need on a 3 wheeled rig). I just hope that once I get back on a real motorcycle that I will be able to differentiate between them and not keep these habits that I have been adopting since riding the "land yacht".    ;  )



here is a link to more pics ...

http://picasaweb.google.com/edsrockin/WentOnADamRide#