It was a great turn-out for the Clarksville run. It was hot, but not as hot as we had feared. I guess the slightly higher altitude and the fact that we were running down low and beside the TN river valley much of the way made for almost bare-able conditions. We found a lot of good new stuff this year by way of MapQuest and the TN Gazetteer, and they went smoothly because of my scouting trip a week before the ride, but, for some reason some of the prior years, 'must do again' roads led us to gravel and a couple of turn-around's. I'm not sure if they re-routed some roads or my notes were flawed, but I promise, in 2017 I'll do a full pre-ride before hand to eliminate all snafoos. There is just no substitute for seeing the roads personally.
We got to the hotel around 4:30 Saturday, which allowed plenty of time to make a beer run and hang out around the pool before heading to Keith's Mom's house for the viewing to the Huck Memorial Tape. Keith's Mom, Glenda and his step-father, Walter were doing well, but like all of us, not getting any younger. Logan, Keith's youngest son, and his daughter, Laura drove up by truck, and without Logan's electronic knowledge we couldn't have gotten the tape shown. Unfortunately, we didn't get away from Keith's Mom's home until 8:30, and after dinner at Ruby Tuesday's we all got sleepy, plus it was dark by then, I wasn't sure I could find Rusty's home, so I called Rusty to let him know we weren't coming by to hang out and see his bike collection. He suggested coming by in the morning, but our schedule didn't allow for it after visiting Keith's resting place and trying to get an early start back to try and beat the heat on the way back to Memphis.
Rusty told me to tell everyone that his offer stands anytime, plus, he said he would be happy to show us all of the good roads around the Clarksville area should we want to make a special trip up there before 2017. I think everyone that went this past weekend will tell you that West TN roads are real gems, and as good as AR and East TN's roads. So, should we want to do a, "Rusty's only", trip before 2017, the combination of new roads seldom ridden and Rusty's awesome bike collection (plus, he said he has an awesome view from his back deck), may be worth a special trip up there).
As in all past trips to Clarksville, Sunday morning on the way back we stopped by early to visit Keith, catch him up on the latest of motorcycle developments, and tell him how much he is missed. Fortunately, Keith is the only MSSR member to make the ultimate sacrifice, however, we got to looking around and 3 three of us standing there, Rick, Matt, and me all have nerve damage and came pretty close to joining him!
Two cordings happened on the way home, Chris Noland and Bill Miles. But thanks to Troy's 'corded bike pickup service' for Bill and Chris's girl friend with Chris's trailer, everyone got home safe and sound.
Next year the ride is a 4-day (2 up, 2 back) trip to East TN where Keith died near Deals Gap. Mark your calendars for the weekend closest to July 20th. to enjoy the benefit of us fine-tuning 14 years of great roads mid-state TN on next years 2016 Huck Memorial Ride.
