Happy Hollerpalooza Vintage Show Oct.27th

Once again it's time for the Annual Happy Hollerpalooza Street Fair, and once again Cycleblend.com and the Time Warp Vintage Motorcycle Club will be putting on the Vintage Motorcycle show. Each year the show has been a huge part of the fair, and we hope that this year will be no different. As always, it doesn't cost anything to show your bike, and if you do bring down your 25 year or older bike, you'll even get a free Hotdog and drink! How can you beat that!
Show up between 10:30 and 1:00 to get registered. For those who trailer their bikes down there is parking behind the Time Warp Tea Room.
Each class (American, British, European, Japanese, and Old Dirt) will be participant judged, and there will be the Peoples Choice Award, voted on by the public. The coveted Sprocket Trophies will be given out at 3:00pm.

Dual Sport Riding - It's all about the exploring

I've had an extra set of wheels mounted with some dual sport tires for my KTM for a long time, but most of the miles I had on them, which weren't many, were on asphalt and gravel. This past weekend we decided to go out and try to find some new trails, so armed with a map and a GPS we started off on trails and roads unknown, somewhere in Scott County near the Kentucky state line. After starting on asphalt, we turned on a freshly cut dirt road (evidently made for a gas line), and after about 4 miles we spotted an unmarked, but apparently somewhat used, trail. Hey, we came to explore. "Lets see were it goes" was said more than once, often followed by, "I guess we should go the other way"
Here is what I have learned about dual sport tires. If its dry, anything works pretty good, when the trail gets a little slimy, you'll pray to find a set of worn out knobbies on the side of the trail. I was able to get by with the tires I had, and the rear IRC actually did a lot better than I thought it would. I only fell once.

After several miles of some pretty tough trails things started opening up a little bit. We actually found some really neat mountain top fields (old reclaimed strip mines I believe), and the map and GPS combination kept us from feeling completely lost. I never felt like we couldn't find our way back out, or at least to a gravel road. Keep in mind that most of the mining roads aren't on maps, or on your GPS.

 
Out in the middle of nowhere we ran across a young guy on a 140cc Kawasaki who was out doing what any 13 year old who lives in the mountains and owns a dirt bike would do, ride the wheels off of it. Here I was whining and crying about being on Dual Sport tires and then I looked at his. They were so bald you could see the air inside! I shut up and just rode from that point on.

 

 It had been a while since I had been out riding trails and roads that I had never been on, and didn't know where they went, and it made for a fun day. It also made me realize that there are a lot of places to ride that I have never thought about before.

17th Annual WIngs Across Tennessee Sept 14th 15th

This Friday the "Wings Across Tennessee" motorcycle ride will be starting their 500 mile ride in Bristol Tennessee and riding all the way to St. Judes Childrens research hospital in Memphis to deliver yet another huge donation. This is an annual event hosted by the Tri-Cities Wings chapter of the GoldWing RoadRiders Association (GWRRA). They hold various fund raisers throughout the year, and present their donation at this ride every year. 
The ride is open to all motorcycles, and everyone is invited to ride along as far as they wish. The ride will stop in Knoxville for lunch on Friday at "The Cove" park in Farragut. People can feel free to come by and make donations that the riders will deliver.  For more information on the ride go to www.stjudeswingsacrosstn.com (look under "events) , or call Tom Jarrell 423-383-0339 

The Southern Dozen - 12 Great Rides

 

 I stumbled across the "Southern Dozen" motorcycle rides while in Johnson City, Tn on business. As I opened the flier I found a really simple, well put together, group of maps showing day rides based out of Johnson City.  The flier has "Johnson City Convention and Visitors Bureau" on the back, so I'm assuming that's who puts it out. I also suspect that the creation of this booklet has some help by some serious motorcyclist. Johnson City has recently been host to the BMW National Event, and the Motorcyclist Sport Touring Association's annual ride. There are lots of great day trips out of Johnson City, and if I compared my maps that I saved from the two previous mentioned events with this flier I bet many of the routes are the similar.

The flier that I picked up was very well done. It shows the 12 mentioned rides, and has easy to read maps and directions. All of the rides start in Johnson City and range from 30 to 151 miles. Some of the rides include, the rapidly becoming famous "Snake" through Shady Valley, a ride up Roan Mountain, and a ride to the Natural Tunnel, a rock formation just north of Kingsport Tn. The flier also includes a list of Johnson City hotels that offer discounted rates for motorcyclist.
 Personally, I think this is super cool! How often is it that a city realizes the value of promoting motorcycling tourism. I picked up my flier out of one of those racks of fliers that advertises everything from wax museums to area chitlin restaurants, that was at the Holiday Inn Express in Johnson City. You can also go to their website, www.southerndozen.com

Knoxville Ride for Kids

On July 29th I rode in the Knoxville "Ride for Kids" to benefit the Pediatric Brain Tumor Association. I hadn't really thought about it, but I had never ridden in a large charity ride before. I had heard about this event from several people, and it sounded like a good time, and a fun way to support a great cause. It turns out that a bunch of people I know showed up to ride. It started and ended at Pellissippi State's main campus. The ride was a 36 mile loop that went through Hardin Valley, and looped back through Oak Ridge.
This event was extremely well organized, and went off without a hitch (at least that I could see). We even had a police escort that made sure we didn't have to stop, so the whole group was able to stay together. I have to admit, rolling through the red lights and intersections was pretty cool.
What was incredible about this ride was the finish. After lunch, before they acknowledged the donations and money raised from different clubs and individuals, they had several kids who have survived brain tumors, or who are currently going through treatment, take the stage. It was incredibly touching to hear them tell their own story about what they have endured, and how well they are doing, thanks to new treatments and research that rides such as this support. Some of the lucky kids got to be passengers on the back of someones bike or in one of the sidecar rigs.

 

This is one event that I will definitely put on my calender for next year. It was a fun day that  made you appreciate all you have in life, and want to do more to help others who have some real challenges.

Wounded Warrior Ride - July 21st

 

A ride to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project will be held Saturday,July 21st. Organized by the Tennessee Chapter of the Modified Dolls, the ride will start at the Time Warp Tea Room at 1209 North Central Street in Knoxville at 2:00pm. There will be food and a Bike Wash at the Time Warp, and after a 2 hour ride through scenic back roads of Knox and Blount County, will end at the Shed in Maryville where there will be more food, and live music by McKenzie Hill. Come out and go for a great ride and support a Great cause!. www.woundedwarriorproject.org


You can print out the flier, and find out more about the Modified Dolls and their great charity work by visiting their facebook page, www.facebook.com/TNDolls

Product Test -CrossBar Mapcase from Cyco Active

This very simple map holder from Cyco Active is perfect for those times when you are making several turns in a short time period and don't want take the time to stop and dig out your map. It's easy to mount, water proof, and cheap ($15). It comes with small squeeze buckles that attach to your handlebars with Zip ties that are included. This set up worked fine on my dirt bike, and I'm sure it would work on any Dual Sport / Adventure bike with a regular handlebar.  I also sprung for the optional Velcro straps mounts ($6) that have the squeeze buckles sewn in so that I can move it from bike to bike easier. 

The clear plastic seems to be good quality and is easy to read through. It is actually clear on both sides, so you can unsnap it and flip it over to read more of your map. The size of the clear part is just right, ( 5 1/2" X 8 1/2") Big enough to show a decent size section of the map, but not so big to be in the way.

I gave this the official field test at the Volunteer Riders Royal Blue ride, and after a hard day of some serious off road riding which included lots of rocks, mud, and also some higher speed gravel roads, the case never moved.  You can find it at www.cycoactive.com under maps and map cases.