Moped Riders Association

[punkrocgirl23]

HEy everyone....The Breakfast Mafia will be there for sure!! Had to do a mad scrabble to finish making a trailer! There will be 6 of us total coming. Well have to finish on the trailer and pack!

[Nightflight49]

Brian *G* I did fill up the tank with oil yesterday. Smitty saw me do it.. Nope, I am not killing the tgb. Oh, and there are some really huge horseflies and bumble bees around here. Still need to buy a full face helmet from you. Those things hurt like a marble fired from a wrist rocket!

[Smitty]

LOL!!!

Well, we had the Ride planned at exactly 50 miles ... but ... some people made a very valid point, as in, they are traveling quite a long way to attend this Ride, so a measly 50 miles just really wouldn't be worth traveling hundreds of miles to attend. So, per request of some of the Riders we decided to make this Ride worthwhile ;^)
There's plenty of stopping-points along the way, so we can all dismount and stretch our legs every so often. We really think everyone’s' going to enjoy this Ride! From the scenery, the mile-long Cherokee Dam & Cherokee Lake, to the eating stops, and we even found a store to stop and get a snow cone when we get hot from riding in 90 degree weather :^)
I've ridden my "Trick Pony" Puch Maxi N Rigid on the last few Rides ... but I've decided to pick a Moped to ride more for the comfort than speed on this Ride... of course, the one I'm riding, aside from NOT being a good hill climber, ain't no slouch on top-speed, LOL!!!
It really doesn't seem that long of a Ride. The longest feeling parts are riding on the bike lanes on 11W and 11E ... especially 11W to and from Bean Station.
To keep us all from starving on the Ride, coffee, donuts and muffins will be served from about 7am until about 9:30-9:45 am (we hit the road at 10am!), we'll stop for hotdogs, chips and a drink for lunch, and then a few hours later we'll eat supper (about 4-5pm) in Bean Station, at B&K Restaurant (who normally closes at 2pm on Saturday, but we are to call them Saturday morning with a count of how many Riders we're bringing to eat), and then I believe a group of us are planning on going to Cracker Barrell after the Ride Saturday evening.
I have arranged a little extra parking area in the event that we can't fit all of the vehicles in my drive, and in the field next door (please check with me before parking and unloading!).
Looking forward to seeing y'all THIS weekend!!!

PS: Bryan, Nightflight over-filled her oil tank yesterday, BUT, we'll be sure to check it again Saturday morning.
John, at least your Tomos Beast has rear shocks ('tis why I opted not to ride my Puch this time, LOL!!!).
JD, we had You in mind Brother, when we mapped the Ride and rode it today ;^) Wanted to make it a worth-while Ride ;^)
punkrocgirl23 glad to see you're all going to make it!!! We were talking about you guys today, wondering if you were still gonna' make it, as we hadn't heard anything lately.
Cookies??? Did someone say COOKIES???!!!???!!! OH man, those will go excellent with my morning coffee ;^)

[Smitty]

OH, and some hazards to watch-out for!!!:

Well, I think I removed all the concrete blocks in our path ... and got a black toe to prove it!
Road-kill ... sorry, gonna' see those I'm sure ... we saw a baby deer, couple of opposums, a racoon, a rabbit, and an occasional skunk.
Pot-holes. Of course we're going to run through some of those.
Gravel. There are some areas that has loose gravel in the bike lane we're traveling. Just slow down and be careful.
Shredded tire pieces. I tried to remove all of the bigger ones that we encountered today.
Grass clippings. We notice a few people mowing the lawns today, so there may be some loose grass clippings in one or two areas.
When passing a hazard, we point with our foot toward the hazard (but don't actually kick or contact it with your foot !!! That hurts!!!), anyway, we try to warn the Riders behind us of the hazard.
For the most part we Moped Riders are respected around here, maybe due in part to the "novelty" of the sight, LOL! However, whenever we have the chance, we DO pull-off of the road, and allow the traffic to pass us, and to let everyone catch back up to the pack. Not only does this make the Ride much safer for us all, but it also extends respect to car drivers, and they will usually return the same respect, as well as appreciate it.
In traffic, on major roads, we travel in the bike lane. There are a couple of places where we'll need to "own our lane" across a couple of small bridges which are not wide enough to include the bike lane.
Should prove to be a very enjoyable Ride!

Riders' Meeting @ 9:30am, hopefully on the road by or @ 10am.

Again, we're meeting at:

SmCmopeds.com
662 Rutledge Pike
Blaine, Tennessee 37709

(865) 933-9021

[Nightflight49]

*G* Yes, this will be a long one. But it goes though some beautiful county side. We started out bout 10:15 am. and out on the road until after 6:00 pm.. Looking forward to seeing everyone again and Making new friends too.. Hope your bike has a comfortable seat, or you have an iron butt.

[tomos03's better half]

OH MY GOSH...

150 miles?? I guess we asked for it, well JD did LOL!! I think we all better bring a pillow or two to sit on. Well our mopeds are all packed up. We aren't though. I still need to take a shower and clean up this place a little bit so the cleaning lady can get to the dust LOL. Jeff has our bikes all checked out and fixed little things to keep them on the road running safe. What a sweetheart!! I am glad to have him around. We hope to be on the road tomorrow (well it is today that is) by 1:00 PM. That would get us into Knoxville around 7 PM. See you all there. Drive safely.

Hey Lisa, I will check my PM's this AM before we leave. Let me know the about the tomatoes. Thanks.

Chris

[Smitty]

AWH now, it's not that bad, we're not even that sore this morning, LOL!!! Really though, I'm ready to do it again!
Chris, we live in the tomato capital right here. Seriously, our tomato festival was last weekend.

I tried to set-up wireless here, but I can't figure out this dang router ... but I know that Krystals has wireless, about 20 minutes down the road from here.

[Mrs_Smitty_SmC]

Chris pm'd ya about the tomatoes !! We will actually be riding by several fields of tomatoes on the ride, it's a really nice ride !! We have planned several stops through out the day, very nice scenery and like Smitty said no sore behinds this morning, LOL !! Just Smitty's sore toe, but at least he can move it this morning. I got the muffins last night and will get the donuts the morning before the ride, will make a big 40 cup coffee urn, so there will be plenty!!


See everyone at the ride it is going to be great !!

[Ike]

Smitty,

You are only a few miles from the Smoky Mountains. You should have planned your ride to take us over the top ! That would separate the "men from the boys"..and girls haaaaa !

Ike

[tomos03's better half]

Well we are about ready to go. Had a ton of stuff to do before we left. We should get to Knoxville about 9 PM or earlier tonight. OMG is it HOT outside. I had to take the time to spray my flowers with stuff to kill those $%&%^$# Japanese Beatles, grrrrrrrrrrr!!

Heck that is just barely enough coffee to get me going in the morning!! ;)

Bringing the tomatoes Lisa!! We will call you Friday, we are hoping to ride some. Hopefully we won't get lost, hee hee!!

Chris and Jeff

[JD]

Lisa and I are leaving here about 8:00 am tomorrow, and hope to make the entire 537 miles to exit 398 by 6:00 pm or so.

Looking forward to the Sno Cones and cement blocks on Saturday. And the potholes....well....WE KNOW potholes!

Might bring my bicycle shorts. Maybe some Preparation H, too. ;-)

jd

[ped58]

The bride and I ended up in Maysville, Ky. On the way down she said she wanted to stay at the "French Quarter Inn" so we changed directions a little bit, very nice place and right on the river...................ped58

[don-ohio]

Hope you all have a GREAT ride and to be sure,I'm jealous! LOL!
One thing about the length of a ride, IMO, is that a shorter ride SEEMS a lot longer if it has a lot of hills that make for a struggle for the common mopeder. So if you're running over the 80+ mile length,like Ike's has,but you have tougher territory to traverse, it might be a bear to bear.Ha! don-ohio (:^D

[punkrocgirl23]

ARGH! Still not done with the trailer and supposed to leave in 15 mins. Very frustrating! ANywho...we have one more late person coming with us. So...i need to get everyone in the car and start rolling. I figure it is around a 800+ mile trip one way. I hope I survive the car ride:).

[Smitty]

We're cheering for ya' Breakfast Mafia !!! Hope all works out and you make it!!! Drive carefully, and have a safe trip, and we hope to see you all Saturday morning!