Doesn't take much to get a rider on the road. Phil wanted the check out a restaurant that he planned to use as a food stop on an upcoming group ride he was leading. He's particular that way.

Anyway, I'm always in the mood for riding and eating. As is often the case, Phil's timing puts him in the saddle of his ST1100 when the sun is rising. As for myself, it was just daybreak when I left. We met at the intersection of 231 and 269 at Christiana. My mode at dusk, dawn and dark is "deer avoidance", so I buzzed down I24 to 231 and got there earlier than I thought I would and experienced the rare moment of arriving before Phil.

The real riding was then on. 269 was the plan, but a short distance to the east we diverted to Christiana-Hoovers Gap road. Nice little road and not a bad way to go as that put us on 41 a few miles north of 280 which took us all the way to McMinnville, location of the restaurant under scrutiny.

We ordered up breakfast and were about half done when Bob from North Ga arrived on his silver ST1300. Bob ordered and we pondered the issues of the day while he finished up his breakfast. Then on to the point: ridin.

Of course, when in McMinnville you must ride hwy 30. One thing we hadn't thought about: since the plateau got a good bit of snow last week, a lot of salt was still on the road. And it was in three forms: 1) powder 2) granules and 3) wet slurry. In retrospect, it couldn't have been just salt because the wet slurry was very slippery. An additive to help hold the salt on the road? Don't know, but we probably made about 2/3 normal speed. Shaded areas in tight curves were often wet so it was pretty tricky in spots.

But we made it to 127. There Bob headed south and Phil and I headed north through Crossville and Clarkrange. The destination hwy 85. I had ridden some parts of this road. Really nice. The 3 salts continued, so we were slowed some, but didn't make bad time. I saw one blue Strom headed south on 127.

85 is a gem from 127 to 52. I thought I had ridden all the best roads in TN, but this one is right up there with 30 and 116 (these are all better than the dragon).

With the leaves off the trees, there were some spectacular views of the road and the landscape. All I can say is "awesome".

http://www.artvilla.com/andy/photos/P2070018

http://www.unclephil.us/DayRide020709.htm

350 total miles of excellent riding. Some thoughts here on the Strom. The STs are 100 hp road burners. I have ridden a variety of bikes mongst ST guys. I have always hung in there with the CB1000C and the Virago 1100. The Strom makes it really easy. It is a bit faster and a vastly better handling bike. The 3 salts didn't bother the Strom much. The STs struggled. It was similar to dirt, sand, and mud. I guess the big block tread of the Trailwings helped there.

Passing and acceleration are great. As good as any bike I've ever owned. My bicycle odo showed max mph as 93.8 ... that was making a pass in one of the less twisty areas. It really is hard to believe it just displaces 650cc. A joy to ride.

We rode pretty hard outside of the 3 salts, but I'm fairly sure I still averaged over 50mpg. Having big range is great. Probably better range than the STs.

A great day of riding.