Day-5

July 11th, 2006

"Nothing a little tap of the ol' sledge hammer couldn't fix"...

...actually, it's probably best to let the professionals handle this one. A minor warranty issue on the BMW lead Michael to a 4-hour round-trip ride to the local dealership just outside of Nashville. Thanks to the quick attention from the Service Manager and mechanic, the visit was less than an hour - and just long enough for Michael to peruse the clothing racks and leave the shop with a new BMW riding jacket.

While Michael was in Nashville, the rest of the crew took a 4-hour hike to Virgin Falls to see a 125-foot waterfall that falls high from a cave, only to fall back into another cave. A spectacular sight, according to the crew, but Michael says he was glad that his 4-hours were spent on the saddle instead of on foot.

After both excursions, the crew and Michael were out of communication with no specific rendezvous point. Cell phones were out of cellular networks in the small town of Sparta Tennesssee and the CB helmet radio communications only have a range of about five miles. It's now approaching 8:00pm and the group is still not together. It's raining heavily and there's no hotel in sight. Luckily, our contingency plan was somewhat clear - in the event we lose touch, meet in an "obvious" place in the next town. Well, the local drive-in burger joint in Sparta seemed obvious to Michael when he rode in after being in the saddle all day without a food break.

Two hours after taking the last bite of a burger, there's still no sign of the crew. While waiting, Michael started chatting with some of the locals who seemed fascinated with the idea of the 5,000 mile ride across the country. Soon, half the burger joint was hovering around the Beemer and almost every one had to announce their connection to motorcycles... "when I was younger I had a (insert name of popular motorcycle here)".

Amongst the chatter of the group the CB radio call finally came in - the chase vehicle was just about 5-1/2 miles away - relived to find the crew was okay and on the way, but also relieved to learn we have an extra half-mile between the CB radios.

After the guys finally arrived and quickly munched down some burgers and fries, about as quickly as Michael did 2-1/2 hours earlier, one of the locals in the group offered us all a place to stay in his "3-story" house. Considering the late hour and the unlikelihood of finding any hotels close by at this hour, we took gladly took the offer.

 

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Photography Copyright © 2006 Motorrad Media and Chris Rankin. All Rights Reserved.

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