Inaugural Autumn In Dixie Victory Ride

Friday

“Alright, that’s it, we’re leaving”, I proclaimed as I stood up from the kitchen table. It was 15 after 10:00. We  were supposed to meet at Pam and David’s between 11:30 and 12:00 but I couldn’t stand just sitting there watching the clock tick. The bag was already packed and loaded on the bike and there was no reason to suffer in anticipation. The long awaited weekend had arrived and the excitement was overwhelming.

 

Plans for a chapter event had been talked about since the last meeting of 2007, and what started out as a spring ride was pushed and pushed until we finally settled on October as the timeframe.  I decided on the “Autumn in Dixie Victory Ride” label when I was going

to post it on the forum and had to come up with something.

 

We were the first to arrive at the Bodie’s but not long after, Glen pulled up followed shortly by Mike. Earlier that morning Drew called and the anticipation bugs were making him squirm as well. He had decided to meet up and ride with us. Right at 11:45 he pulled in and the caravan was complete. With a short stop for a sandwich out of the way we hit the road and by about 2:30 we were pulling in to the Holiday Inn Express in Kimball, TN. Jason and Susan were  already there along with Jeff and Mickey. It wasn’t but just a few minutes later Jamie and his dad David pulled in followed by Jethro with his signature salute. One by one they arrived each with a smile from ear to ear.

By - Wendell Rogers - Aka: Rocketcitymadman, Photography by Karen and Wendell Rogers

Catchin’ up!

Ok, we can start now, we’ve been saluted!

After the check-in was taken care of, we all stood around catching up and greeting the new arrivals as they rolled in. The official plans for the weekend didn’t kick in until Saturday so nothing was set for Friday night. That didn’t last long with this bunch and by 5:00 we were hitting the back roads on our way to Chattanooga and to “Sticky Fingers” for dinner.

 

Drew took the point with the destination logged in the GPS of the Vision he was testing out for the weekend. The ride over to Chattanooga was a gem with beautiful scenery and a nice winding, laid-back road. Once in Chattanooga the directions seemed to take a turn for the worse. It helps when you key-in

“Sticky Fingers” instead of “Stucky Fingers”. But, after a short tour of the less desirable side of Chattanooga we corrected our course and arrived down by the Aquarium where we quickly located the restaurant.

 

The meal was absolutely fabulous with much more than most could eat in two meals, let alone one. Not sure what all was ordered  but several of us at our table had “The Trio” which consisted of a half –a-slab of ribs, a huge portion of pork and a leg quarter, along with baked beans, fries and coleslaw. That was followed by a plate of cake/cornbread that was out-of-this-world good. It was definitely one for the “Places To Eat” thread. We all rolled out the door making our way back to the bikes, moanin’ and groanin’, the whole way. After a short stop for gas we hit I-24 for the ride back .

 

Back at the hotel found us gathering out front just off the covered drive-thru for check-in, with stolen chairs from the breakfast area.  We were planning to gather around the pool but it was closed so we had to improvise. Karen and Glen got the party started when they toasted each others 50th birthday with a shot from Glen’s Commemorative bottle of Jack. Karen’s birthday was the night before while Glen’s was the upcoming  Sunday. Several months prior it was determined that the time

Sticky Fingers & The SEC

Ride to Eat, Eat to Ride!

Hidden Treasures!

would be right for the popping of the top come the Dixie ride and judging from the faces made after the shot it must have been smooooooth. Jeff had a nice size bottle of Gentleman Jack  that was added to the mix along with a couple of trash cans full of beer on ice. It wasn’t long and the laughter filled the air like the song of a choir as Jethro and Burt kept everyone in stitches telling tales from past gatherings. It’s amazing the kind of things you run across at a Huddle House. You guys know what I mean when I say there’s laughter and then there’s laughter. It lasted until we decided we had pushed our luck enough, given the fact that we had already

been complained about just for having our bikes parked in front of the window of the little old lady on the second floor. Beside it was getting late and the next days schedule called for a somewhat early departure.  We bid each other good night and made our way to our rooms.

 

Saturday

I rolled over and grabbed my phone to check the time; quarter till 5:00. I lay there a few minutes before hitting the shower. By the time the elevator door opened to the 1st floor it was about 6:00 and on the way out I snatched a cup a coffee from the breakfast bar. It was just starting to show signs of daylight when the automatic door shut

Tellin Tales!

A toast to the big 50!

behind me and in the  pre-dawn light I could see a figure over by where I had parked the bike the night before. As I got closer I realized it was Glen. It turns out he had been up about as long as me and was  taking a deep pull on the first cigarette of the morning. We drank our coffee and relived the night before.

 

As the light of dawn grew brighter the fog rolled in making for a soothing view looking back toward Chattanooga. It wasn’t long before the riders that were to join us for today's ride started pulling in. For the next couple of hours there was a buzz of activity as bikes came and went taking care of breakfast and gas-ups. Right before 9:00

Easing through Whitwell on our way down TN-28

we all gathered under the awning for a quick once over of the days activities and route.

 

Twenty-five bikes pulled out right at 9:00 with Drew taking the point. Surprisingly we all pretty much stayed together through Jasper not missing a single light until we turned on TN-28.

 

We made our first stop in Dunlop as a few of the bikes that did not gas-up hit the pumps. The store was located within a hundred yards of the TN-111 on-ramp and once back on the rode we started the steady climb up the mountain. To say the view was nice is like saying Victory makes a pretty good bike. The

Waiting for the line-up

The view on TN-111 just outside Dunlap, TN

view of the huge cliffs with the bikes snaking

along the blacktop was awesome!  For the next 20 miles the double line of bikes cut through the Tennessee landscape at an easy pace. The cool temperature was compensated but the warmth of the bright sunny fall morning making for perfect  riding conditions. In  what seemed like mere minutes we were entering the park at Fall Creeks Falls. By the time we wound through the park and hit the parking lot at the viewing location, it was 11:00. We had been riding for a couple of hours and it felt like we had just started.

 

The Falls have suffered from the constant 2 year drought here in the Southeast but are

Ride to Eat , Eat to Ride!

still impressive anyway. We spent a good 30 minutes taking it all in while Drew went to arrange a table at the lodge for the lunch buffet. By the time he returned most everyone was back at the bikes and within a few minutes we were kicking the stands down at the lodge. We had a long table right in front of the buffet and a nice view of the Tennessee country side. The meal was good and the company was wonderful.

 

Knowing that the route was about to become a little more aggressive once out of the park, Drew and I gathered everyone for a quick run down of what was coming. We urged those who like to attack the ride to migrate to the front of the pack and those that like to take

Leaving the Lodge

things somewhat easier to do the opposite. We reiterated that everyone should ride their own ride and we would come back together at each road change before proceeding. Drew once again took the point while Jethro and Jeff brought up the rear. Karen and I were about six bikes ahead of Jethro as we pulled away from the Lodge on the way back to the main road.

 

The ride out of the park area was easy going but by the time we hit Archie Rhinehart Parkway the pace began to pick up. I kept a constant eye behind me and noticed that past Mike who was a couple of bikes behind me I didn’t see the remainder of the pack. But, given the lack of any distance between curves and since Jamie’s dad, David had said that he

Not the ride he was looking for!

was going to take it easy, I wasn’t all that concerned.  It wasn’t until we hit the first long straight stretch and I still wasn’t seeing them, that I thought something wasn’t right. That’s when I heard David’s horn and noticed he was gaining on me quick. I slowed quickly and he pulled along beside me. He yelled over the bike, “I’m not sure but I think someone went down back there in the curve”. We turned around at the next available place and headed back. The whole time I’m hoping that they just got hung up or someone was having bike trouble, anything but what I was fearing. For what seemed like an eternity we wound our way back into the park, across the dam and around the curve and my heart sank.  A couple of Ranger vehicles were parked just

off the road and I could see a small group gathered around someone laying on the ground. It was David. When we got close to him I could hear him talking to those attending to him and I instantly felt considerably relieved. Mickey, Jeff’s wife who is also a nurse, was seeing to him while we waited for the EMT’s. With some difficulty we were able to get hold of the front of the pack who were waiting for us at the next turn. Drew brought Jamie back to where we were while the rest of the pack stayed put.

 

It wasn’t long before EMT’s were on the scene.  The main concern was a nasty hematoma that was growing larger and larger

Time to scoot!

on his left side. Given the distance by ground vehicle to the nearest hospital they decided to airlift him to Erlanger in Chattanooga. Jethro escorted Jamie to Chattanooga while the rest of us stayed there taking care of the bike and his stuff. Drew took the rest of the group and proceeded with the ride. We followed the ambulance to the airlift site and once he  was on his way by helicopter we headed toward the hospital.

 

Jeff lead the way and with one stop for gas we were pulling  into Erlanger parking garage about an hour and a half later. We met Jethro just outside the emergency entrance  and a few minuets later Jamie came out. They were taking him into surgery.

Ride to Eat , Eat to Ride!

I called Drew to give him an update and let him know we would met them at the restaurant later. We all moved to the waiting room and waited for the doctor to come give us the update.  It was only about 30 minuets and Jamie got a call letting him know that they were almost done and that there were no internal injuries. They had found the bleeder and had taken care of it. The only thing left to do was to put in a drain tube and close it up.

 

Jamie’s mom, sister and family were on the way and a few minutes before they arrived the doctor came in and gave us the thumbs up on his condition. The group took a collective sigh of relief.

 

I look back on it now and think how the

So much food, so little time!

situation could have been a lot worse, but I also think about how well our group reacted and handled it. A big thank you goes out to a several individuals that served the situation well. Like Jamie said “This is why I ride with you guys”.

 

The family arrived a short time later and after taking care of transferring David’s stuff from our bikes to the car, it wasn’t long before we received word they had him in a room. We took that as our cue to  head out. With a few hugs, thank yous and bye bye’s we were on our way to meet the others at Big River.

 

The dinner at Big River Grille and Brewing Works was just what the doctor ordered. We took up two tables and everyone got a belly

Good food, good meat, good gosh, let’s eat!

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