Day 3 – Rest and Relaxation at the Picnic
Ryan and I were lucky enough to be invited to sleep inside the house of this years Traveling Picnic host. He has 5 wooded acres on a high ridge overlooking Lake Douglas near Dandridge Tennessee his lovely home and yard served the picnic very well. Ryan had the sleeper couch and I the futon in the office and front
room. Comfortable enough for us, and the price was right. Bob had asked if anyone had a Miti-vac to bleed his brakes for him on his Goldwing. I own one, and brought it along; and Saturday morning before the picnic, I planned to do his brakes to repay his kindness for the accommodations. My frequent riding buddy and I dove right into the process after breakfast and a few leisurely cups of coffee, and although we haven’t often worked together on motorcycle maintenance we operated as a well oiled machine. In just a few minutes we had the plastic stripped off the bike and were working on the brakes. I tackled the front 2 sets, while Bill removed the left saddlebag to get at the rear brake. Our plan was to bleed the brakes after a fluid flush and button things back up quickly. During the process of doing the left front, Bob walked in to check our progress and asked if it would be a lot harder to replace the pads. At this point, of the operation, we were well into the brakes and changing the front pads would be easy so of course we did that while we were in there. People milled about the garage, watching and kibitzing, as bikers will do whenever there is work being done on someone’s ride. The brake job was now turning into a tutorial as those with more experience showed others with less experience what and how to do the job. Garage days can be like that in the biking community, learning, teaching, and doing all happening at the same time, on the same bike.
The brake job finished I quickly headed off for a shower to make ready for the picnic. People were arriving and the “volunteers” were preparing food and drink for the guests. Bob expected about 35 people for today’s lunch picnic which is standard turnout for the picnic over the course of these past few years. When I returned from my clean up break I noticed Ryan had “volunteered” to flip burgers and Bill was already cooking brats with a third person frying fish in the kettle. The entire scene was organized and workman like with food coming off the grills in assembly line fashion. I meandered over and offered to help; giving Ryan a break from cooking burgers so he could fetch me a beer. As the cooks talked it became evident we had way too much food to feed this group, and yet Bob insisted we cook it all (which turned out all right as we ate grilled burgers and brats for 3 days whenever we liked). Smoke billowed from the grills, and steam sizzled from the fryer as we produced food enough for a hungry Marine platoon. Everyone was well fed and even the dog had an occasional treat when a mistake fell from a grill.
The day of the picnic was virtually a non-riding day with only a short 30 mile jaunt to get ice cream in the early evening after which we all settled around the campfire to share a few stories, and enjoy several beverages of ones choosing. As usual, the banter was barbed and bawdy with friendly insults flying around like a swarm of bees. The evening was warm and pleasant with few bugs. As the night wore on, rider after rider made an excuse to retire, and get some sleep, for most of them had long rides to go home the next day. Fortunately, we had no such plan knowing we were in for 3 more days, and stayed up late discussing the vagaries of life in general.
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| The traveling banner |
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| Sitting around the campfire |
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| Bike line-up |
Day – 4 A Chance of rain.
After everyone had left for home, there were only a few of us around. Dave from New Jersey, Bill & Ruth from New York, and Carl & Ryan from Wisconsin all staying at Bob’s house for the next few days. The weather looked a bit unstable as we said our farewells to fellow riders that morning and we felt there was a chance for some wet during the day. With this in mind, the decision was made to ride a shorter ride this day, and stick to less twisty terrain to minimize potential slippery riding. There is plenty to see and ride through in the Smokey Mountains without the need to test the limits of lean angle available on our rides.
We started out for the day to ride some of the less demanding hills and valleys surrounding us in every direction. Bob, our host, has lived in the area for 15 or more years and graciously agreed to lead us on our group ride today. We had a few less experienced riders in Dave and Ryan, and Bill and I felt we were the more seasoned riders so we tried to strategically place everyone in line for the day. With Bob in the lead, we decided to put Bill in second place, a decision that placed 2 experienced riders at the lead. Next was Ryan on his smaller more nimble motorcycle as we felt he would be more able to keep pace with the faster riders in the front and thus not cause our group to be stretched out. Dave came next as the slowest rider on a bigger bike and Carl took tail gunner, a position of responsibility for lane changes, and group continuity. This lineup served us well the entire day with the group riding in almost perfect staggered formation through some genuinely difficult hills, twists and turns. Riding in the back it was a pleasure to watch as each rider chose a line for the turns ahead and then executed their personal version of a corner. There are many ways to get through a corner, some fast and some comfortable and some downright difficult, and yet the group made its way through the mountains with almost no trouble for the entire ride. Only a few times, did someone miss the line and have to correct mid-turn or run over the centerline and only once did a rider actually get off the edge onto the shoulder of the road as we charged through the twists leading up and down the ridges that are the Smokey Mountains.
The weather held for most of the morning, and the group gleefully toured the back roads that we had come to explore. Playful banter sparked over the CB radios and each rest or fuel stop was a place to exchange smiles and high-fives, as the entire group was having a grand time. Bob led us to one of his favorite lunch places, a quaint shack with a large porch that was decorated in all things Smokies. On the veranda local good ole boys sat, talked, and attempted to sell their wares as this place served as a trading post of sorts as well as a good restaurant. Taking the opportunity to rest, I found a rocking chair and joined them for a few minutes.
After lunch, we continued our ride, however the rain had started in earnest and he weather served to dampen both the roads and our mood. We rode more of the county roads in a steady dripping rain, not so bad as to need raingear, but enough to make the roads and the bikes wet. We pulled off the highway at a break station and made a decision to cut our day short a bit, as we were all a bit tired, and the conditions were less than ideal. We headed back to the house for an early dinner of left over burgers and brats and a few more hours of campfire tales.
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Back to the campfire once again
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Ryan and I were lucky enough to be invited to sleep inside the house of this years Traveling Picnic host. He has 5 wooded acres on a high ridge overlooking 
room. Comfortable enough for us, and the price was right. Bob had asked if anyone had a Miti-vac to bleed his brakes for him on his Goldwing. I own one, and brought it along; and Saturday morning before the picnic, I planned to do his brakes to repay his kindness for the accommodations. My frequent riding buddy and I dove right into the process after breakfast and a few leisurely cups of coffee, and although we haven’t often worked together on motorcycle maintenance we operated as a well oiled machine. In just a few minutes we had the plastic stripped off the bike and were working on the brakes. I tackled the front 2 sets, while Bill removed the left saddlebag to get at the rear brake. Our plan was to bleed the brakes after a fluid flush and button things back up quickly. During the process of doing the left front, Bob walked in to check our progress and asked if it would be a lot harder to replace the pads. At this point, of the operation, we were well into the brakes and changing the front pads would be easy so of course we did that while we were in there. People milled about the garage, watching and kibitzing, as bikers will do whenever there is work being done on someone’s ride. The brake job was now turning into a tutorial as those with more experience showed others with less experience what and how to do the job. Garage days can be like that in the biking community, learning, teaching, and doing all happening at the same time, on the same bike. 
After everyone had left for home, there were only a few of us around. Dave from New Jersey, Bill & Ruth from 
The weather held for most of the morning, and the group gleefully toured the back roads that we had come to explore. Playful banter sparked over the CB radios and each rest or fuel stop was a place to exchange smiles and high-fives, as the entire group was having a grand time. Bob led us to one of his favorite lunch places, a quaint shack with a large porch that was decorated in all things Smokies. On the veranda local good ole boys sat, talked, and attempted to sell their wares as this place served as a trading post of sorts as well as a good restaurant. Taking the opportunity to rest, I found a rocking chair and joined them for a few minutes. 
After lunch, we continued our ride, however the rain had started in earnest and he weather served to dampen both the roads and our mood. We rode more of the county roads in a steady dripping rain, not so bad as to need raingear, but enough to make the roads and the bikes wet. We pulled off the highway at a break station and made a decision to cut our day short a bit, as we were all a bit tired, and the conditions were less than ideal. We headed back to the house for an early dinner of left over burgers and brats and a few more hours of campfire tales. 
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