I'm goin' up the country, baby don't you want to go?
I'm goin' to some place, I've never been before...
So sang Canned Heat.
The song was a Hippie Anthem when it was released back in 1968.
Back in 1968 I was living in Los Angeles until moving to Indianapolis late in the summer. I was riding my Honda 750-four in LA but sold it when I moved back to Indiana.
These days I am living in Bloomington and riding a Honda VTX 1300. Much bigger bike. Much more sophisticated engine.
Elizabeth and I took my previous (to the VTX) bike on a long road trip...to Mackinaw City and back. Here is a picture of that bike, a really sweet Honda Shadow.
The upcoming ride looks to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,100 - 1,300 miles.
And here is the bike trip I will set out on late in the month of May...as described by the guy who organized this trip...the Pastor of the Quaker Meeting we attend, Phil Gulley. He says this, writing in an article for the Meeting's May Newsletter:
Several years ago I was in Nashville, Tennessee and noticed a sign for the Natchez
Trace Parkway. I had a few hours to kill before giving a speech, so drove 50 or so miles on
the parkway, making a mental note to someday drive the entire 444 miles. That day has
come. At the end of this month, Mike Goss, Ned Steele, and I will ride our motorcycles west
to the Mississippi River, down the Great River Road to Natchez, Mississippi, up the park-
way to Nashville, then wander home on the backroads.
Quite the bike ride, isn't it? Yes. Yes, it is.
Here's what we can expect on our ride from Natchez to Nashville:
The Natchez Trace Parkway leads you 444 miles through three states and 10,000 years of North American history. This scenic parkway links Natchez with Nashville and crosses some of the most beautiful terrain in the states of Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. The Parkway has been declared a National Scenic Byway and an All-American Road, and has been chosen as one of America’s 10 best biking roads. Open year-round for motorists, hikers and bikers, it provides visitors the opportunity for an unhurried trip through time.
Today the Natchez Trace provides a near-continuous green-way from the southern Appalachian foothills of Tennessee to the bluffs of the lower Mississippi River. Along the way are sites like Emerald Mound, a national historic landmark and one of the largest American Indian mounds in the United States; and Mount Locust, one of only two surviving stands.
The Natchez Trace also crosses four ecosystems and eight major watersheds, and provides habitat for nearly 1,500 species of plants, 33 mammal species, 134 bird species, and 70 species of reptiles and amphibians. Also designated as a National Scenic Byway and All-American Road, the parkway encourages modern travelers to experience historic and scenic landscapes at a leisurely pace.
Great stuff.
Goin' Up the Country.
Yup. Gonna do it.
But...
Well, let me explain it this way. Here is more about our trip from Phil:
...as the date of departure has drawn nearer I confess to misgivings, most of them having to do with my aversion to trouble, which along with Ned and Mike, will be my constant companion on this trip, in the form of flat tires, blown engines, torrential rain, bad drivers, bad backs, deer, dogs, not to mention the ever-looming specter of a fiery death.
Yeah...Goin' Up the Country.
Exciting stuff.
And anyway, any adventure involves some risk.
No risk, no reward.
Quite the bike ride, isn't it? Yes. Yes, it is.
Here's what we can expect on our ride from Natchez to Nashville:
The Natchez Trace Parkway leads you 444 miles through three states and 10,000 years of North American history. This scenic parkway links Natchez with Nashville and crosses some of the most beautiful terrain in the states of Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. The Parkway has been declared a National Scenic Byway and an All-American Road, and has been chosen as one of America’s 10 best biking roads. Open year-round for motorists, hikers and bikers, it provides visitors the opportunity for an unhurried trip through time.
Today the Natchez Trace provides a near-continuous green-way from the southern Appalachian foothills of Tennessee to the bluffs of the lower Mississippi River. Along the way are sites like Emerald Mound, a national historic landmark and one of the largest American Indian mounds in the United States; and Mount Locust, one of only two surviving stands.
The Natchez Trace also crosses four ecosystems and eight major watersheds, and provides habitat for nearly 1,500 species of plants, 33 mammal species, 134 bird species, and 70 species of reptiles and amphibians. Also designated as a National Scenic Byway and All-American Road, the parkway encourages modern travelers to experience historic and scenic landscapes at a leisurely pace.
Great stuff.
Goin' Up the Country.
Yup. Gonna do it.
But...
Well, let me explain it this way. Here is more about our trip from Phil:
...as the date of departure has drawn nearer I confess to misgivings, most of them having to do with my aversion to trouble, which along with Ned and Mike, will be my constant companion on this trip, in the form of flat tires, blown engines, torrential rain, bad drivers, bad backs, deer, dogs, not to mention the ever-looming specter of a fiery death.
Yeah...Goin' Up the Country.
Exciting stuff.
And anyway, any adventure involves some risk.
No risk, no reward.
