July 17, 2003 - Kimball, TN

Forecast: 92 degrees

Road Condition: Good. State route 155N to I-65N to State route 231E to I-24E to Kimball, TN

Fuel: Super Unleaded $1.59

Miles Traveled: Nashville, TN to Bowling Green, KY to Kimball, TN: 260 (Total: 4,261)

Bike Update: Running good

Road Trip Log Update: When traveling through Nashville be prepared because the freeways are a spider web of disconnected twist and turns. One woman told us she had lived there 12 years and she still can’t get from one freeway to the other without taking back roads. Take the disconnection and throw in mass construction, uneven roads, gravel, traffic jams and numbing heat. Due to the delays we got to see the Grand Ol’ Opry at 55 miles an hour. It looked like really nice place but we had to make up time since we were headed for the scenic route and low miles for the day. As we traveled through Tennessee and Kentucky we were awed by the beautiful countryside and long winding curves in the road. State Route 231E is a smooth road combined with low traffic, an occasional tractor or neighborly wave from a passing car. Everything was so green and extremely clean. Riding motorcycles has trained us to look for litter and road debris. If a town is real dirty and it looks like people are in the habit of throwing things out the window, we can be assured of a possible flat tire or having something fly up from the road and hit us. As we traveled down Highway 24 to the Tennessee and Alabama boarder there were numerous billboards advertising firework stands that also sold beer. We thought that was an interesting combination. We made our way to Kimble, Tennessee and got the last hotel room available. The hotel was in front of a Chevrolet dealership, which had a huge American flag lit up and flying high. The wind was at just the right speed so that the out stretched flag had a soft roll going through it and quiet message that said, “Be Proud”. The day ended just as it had began with handling saddlebags and prepping the bikes. As we headed off to grab some sleep, we agreed the day had a good finale as a reminder to us about the importance of pride, and freedom.

Ironman's morning workout
Tennessee Barn on hwy 231
Click to see July 16, 2003	Click to see July 18, 2003