Over Memorial Day weekend, I and my buddy (with the ZRX1100) took a big loop across TN and KY and back. I’ll post a link to a full trip report at some later date, but our general route was arranged only to get us on recommended roads and to points of interest. For example, the Bardstown/Frankfort KY area has about 8 bourbon distilleries, so we wanted to hit a few of those, along with the Land Between the Lakes, Mammoth Cave, etc. Our big pointless loop still managed to kill 1,637 miles with an average 50+ MPG.
I did find that this trip changed my perceptions about a few things, some personal, but I will share that I fell in love with my B12 all over again. For the past year, since the announcement of the Concours 14, I’ve been thinking I might want to move up to a more dedicated tourer with a lot of sport built in. On this trip, we packed light since we were going to change lodging every night and ride fully packed all day every day. The Bandit carried what I needed, and was still nimble and f-u-n. Suddenly, my interest in the Concours (or FJR1300) is greatly decreased, and my interest in an eventual move to the B12.5 has increased.
I also found out that KY is full of great riding!
If you want to get a sense of our loop, here’s an outline.
Day One, starting in TN: Germantown to Selmer to Saltillo to Milan to Kentucky Lake (TN 191) to Camden to Waverly to Tennessee Ridge to Dover, up the Trace (Land Between the Lakes), into KY, stopping at Calvert City. 418 miles. Met a guy who works at Love’s truck stop with a Silver B12 parked out front.
Day Two, in KY: Calvert City to Rosine to Mammoth Cave NP to Hodgenville to Chaplin to Bardstown, stopping at 381 miles.
Day Three, still in KY: Bardstown to Loretto (Maker’s Mark distillery) to Frankfort (Buffalo Trace distillery) to Red River Gorge (the skybridge and Nada tunnel) to Beattyville for the night. Only 253 miles. (Both distilleries were interesting and as different from each other as they were from the Jack Daniel’s and George Dickel distilleries in Tullahoma TN. And Buffalo Trace offers SAMPLES!)
Day Four, starting in KY: Through/along the Daniel Boone NF to London, to Burkesville, and over to Murfreesboro TN. Another short day, 294 miles.
Day Five: Down the top of the Natchez Trace to US 64 to home. (291 miles)
Topic: Memorial Day Weekend--Pointless Loop from TN to KY and Back (Read 2766 times)