Day Nine by Dave Schultheis
Saturday, June 1, 2002 - Gardner, Tennessee
I did not sleep well, as expected. I was awake around 6:30 a.m. A few others were up and talking, the Roger and Karen brought out coffee, juice and donuts.
Roger led a crowd into Martin for showers at a friendly locker room; a few others went to local motels. I went to the University Inn with Flylow and another rider and we took showers (sequentially). While waiting for the others, I talked to the front desk clerk and reserved a room for myself for that night. The clerk told me to come back later (after the rooms were cleaned) to pick up a room key.
Here is where I made a big mistake. See if you can spot it. Due to the wonderfully warm weather, I dug into my T-Bag and pulled out a short-sleeve shirt. I rode a few miles to Fulton KY for a picture and then over to the Wal-Mart in nearby Union City TN, left the little plastic cameras for processing, stopped at a Subway Sandwich shop and hurried back to Roger's, hoping to be back in time for the Reelfoot Lake run at 11:00 a.m.
Unfortunately, I got back too late; the crowd had left and I missed them. I went out to Reelfoot Lake but could not find them. So I enjoyed my own tour of this little corner of west Tennessee before heading back to Wal-Mart and picking up pictures. They were great. The sunburn was not so great.
I went back to Roger's and met Kuda (and enjoyed hearing about the intercom he had on his bike), Turbo Dave, 'Bama Bob, Andrew "Buzzardkiller" Jones and later Jim Lingle from Milwaukee. Later Steve "Poser" Tuttle, Don Anderson and Bill Connor rolled in. Terry and Maddie came in from New York.
I may have mentioned that it was a hot day. My notes say "hot hot hot." Many of us spent time under the big blue and white tent consuming various cold beverages and trying to stay cool. I made a general announcement about the M.A.M.B.M. patches that I had brought, showed samples and took orders from those who wanted them.
Roger had ordered tee-shirts for the event, well in advance, but the printer had some trouble following Roger's instructions and timetable. He'd ordered shirts a certain way and they came completely different. Nobody seemed to mind too much except Roger, and who can blame him for being irritated that he did not get what he ordered, and they were late, to boot. Anyway, previously ordered tee-shirts were distributed and worn with pride.
Some assembled the fire pit while others prepared dinner. We had catfish and hush puppies, among other regional delicacies. I seem to recall having meat in a bun as well. And of course, there were many cold beverages consumed.
After dinner there was cheese racing. I don't think that anything I write can do justice to this activity, so I will skip it. If you want to know more, be there next time, or use your favorite search engine.
A number of folks sat around the fire pit for a while, enjoying old and new friendships. After a while, I packed the tent and all my stuff aboard the Road King and went over to the University Lodge. I parked on the sidewalk just outside the room and made plans to go back to Roger's in the morning to help with cleanup. There was word of mouth regarding a possible breakfast about 9 a.m., which sounded good.
I made some notes, watched CNN, took a shower, coated my sunburned arms with lotion, reviewed maps and went to bed.
Miles for the day = 135. Miles for the trip = 3106.
Tomorrow: Burns, bites, a moron driver, and how far will a Road King go on a tank of gas?