DAY RIDE 12/20/2022
  
 

Let's See How She Runs

  
 
December 20, 2022
  
   
     
  It's been a tough six months since SweetTreat had to be hauled back in a UHaul truck from Nova Scotia, Canada. My poor wife fell and broke her leg shortly after I got back and it required two surgeries and a long stint in physical therapy rehab. I'm still dealing with my recovery from my shoulder replacements so our plates have been full. But finally I was able to get the engine replaced in SweetTreat, using a low mileage one from one of my parts ST1100. So today is the day I take her out for a little road test to see if I got all the stuff back where it should be.
   
  I want to run a combination of riding to test her under 'trip like' conditions. So I've chosen some twisties, some city roads, and a section of interstate. I head out of the Holler west on US70 toward one of my favorite roads close by. I am so blessed to have so many good roads just a few miles from where I live.  
 
  I hang a right by Eddie's Market onto Old Charlotte Pike which runs the ridge line up behind the Holler. It's great pavement and plenty of twists and turns to keep a feller on his toes or in a ditch.  
   
  From there I drop down to River Road - and there is a reason that it got that name. It runs for almost twenty miles playing hide and seek with the Cumberland River. Sometimes you can see the river close up, sometimes you only see the cliffs on the other side, sometimes you don't see it at all. But it's a nice piece of asphalt that connects me to Highway 49.
   
  Highway 49 is a good ride with lots of elevation changes and some reasonably technical stuff. It's one of my favorite roads if I am headed west and have the time to run it.  
 
  It has some really nice sweepers which give me chance to stretch out SweetTreat's 'legs' and see how the new engine deals with it.
 
  There's also a little community along the way called 'Dull, Tennessee'. I've always wondered if that was a feller's name or just a description of the place. Documentation seems to be pretty scarce on the matter as far as I can find.
 
  I end my highway 49 ride at highway 48 in Charlotte, Tennessee and hang a left. This will take me down to Dickson which should put me into some traffic. I've put Evans Waterless Coolant in SweetTreat instead of regular antifreeze and I want to see how it performs when sitting still. She warms up in the stop and go, but never gets too hot. Once I get through town, I jump on I40 and head back to the Holler.
 
  All systems seem to be working just fine which is a great relief to me. It's nice to have her back in roadworthy condition for the upcoming new year.
 
   
   
   
 
THE END