On Tuesday, February 12, 2013, we took another Day Ride. We headed out from home at 9:15 am.

Our original plan was to ride with some other folks, but the plans got mixed up so Jeff and I rode to Biker Rags and from there decided to do one of our Day Rides. We always have several Day Rides planned, so we picked one out of our saddlebags and made our destination lunch at Sanders Cafe in Spring City.

We left Biker Rags around 10:30 am. The temperature was around 45 degrees and the skies were sunny and clear. We both wore our heavy leather jackets, thermal lined chaps, Gerbing’s heated jacket liners and heated gloves, 3/4 Pilot helmets and face masks.

We headed south on Pellissippi, took Topside Road and stopped at Weigel’s for crackers and a coke. We had already filled up our gas tanks, so after our snack, we continued on Topside Road. We stopped briefly at Louisville Point Park. It’s a lovely area with wonderful historic buildings and picturesque roadways.

We then continued on to Friendsville where we rode through town before continuing on to highway 321.

We rode south on 321, then took 95 to Greenback. 95 is a gently curving road with little traffic and beautiful scenery. We stopped at the town crossroads for a photo. One of these days we’ll have to eat at the Greenback Diner and check out the museum.

We rode on through Greenback and onto 411.

On 411, we rode south through Vonore, took 72 north toward Loudon, then took 322 toward Sweetwater. We stopped along the way for a few photos. Riding in East Tennessee is never boring. Just pick any back road and gape at the rolling hills and rural life.

We rode through Sweetwater, then took 68 to Watts Bar Dam.

Just past the dam, we took 302 into Spring City and headed to Sanders Cafe, right downtown by the railroad tracks.

We entered and were warmly greeted by the staff. We grabbed a seat, ordered our food and before we could hit the rest room to wash up, our food was on the table.

We both ordered home cooking. I got chicken and dumplings and Jeff got the open face roast beef sandwich. We topped it off with banana pudding and realized we would need to work out a few extra times at the gym if we ate everything!

The food tasted great and we put Sanders on our “must go back” list.

After lunch we walked around downtown. We looked at one of Spring City’s monuments dedicated to children killed by a train in 1955. Because of that tragedy, the women of Spring City lobbied and achieved a law that all school buses must “stop, look, and listen” at railroad tracks. Within one year, that law was enacted by all states. It really is amazing the important history that occurs all around us.

By this time in our ride, the skies were filled with gloomy clouds and the air was getting cooler. We got back on the bikes and took 27 N into Rockwood.

From Rockwood, we took 70 into Kingston, where we rode through town and stopped to admire the historic old courthouse.

We hopped back on the bikes and rode 70 to 58 heading toward Oak Ridge. We gassed up a final time.

We inched our way through Oak Ridge, took Seviers Parkway to Clinton and then Clinton Highway back into Knoxville.

We returned home a few minutes after 4:00 pm and our total ride was 188 miles.

You can view all of our previous BIKE RIDES HERE.