Hello everyone, hope you are getting ready for cooler temps. Tis the season for leather (chaps, gloves, jackets). It maybe cooler but we can still ride until the snow starts to fall. There are a few rides and rallies going on, so go enjoy yourself. Please ride safe, dress warm and keep your knees in the breeze.
Changing of the colors, as Fall is here the colors start to change but not for the reason you may think. Many people think that cold weather is solely responsible for the color change in leaves, but not so. Leaves begin to turn before we have any frosts. Change in coloring is the result of chemical processes, which take place in the tree as the seasons change. During the spring and summer, a food-making process takes place in the leaves, within cells containing the pigment chlorophyll. This gives the leaf its green color. The chlorophyll absorbs energy from sunlight and uses it in transforming carbon dioxide and water to carbohydrates, such as sugars and starch. In the fall, the decrease in intensity and duration of sunlight, and the cooler temperatures, cause the leaves to stop their food-making process. The chlorophyll breaks down, the green color disappears, and the yellowish colors or other pigments already in the leaf become visible. Autumn weather conditions favoring the most brilliant colors are warm sunny days and cool, but not freezing, nights. A few hard frosts can cause the leaves to wither and fall from the tree without changing color. The degree of color may also vary from tree to tree. Leaves directly exposed to the sun may turn red, while those on the shady side may be yellow. When warm, cloudy, and rainy weather dominates the fall season, leaves tend to have less coloration.
A color palette needs pigments, and there are three types that are involved in autumn color: - Carotenoids: Produces yellow, orange, and brown colors in such things as corn, carrots, and daffodils, as well as rutabagas, buttercups, and bananas. - Anthocyanin: Gives color to such familiar things as cranberries, red apples, concord grapes, blueberries, cherries, strawberries, and plums. They are water soluble and appear in the watery liquid of leaf cells. - Chlorophyll: Gives leaves a basic green color. It is necessary for photosynthesis, the chemical reaction that enables plants to use sunlight to manufacture sugars for food.
Certain colors are characteristic of particular species: - Oaks: red, brown, or russet - Hickories: golden bronze - Aspen and yellow-poplar: golden yellow - Dogwood: purplish red - Beech: light tan - Sourwood and black tupelo: crimson. The color of maples leaves differ species by species: - Red maple: brilliant scarlet - Sugar maple: orange-red - Black maple: glowing yellow - Striped maple: almost colorless. Some leaves of some species, such as the elms simply shrivel up and fall, exhibiting little color other than drab brown. Evergreens: pines, spruces, cedars, firs, and so on are able to survive winter because they have toughened up. Their needle-like or scale-like foliage is covered with a heavy wax coating and the fluid inside their cells contains substances that resist freezing. Thus the foliage of evergreens can safely withstand all but the severest winter conditions, such as those in the Arctic. Evergreen needles survive for some years but eventually fall because of old age. Broad-leaved trees: These are trees that do not have needles or scale-like leaves. They are tender and vulnerable to damage, are typically broad and thin and are not protected by any thick coverings. The fluid in the cells of these leaves is usually a thin, watery sap that freezes readily, which makes them vulnerable in the winter when temperatures fall below freezing. Tissues unable to overwinter must be sealed off and shed to ensure the plant's continued survival
You can find autumn color in parks and woodlands, in the cities, countryside, and mountains - anywhere you find deciduous broadleaved trees, the ones that drop their leaves in the autumn. New England is rightly famous for the spectacular autumn colors painted on the trees of its mountains and countryside, but the Adirondack, Appalachian, Smoky, and Rocky Mountains are also clad with colorful displays. In the East, we can see the reds, oranges, golds, and bronzes of the mixed deciduous woodlands; in the West, we see the bright yellows of aspen stands and larches contrasting with the dark greens of the evergreen conifers.
Useless Facts:
1. Veggies have cosmetic benefits. Leeds University have discovered that veggies with yellow and red pigments may help individuals attain a tan-like radiance on their skin.
2. We all have tongue prints. Every individual has a distinctive tongue print, just like fingerprints.
3. The creator of M&M’s never got to eat them. Forest Mars, the creator of the famous peanut-coated chocolate M&M’s. He couldn’t even try his own invention because he was allergic to peanuts.
4. The dot over letter “I” actually has a name. It is called a Tittle.
5. Pteronophobia is the fear of being tickled by feathers.
6. Cherophobia is the irrational fear of fun or happiness.
7. If you lift a kangaroo’s tail off the ground, it can’t hop.
8. Bananas are curved because they grow towards the sun.
9. Polar bears could eat as many as 10 penguins in a single sitting.
10. 95% of people text things they could never say in person.
11. A swarm of 20,000 bees followed a car for two days because their queen was stuck inside.
12. A crocodile can’t poke its tongue out.
13. The word “y’all” dates back to at least 1631.
14. There are a total of 1,710 steps in the Eiffel Tower.
15. The Twitter bird actually has a name – Larry.
Local Events:
1. A Fall Pumpkin-Fest Oct 13th – Oct 31st for Sullivan County Animal Shelter 1200 Volunteer Parkway Mon thru Sat 11am -7pm Sun 1pm -8pm
2. Ghost Walk East Hill Cemetery Bristol, TN 7pm -9pm Oct 21st -22nd
3. 7th Annual Jeeptober Fest in the Smokies 10am Oct. 22nd
4. 3rd Annual Halloween in The Valley Car & Bike Show 11am -3pm Oct 22nd Shady Valley, TN Country Store
5. Pharoah’s Truck or Trick Car Show 140 Euclid Ave. Bristol, VA Oct 25th 5p-8p
6. Cranberry Festival Shady Valley, TN Oct 15th
7. 27th Annual Fall Gathering at Highlanders MC Smoky Mtns. Oct 15th
Rallies:
1. Daytona Biketoberfest Daytona, FLA. Oct 13th -16th
2. Thunder Beach fall Bike Rally Panama City, FLA Oct 19th – 23rd
Rides:
1. Lori Nunn Memorial Poker Run Greenville Peacemakers club house Oct 22nd All Proceeds go to NO KILL ANIMAL SHELTER
2. Christmas Bike Ride for Kids Oct 29th at Elizabethton Wal-Mart 10am Rain Date Nov 5th All donations will be for Shop with A Cop Event
3. Shop with A Cop Nov 5th Elizabethton Wal-Mart
Bike Night:
1. Kingsport Moose Riders Every Wednesday
2. 19E Pit Stop Every Wednesday
3. Tulips Grub & Pub Every Friday
4. Peacemakers Bike Night 801 Boozy Creek Every 3rd Friday of each month
5. East Coast Wings Every Wednesday
6. Dog Tag Brigade Every Wednesday at Jonesborough VFW