Larry's log:
Today was the day the cool front was supposed to push through, which was predicted to cool things off, and possibly bring some rain. There were some clouds around, and that did help. My first bit of excitement came at about Mile 19, when I missed a turn. I had been riding with someone else, and we approached I-40. He asked me if this was "where we turn." I knew we weren't turning onto the Interstate, and I didn't notice the state road right past that. I guess I didn't notice it on my route card either. I had gotten ahead of the other rider, and straight on I went, with two riders yelling at me that I had missed the turn. But, I didn't hear them. About two miles down the road, I noticed the road seemed somewhat "lonely." I should have been able to see at least one bike ahead or behind me, but did not. So, I rechecked the route card, noticed my mistake, and backtracked to the route. Due to my mistake, I was one of the last to arrive at the first rest stop in Hickman. Hickman was a nice looking, small community.
Smithville was a larger place that we passed through at about Mile 45. The second rest stop was in another small community of Keltonburg. The support van was parked just in front of a couple of dumpsters. A local resident was combing through the dumpsters and putting some of its treasures aside to take with him.
One thing I noticed most of the day is that Tennessee apparently has small counties. Each of the state roads has mile markers that start at 0 in each county. I don't think I saw any go much above 15, and it didn't seem that we were in any county for much more than an hour. The terrain was rolling. We may have had two climbs of a mile or so prior to reaching lunch at Mile 78, and there had also been a lot of rollers along the way. The fields were green, there were lots of trees and any hills or small mountains visible were forested. The houses were nice looking and somewhat sparse. A lot of them sported American flags or red, white and blue ribbons on their mailboxes.
There was some interesting, but disturbing artwork in the road a few miles prior to lunch. Someone had spray painted a portrait of a Klansman. Judith said she had also seen an outline of a body prior to that. It's kind of strange, because none of the motorists were hassling us or anything. The majority of the cars and trucks were noisy, but the drivers were tolerant of us. Maybe everyone was just on their best Sunday behavior.
After lunch, we had a climb lasting several miles. Fortunately, it was up a forested mountain, which kept the heat down. Nonetheless, I was totally soaked at the top. Then, a quick descent and another 2.5 mile climb right after. It had only been 16 miles since lunch and I think I had already used it all up! These two climbs were through part of the Fall Creek Falls State Park. The town of Spencer was also at the top of one of them.
After a while, we were treated to about a six mile downhill into the Sequite Valley. There were some great views on the way down, but unfortunately nowhere to stop and take a picture on this narrow road. I was surprised there were no scenic overlooks since we were on Route 30, which was marked as a "Tennessee Scenic Highway." It seemed warmer down here in the valley. We biked through Pikeville, which billed itself as the nation's pumpkin capital. I was hoping that maybe Dayton was in this valley, since we had already covered 110 or our 128 miles.
No, sorry. We still had one small mountain in front of us to get over. One more four mile climb. The grade seemed a little more gentle than the previous two climbs. Like the others, it basically wound around the mountain. As far as I was concerned, at the top of that hill, the hard work was done, even though there were still ten miles to go. That would be nothing after the climbs. In fact, we logged over 7000 feet today, which I think is the most thus far on our tour. Tomorrow will be a similar amount of climbing through the Appalachians.
As I pulled into Dayton, I immediately noticed a local running his car around a corner, tires screeching. I had noticed that in Lebanon also. That seems to be a popular pastime in the larger towns here. In case any history buffs are interested, Dayton is where the Scopes Monkey Trials took place in the early 1900s. Dinner was 2 for 1 pizzas at the restaurant next door. I hope I'm fueled for tomorrow. I think it reached the low 90s today, and should be no higher than 90 tomorrow. Still humid.
-- Larry Schwartz
I power loaded on peanut butter and honey for breakfast and made sure that my knees were braced and I had taken my painkillers in the morning. We started the ride with just some gentle climbs and there was nothing too major until right after the first rest stop. Then came the first "granny gear" climb. We took it slow and I stood quite a bit to relieve the pressure off my knees.
We did enjoy the scenery of lush green forests and trees along the side of the road. And there were plenty of dogs around for me to yell at. As for the motorists, they seemed to be somewhat unfriendly with one cutting us off as he blasted the horn. Daniel did flip him off. But after seeing the KKK drawing and body outline painted on the road, I told him that we had better just ignore any nasty drivers.
We did notice the local folk digging thru the trash bin at the 2nd rest stop. Maybe he was hoping for sag stop leftovers. Guess he didn't realize that cyclists don't leave scraps.
Prior to lunch, we were notified by a fellow rider that our rear tire was low and so we pumped it up and continued on until lunch. At the lunch stop, we changed the tube, just to be on the safe side.
The serious climbing began after lunch. Prior to lunch, we had climbed 3600 feet in 78 miles. In the next 16 miles, we climbed 1800 feet. Boy that rest stop at 94 miles was a welcome site. The climbing was tough but Daniel and I took turns standing. And we were enjoying the view and the shade in the treed areas.
We had a great descent into Pikeville and we were in awe of the breathtaking scenery. After Pikeville, we started the last of the big climbs which lasted about 5 miles. And again we were able to enjoy the views on the way up. Since we were bringing up the rear, the red van sag put on an informal sag stop for us at the top of the climb. So we replenished our liquids and grabbed some food before we headed into Dayton. The rest of the ride was up and mostly down and the Best Western was a welcome sight.
Tonight was laundry night and we soaked in the pool and hot tub as well. Dinner was a feast of pizza at the restaurant next door. The people in town are quite friendly and they seem really interested in the tour and the route that we are taking.
Bed time now. We are on Eastern time now so we lose an hour of sleep. Tomorrow will be another hard day. 134 miles and 7700 feet of climbing.
Judith Jolly (and Daniel Schaaf)