Chuck pedaled along for a while and then he says "I got this guilty feeling going on." To which I replied, "guilty? 'bout what?" And that's when he cut loose with a big ole grin and says, "well, riding a bike isn't supposed to be this comfortable... I feel guilty for not suffering enough." And there it was, Chuck really, really enjoys his new catrike. Thanks, Art! You did a great job of setting Chuck up with a ride that he will enjoy for many miles to come.
We rode through Jeffersonville around noon and wheeled into the KFC just before riding out of town. I ran in and used the facilities and got us a snack to hold us over to Russelville, which was another 20 or so miles down the road. We met a fella there named Jim who had been a truck driver. Jim was pretty amazed at our success thus far and provided some info on the upcoming roadways. Then Sharon called and seemed a bit disturbed that we had only gotten 17 miles down the road... so, we laid the coals to her and made Russelville in about an hour and a half! Somewhere around Morristown the State of Tennessee ran out of extra asphalt and we lost the nice wide shoulder. We also managed to lose 2 lanes without a decrease in the amount of traffic. Things were pretty exciting from there to Russelville where we pedaled into a c-store and grabbed some ice and a Mt. Dew. Sharon & Chuck swapped out and Sharon & I continued on with the second leg of the day.
We didn't get more than a couple miles down the road when my front left tire began to thump. The belt had separated and my spare was in the truck. We called Chuck, who had just passed us, and had him return to our location. While we were waiting I pulled off the tire and when Chuck arrived spent only a few minutes mounting the new tire. I stashed another spare on the B.O.B. and we were under way in short order. Within the 30 or so minutes we were in Russelville we were passed by 3 ambulance running code... not a good sign. I couldn't believe the amount of traffic for the middle of the afternoon in a small, rural town.
From Russelville we headed up the "short cut" via St. Clair Rd and HWY113, both of which are narrow, 2-lane country roads running through once lush and productive farmland. What we found though was a constant stream of cars and house upon house encroaching upon the old farm fields. The constant flow of traffic on the narrow, winding and hilly road was rather trying but we managed to make it to HWY66, which cuts across the river and ties HWY11E with HWY11W. We stopped at the river crossing and ate a piece of really good pizza and I had a Mt. Dew while Sharon stuck with the Gatorade. Immediately across the river the entire scene changed. It was the most surreal thing I've experienced on this ride. We hung a right on McKinney Chapel Rd and followed the river for several miles. It was peaceful and lush with walls of limestone to our left and the beautiful river to our right. Traffic was very sparse and it almost felt like we were back on the Natchez Trace. Unfortunately, the fun didn't last too long and we had to hang a left on Old Stage Rd and start climbing out of the river bottom... and we climbed and climbed and climbed... up & down & up & down. It was like a roller coaster ride. We passed beautiful expanses of farmland with barns full of drying tobacco leaves and the sweet smell of fresh cut hay lazed in the air. There were cattle & horses & sheep and we saw a huge flock of wild turkey cruising along a hillside just out of the woods. We saw huge old barns and beautiful historic old homes of local limestone construction as well as some really awesome plank and mud homes that were right out of a Daniel Boone movie from the 1950's. The small communities along the way were friendly and we got lots of smiles and waves as we passed through, completely different from the welcome we received in Jeffersonville and Morristown and Russelville where we were met with blank stares and irritated drivers.
We arrived at the Econolodge in Church Hill a little after 1900hrs. We met Jerry, the manager, and learned that she was from San Antonio. Jerry has the cutest little Yorkie that took quite a liking to Sharon & I. We talked for nearly an hour and I enjoyed Jerry's company. Turns out she also has had back surgery and has some hardware in her back as well so, we had some things in common. Jerry comp'd the room for me as support for our efforts in helping the Wounded Warrior Project... THANKS JERRY! The rooms are nice, clean and very comfortable. The shower was awesome and I think I'm well passed time for some shut eye. There are some dark clouds creeping in to the North & East but we'll worry about that tomorrow. Right now I need some sleep.
Tomorrow we will be riding into Virginia. I think we've got roughly 450 miles to get to DC and are just over a thousand miles from home (great Joe Ely song... "I'm a Thousand Miles From Home"). I think I'm about 3 days behind where I would like to be but, with these mountains some days are just not going to be 60+ miles; those days are more like 40-mile days. Chuck and Sharon have decided that they will depart the ride and return to Texas on Wednesday at noon leaving me to fend for myself for a while. I will miss their company and the luxury of having a vehicle nearby in case I need it. I'm figuring 6 days to cross Virginia leaving me 5 days to get from DC to New York, which is possible given the fact that I can ride from Houston to Austin in just 2 days, albeit without carrying any gear. I am a little leery of the Blue Ridge Mountains but, having climbed over the mountains in Alabama and Tennessee I think I'll be OK even though it will be slow going. So, keep the good vibes coming and, with a little luck and some good weather we'll see this mission through to it's successful end.
Thanks again for all the support. It was nice to talk with Benson on the phone last night and it gave me a little boost to cover some more miles. I'm now off to bed and will post tomorrow's ride map in the morning. Let us see what tomorrow brings...
ESSAYONS!
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