Ride Day 20... Maybe

Wow! Day 20 already... here it is the 1st of September.

This evening I am alone. Sharon & Chuck headed back for Texas this afternoon. Many thanks to the both of them for supporting me this far; they were supposed to head back when we got to Chattanooga but I guess we were just having too much fun... and then the money ran out! I will miss their company and, contrary to Sharon's beliefs, I did enjoy having them both with me on this mission. It is always more fun when you can share what you are doing. We rode some tough roads and some easy roads. We saw some incredibly beautiful countryside as well as some unique urban environments, though the ultimate urban experience lies a few more days to my east where our great Nation has its beginning. I wish you both a safe and enjoyable journey home.

Today was a great day to ride. The weather was cool and overcast with a light ESE breeze. The Great State of Tennessee provided a bike lane along HWY11 that was really awesome. It was about four feet wide with another three foot buffer lane to the lane of traffic. For the most part it was free of debris although I managed to pick up a piece of glass in my rear tire and had to fix a flat near Kingsport by the U.S. Army Ammunition Depot. The hills were much more enjoyable today as they were long rollers and didn't have the leg-ripping inclines of the back roads we have been traveling.

Chuck & I made pretty good time this morning and stopped in Kingsport for a snickers & a pepsi before rolling on to meet Sharon on the south side of Bristol, TN/VA. To give you an idea of how cool it was today, I filled up my camelbak and bottle with ice this morning and at Kingsport I added a bottle of gatorade to my bottle... I just now pulled out the gatorade and there is still ice in the bottle!

When we stopped to meet Sharon I had a polish sausage, some chips & a Mt. Dew for lunch. My body cooled off quite a bit and it was tough trying to get going again. My quads were sore and stiffened up pretty quick. When Sharon & I rolled out onto HWY11 for the second leg of the day I was actually chilled when riding down the hills. I stopped & donned my Sugoi Helium jacket and was fine until we hit Bristol proper and started climbing up & down the city streets. I stripped off the jacket and we kept on pedaling.

Also at lunch I tried to call the Travelers Inn in Glade Springs, VA for a room but the call got routed through some overseas switchboard and it turned into a frustrating and unsuccessful attempt. According to whatever-his-name-was all the hotels in that area were booked solid...must have been a glade convention or something. He kept insisting on booking me a hotel in some other town and had a hard time comprehending that I was traveling by bicycle and 20 miles to the next town was not gonna happen. He kept insisting and I actually had to be rude to the guy by saying thankyouverymuchbutnothankyougoodbye...click! I hate having to do that. So, rather than risk getting 20 miles down the road and ending up with no place to stay I opted to get a hotel in Bristol. Turns out it was a pretty good idea. I got a room at the Microtel on 11 & 81 and they've got some pretty nice digs here. I was really stoked when I saw the hot tub out the door at the end of the hallway! We got Sharon & Chuck loaded and after a round of hugs and good wishes they departed around 1530hrs. I got my gear secured and made a bee-line for the hot tub and enjoyed soaking a bit then jumping into the pool, although the pool was heated too so I didn't get the full WOW THAT'S COLD effect that chases all the bad blood full of lactic acid out of your muscles so new blood can restore nutrients and oxygen but it was nice just the same. I spent about 45 minutes splashing around then I went for a shower and did my laundry in the bath tub! It's hanging over the HVAC right now and appears to be just about dry.

After getting cleaned up I walked across the street and grabbed an omelet from the Perkins. Satisfactorily stuffed I walked up the block to Home Depot where I purchased a 5x7 tarp and some clips (in the event that it rains when I'm out in the middle of nowhere I can pull the tarp over me & the trike and shelter in place). Then I walked back to the hotel via the Dollar General where I picked up some more zip bags, a tube of neosporin and a couple of bar towels so I can lube my chain. Now I'm going to wrap things up for the day and actually get to bed before midnight!

"I am not a morning person" doesn't even come close to covering how I function at the start of the day and to boot, I'm still running on Central Time! It takes me a long time to get my back and legs and brain to engage simultaneously in the morning. After some drugs, some orange juice, a Mt. Dew and an hour or so I can usually fake it enough to look like I'm OK. It usually take 2 to 3 hours to really get going. Given that, I'm actually going to try and leave a little early each morning. The 0900 to 1600 thing just isn't working. Sometimes I need a rest after each large climb and sometimes I need a little more time at lunch to stretch and eat and hydrate. We've been getting in as late as 1900hrs the last few nights and riding during evening traffic really bites. So, I'm going to try getting to bed a little earlier tonight and getting up a little earlier tomorrow. I'd like to be on the road by NLT 0800hrs and see how that works out.

Also, I need to figure up some mileages for the next 10 days. I'm not certain of the remaining distances now as the original schedule went out the window somewhere early on in Alabama. I'll check the maps in the morning and see where I'm at so I can better figure on scheduling for everybody in DC, Baltimore, Philly, Trenton and NYC. Ah, many, many thanks to Woody Groton at Wounded Warrior Project for hooking me up with accommodations on the Eastern Seaboard as well as a UHaul van so I can "IHaul" myself and my gear back to Texas.

So far it's been a really great ride. This afternoon I was starting to drag a little bit, well, OK a lotta bit when a car went by and the occupants all rolled down their windows and began cheering and clapping. This started a chain reaction in the intersection and I felt like I was in a parade as I pedaled passed cheering motorists. It was a great pick-me-up and I was able to complete the remaining 17 or 19 miles in much better spirits. I certainly hope that the remaining few days are as awesome as this ride has been so far. Let us just see what tomorrow brings...

Enjoy the Ride!