Day 33: Union SC to Orangeburg SC

120 miles, 8000 feet of climbing

The weatherman lied today. He said there was 100% chance of rain and thunderstorms in both Union and Orangeburg, and it was wet and gross when we got up in the dark this morning. Assuming it was going to be a crummy day, and being so unimaginably bored with cycling by now, I (Nancy) decided to climb into the van and chat with our guide Katie, and Linda, another rider, all day. Well, it barely rained at all after that, and by the time I could get out I was way to cozy in there. We later heard on the news that "9 out of the 10 factors for a thunderstorm" were present, but the absence of the last factor led to a simply muggy day. Oh, well, I had a good rest before tomorrow!

Ed, on the other hand, was going to ride rain or shine. His dad flew down and met us for a visit last night, and that may have re-energized Ed. (He's happy it didn't rain, though.) He rode all day long, fast and furious, as if another 120 miles was like a walk in the park. He even had enough energy left to walk a half mile to do laundry afterwards! I think he got hold of some EPO and didn't share it with me. He was a rock star out there today.

Finally, I should let you know that Ed's famous among our fellow riders for his helmet hair. I think because it's gotten longer than anyone else's, and it just gets sucked up into the vents. Anyway, it's phenomenal, and I needed to share:

Day 31: Townsend TN to Asheville NC

107 miles, 12000 feet of climbing

Today was a beautiful, difficult day as we crossed parts of the Great Smoky Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains to end up in Asheville, NC, an area we got to know a couple of months ago on a trip with Black Bear Adventures. We actually rode today's route backwards in August.

It was a great time of year to be here-- all the fall colours have come in, and the mountains were just amazing. Several thousands of other people thought so, too, and the steep, narrow roads were clogged with cars. One lady stepped out of her car and told our fellow rider, Kelly, "I just hate you bikers," at which point our guide, Katie, replied, "Well, they hate you, too." Overall, not a very positive exchange because it's a lot safer if we get along. But there's no shoulder on these roads, and when there's this much traffic, I understand that the motorists might get frustrated when they can't pass a cyclist going uphill. But we get frustrated, too, when we can't pass them going downhill even though we can safely reach higher speeds then cars. Why can't we all just get along?!
Our guides, Dave and Matt, hard at work.

Day 30: Crossville, TN to Townsend, TN

99 miles, 9000 feet of climbing.


This was another day of lots and lots of small hills. Personally, I'd rather have a few big climbs rather than a lot of little ones. That way you can settle into your climbing pace, and afterwards you get a nice long descent.
As we get into more populated areas, we run into more and more loose dogs. I don't mind the ones that don't bark and just like to run alongside for a while. It's the dogs that think you're invading their territory and go after you like a, well, a wild dog.

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the best dog yard today. The front yard had about seven beagle puppies lying around, like someone just sprinkled puppies all over the yard. So cute! Then at the far end of the yard, mama was watching the cyclist in front of me go by, and didn't notice me approaching. I gave her a little "Woof!" in greeting, which startled her. She whirled around, let out a high "Yowl!!" and started a pretty pathetic chase. She was trying to be menacing, but it came across as awfully silly.


Nancy and Hans.

Day 27: Erin, TN to Nashville, TN

70 miles, 5000 feet of climbing.

Today we had one thing in mind: REST DAY!

It was a "short" day (only 70 miles), and the roads were quite pleasant. We were really happy to get out of Erin. The hotel there was quite a dive. Dinner was pretty awful too.

Apparently Nancy and I are the only people on this trip who believe in following directions. We all have a thick packet of route guides, one for each day of the trip. Each day has a brief itinerary that lists what time breakfast will be served, when they expect us to hit the road, and when/where dinner will be. Nancy and I try to follow the directions and show up for breakfast at the assigned time. Nobody else on this trip believes in that. If breakfast isn't early enough for them, they show up early or skip it. Today breakfast was supposed to start at 7:30. Sounds great, we said. In fact, the restaurant looked awful, so we just had Pop Tarts in our room and stepped out at 7:30. Everyone had already eaten and rolled out. We were the last ones up. The guides thanked at us for following instructions, but laughed at us nonetheless for being last.

I'm writing this at the end of the rest day, which has been wonderful. Nancy's brother drove up from Birmingham to see us. We didn't have the energy to go sightseeing, so we just had lunch and talked. Oh, and we did see the full scale reproduction of the Parthenon. Somehow I don't think the real Parthenon had chicken wire over everything to keep pigeons away.



We've been logging all our progress on this trip with a GPS. Here is the route from each day shown in Google Maps.

The best part of the bike trip: when we get off the bike.

Day 26: Union City TN to Erin TN

100 miles, 5000 feet of climbing.

Are we there yet???

We had a really pretty day of riding in Tennessee farmlands today-- even saw some tobacco fields-- with lots of ups and downs to keep the afternoon exciting. Today was a major day for roadside dogs barking at us and running after us. So far most of the dogs have been friendly, and the mean-looking ones have been too slow, behind fences, or tied up.

We've also seen more trailer homes and rusting, late-model vehicles than we've ever seen. You know that Jeff Foxworthy line, "If you've got five cars parked on your front lawn and only one of them runs... you might be a redneck"? Well, this must be where he got his inspiration. But most of the drivers have been pleasant and courteous, and it was a good day.

Tomorrow's a short ride (only 70 miles) into Nashville, and a REST DAY!!! Hurray!

60th Birthday Wishes

Today is my dad's 60th birthday. 60! Methinks it's about time someone retired and spent some quality time with his wife and kids in Maui. =)

Dad, Ed and I wish you all the best in the coming year and as you ease into the best years of your life. We love you.

Day 25: Poplar Bluff MO to Union City TN

105 miles, 1500 feet of climbing

Today was a relatively easy day through the flat cotton fields of southeastern Missouri.



Neither of us had seen cotton fields before, and we were surprised at how much the natural product looks like the processed one. (My wonderful new sister-in-law Elena might giggle at that-- she's from Tennessee, and her brother is in the cotton business, so it's probably not as new and exciting to her as it was to us. But we thought it was really neat!)



We went through some rough roads, including a cobblestone section out of Poplar Bluff that left our wrists aching. We've gone through some long stretches of gravel and rough roads in the past 3 days, and our joints and butts were complaining, but the rest of the day was nice and smooth.




It was a pretty eventful day. After spending most of the day in Missouri, we hopped onto a ferry to cross the Mississippi River into Kentucky, where we rode for about 8 miles before crossing into Tennessee.

Some of our fellow cyclists on the ferry ride (from left to right): buddies Randy and Roland from Wisconsin (and it's Roland's 50th birthday today!), Warren from Saskatoon, Jerry from Texas, Hans from Vienna, and Ed.





Three states in one day! That's progress!