Despite overcast skies all day, the rain pretty much stayed away for most of the ride, allowing for a great day of bicycling. We had spotty showers the first 30 miles; just enough to wet the glasses but not the road. At mile 90 we had some drizzle that last 20 miles of so but it wasn't heavy enough to wet the roads.
Today's ride features excellent roads, especially once we left the Nashville metro area. The rolling hills in central Tennessee made for nice riding as they didn't provide the same demands as the rollers west of Nashville.
Only problem with today's ride started with the route sheet and changing businesses in Smithville, TN. Most of the group missed one turn as a landmark, a "Neo's Cafe" relocated 0.7 miles further down the road after the route sheet was published. This cost me 3 extra miles. when I found the difficulty, I road into a Ford dealership to ask for help. The first thing the sales person said to me was "Looks to me like you could use a new Ford!" To wjhich I chuckled while responding, "No, just help with some directions." Once helped, I got underway again.
Riding by myself today since Marcy and I had breakfast 15 minutes behind my normal schedule, none of the group waited for me. No problem as the riding went well; I felt good after this last restday. Only problem was I had to constantly refer to the route sheet for directions. Towards the end at mile 120 I missed one more turn which was totally my fault.
The extra miles, plus stops for two lunches and the overcaast skies made for a long day in the saddle. I averaged a little over 16 mph most of the day but at the end, due to a detour, many turns and darkness starting to fall, I ended at 15.9 mph for the day. I finished the last 2 miles in darkness. Thankfully I had a good rear light to help illuminate me.
Today's key stats:
131 miles ( 5 miles of extra credit!)
8:23 hours in the saddle today.
7,958' of climbing
4,515 kcals burned
1 flat - Grateful Dave; makes more than 12 for him this trip!
44.5 mph fastest downhill speed
No pic's today as I put the camera away due to the threat of rain.
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2 comments:
Hi Mark!
Sometimes it is nice to just ride alone, at your own pace and not worry about keeping up, leaving someone behind, holding up the group if you want to take an extra moment to enjoy the scenery. Sounds like it was a long but mostly ejoyable ride. I plan to ride tomorrow, about an hour to an hour and a half, alone, then Sal will join me for a ride down in Clemont on the West Orange Trail. I'm slowly getting her turned on to biking. This must have been a nice ending, knowing that you've finished the longest rides of the trip. What is your longest after this? We'll pray for fine weather and good roads, oh, and good directions...
Ride on.....
Rick
Welcome to Eastern Standard Time! Wow, you've hit all of the mainland timezones. Pretty impressive. Hopefully the weather was nicer for you today. We're getting the same system you had yesterday with rain and overcast skies.
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