Our motel in Erin, TN the Deerfield Inn;

a small step above Tuba City's Grey Hills Inn

Fitz's Family Restaurant; the only game in town

The travel van getting ready to launch a new day.

Load up the bags and get air into the tires

Our lunch spot along the Cumberland River - beautiful!

A cool crisp autumn eventually turned into a bright sunny day once we reached lunch in Ashland City on the banks of the Cumberland River a mere 25 miles miles from Nashville. The group is so looking forward to our rest day in the Music City. Today's ride is only 70 miles. I snicker at myself when I realize I now prefice a 70 mile bike ride with the word "only." How my perspective has changed. Thankfully we have a day off to recuperate because Thursday we have 125.9 miles staring us in the face. Now that is a long ride.

Today's ride consisted of a combination of rollers and soft rolling terrain with lots of turns and straight-aways. A nice ride for our group of four as Big Wave Dave, the guide, rode with Archie, Matt and myself today. We worked together well today taking turns at the head of the paceline as we worked our way across the colorful roadways of Tennessee. The fall foliage was in colorful bloom today.

we're staying at The Hermitage Hotel in downtown Nashville. It was fun ride up the streets of the city today as a many of the people waved or gave us a thumbs up as we passed; I guess they don't see cyclists everyday in their city. For dinner we feasted at The Capital Grille -wow! After last night in Erin, I can say we went from the bottom of the bucket to the top shelf both in dining and hotel accommodations. Leave it to Trek travel to let us experience the entire gamit across our great country.

today's key stats:
70.6 miles
avg speed 15.9 mph
2,148 kcals burned- I weighed myself at the hotel upon arrival - 178# down 5 lbs since the start.
1 flat - big Wave (He slowed us down on our ride into Nashville - at least he apologized for the delay!
3,948 feet of climb. I dare say this is getting easier, but we have three big days ahead of us so I'll hold that thought for now.

got a rest day with Marcy tomorrow in Nashville - going to enjoy the Music City!