Day 43 Today was tough! After three long days in the heat and hills it was tough to get going. The main motivation was to get to TENNESSEE. The rest of the ride through The Land Between the Lakes was nice. After entering Tennessee I got to see bison. Very cool. I also got to see the historic Great Western Furnace.
It did flatten out a bit for a while then before Dover, TN there were some hills. Fortunately it was downhill to Dover and at the bottom was McDonald's. I couldn't get enough to eat and drink. Some time later I started feeling bad. I attributed that to temperatures in the mid 90's. I soaked up some AC and talked with a family whose dad/husband is currently serving oversees. They can't wait for him to come home.
I decided I better make headway so I pedaled toward Old SR 76. About a half mile down the road I decided it was too hot so I went inside a grocery store for a bit. When I resumed pedaling I was climbing out of town toward 76. I got to 76 and it looked a bit shady. Bad road and lots of gravel. I started down it slowly. It started to curve left and the next thing I knew was that I was back to the main road. A guy stopped at the stop sign. I asked him about 76. He didn't know any more about it other than it was a short loop off the main road. He asked where I was heading and I told him Waverly. He said I should go back down the hill into town and take 49 to 13. I thanked him for the info.
By this time it was closing in on 4pm and I was still feeling bad so I decided to find a place to stay and hit it again early in the morning. It was so hot I decided to stay in AC at the Dover Inn. It was nice. I returned to McDonald's for dinner then went to BP for some batteries. I checked a TN map and talked with the attendant. Both confirmed what the man had suggested re: getting to Waverly so I decided that was the way I was going in the morning.
I returned to my room to take care of my blog and e-mail then I fell off to sleep.
Tomorrow it is off to Waverly first then to Saltillo if possible.
Thanks for your prayers and encouragement in these final weeks!
bob g
STATS - Mileage Today 50, Pace 11, Riding Time 4:25
Total GTD cumulative miles: 2,466
It did flatten out a bit for a while then before Dover, TN there were some hills. Fortunately it was downhill to Dover and at the bottom was McDonald's. I couldn't get enough to eat and drink. Some time later I started feeling bad. I attributed that to temperatures in the mid 90's. I soaked up some AC and talked with a family whose dad/husband is currently serving oversees. They can't wait for him to come home.
I decided I better make headway so I pedaled toward Old SR 76. About a half mile down the road I decided it was too hot so I went inside a grocery store for a bit. When I resumed pedaling I was climbing out of town toward 76. I got to 76 and it looked a bit shady. Bad road and lots of gravel. I started down it slowly. It started to curve left and the next thing I knew was that I was back to the main road. A guy stopped at the stop sign. I asked him about 76. He didn't know any more about it other than it was a short loop off the main road. He asked where I was heading and I told him Waverly. He said I should go back down the hill into town and take 49 to 13. I thanked him for the info.
By this time it was closing in on 4pm and I was still feeling bad so I decided to find a place to stay and hit it again early in the morning. It was so hot I decided to stay in AC at the Dover Inn. It was nice. I returned to McDonald's for dinner then went to BP for some batteries. I checked a TN map and talked with the attendant. Both confirmed what the man had suggested re: getting to Waverly so I decided that was the way I was going in the morning.
I returned to my room to take care of my blog and e-mail then I fell off to sleep.
Tomorrow it is off to Waverly first then to Saltillo if possible.
Thanks for your prayers and encouragement in these final weeks!
bob g
STATS - Mileage Today 50, Pace 11, Riding Time 4:25
Total GTD cumulative miles: 2,466
