The weekend was a tough one...with everything going on in the world, I was out here giving it all for my cause..Did anyone check the weather report for Tennessee..guess what Today Sunday was ? 93 degree's..I hate playing Golf in that kind of heat, but I still had to cycle my long legs off..
Larry, Larry, Larry...Larry drove all the way from Pensylvania to Nashville TN..thats over 800 miles..to join me and give me support for the weekend. Larry and I are both team members of an online virtual cycling club, that has over 2000 members from around the USA www.bikejournal.com, all talking to each other and logging mileages and swapping stories, and occasionaly meeting up with each other..I am just like the novice in the pack, the novice nonetheless was worked my socks off to get the mileage done.
Larry has an online name of "Zurichman" and being from PA, I considered him to be a localish rider that I could compare statistics with, especially as we were sharing much of the same hostile winter weather..I always figured that if I could catch up to Zurichman, I would be in good shape...
Little did I know that he himself would be the first one from the club to meet me, and meet and greet we did..it was awesome to have a dedicated cyclist travel so far to come and keep my spirits up...
Larry had agreed to meet us at exit 209 on interstate 40 which happened to be somewhere in downtown Nashville...Chris and I arrived early at around 11 pm and we knew we had to wait until 3 possibly 4 am for Larry to arrive...the area was, less than desirable and after seeing several entertaining characters in the course of the next few hours, we decided it not best to stay in the same place.
We moved the RV 10 miles further down the road and found a Walmart parking lot that made us feel much more secure. Larry would have to call us when he arrived and we could let him know where we had moved to..
Larry did phone at about 6 am and then drove to the Walmart to meet us where upon he relaxed for a few hours catching a nap in the RV..for the previous 3 hours Larry had slept in his car outside a rather fruitful nightclub in downtown Nashville watching the parade of nightgoers peering through his window in merriment...
My sleep is imperative after these long days, so with the broken sleep pattern of the night I was trying to get just another few hours before I had to start the day..Larry was just like a caged greyhound waiting to get out and ride...he later admitted he thought there was no way it looked possible for us to be serious about doing any serious riding, and had initially felt a little disappointed that we had not made an early start..his disappointment was soon forgotton when Tony finally was awake, and raring to go...and did we go! Blasting out of the racing gates we were going to do a 100 mile ride today...or so we thought..it was Saturday...day 23 ..and no sooner had we travelled 10 miles on the Interstate than we were pulled over by a State trooper insisting we got off the Road and go find another route...in 23 days and over 2000 miles this was a first...anyhow we complied, and headed back to State road 70 ..what a disaster it was..it was like going over ski jumps..winding winding country roads up and down around and around...it was horrible..and the sun just poured on our heads.the rest of the weekend was no better...mountains, hills, the sun, more mountains, more sun....but we prevailed...
Zurichman pulled me along with his fresh legs over the weekend for just over 200 miles from Nashville TN to Cookesville TN..that puts us approx 100 miles just west of Knoxville...we rode and rode and rode..and Lord did I need the support.
I have been to TN at least 50 times over the past 5 years to visit family, and I never paid attention to how hilly the mountains are around this part of TN, we are coming up to Knoxville and the mountains are getting higher and higher and higher, the road up was hard over the weekend, blistering heat on my back and burning pain in my thighs, but I pushed and pulled my way up to the top of many hills this weekend...we would have done more if truth be told, at the end of Sundays riding, it was not mileage or tiredness that stopped us, we were in the groove...my seat broke..Georgetown Bike shop, if you are reading this..my awesome seat went kapput..one of the rear supporting struts suffered from metal fatigue, I guess from all the uphill cycling, and it sheered. I was so very very lucky, the whole saddle could have fallen off and me with it, or worse still the bike stem could have easily pierced my body ...they warn of fitting bike saddles properly and that incorrect installation could even result in death..this played heavily on my mind as my saddle was broken and I had to ride the last three miles standing up...!
Chris was there to meet us, the weekend was over, and Larry gave us a big hug a big handshake and was thrilled to have ridden with me, as I was equally thrilled to have him here, a new friend forever....
In conclusion what did the weekend bring us, it made me miss my wife terribly, it was Mothers Day today and I was not there for either my wife, the mother of my two children, or my own mother, who is having a hard time with my fathers illness...it brought me a new friend in Larry...it brought me two sore legs...well that's usual these days, it also brought me an answer to why I have been getting so many flat tyres! But thats for me and the wheel manufacture to discuss when I get home, needless to say, it took an expert cyclist like Larry to help solve the puzzle and with a bit of duct tape remedy it...
Finally it brought me 210 miles closer to my family....we sit just a day's ride from Knoxville, I can almost visualise home from here, I have driven from Knoxville to DC in a day before, I am really almost finished..I just have to be patient and keep on toughing it out..but I have almost completed my excellent adventure...
On a closing note, I wanted to tell all the people that write to me, how much I appreciate your notes, some of them bring a chill to me when I read them, some of them bring me close to tears, I do try to respond to you all, but if I don't or have not, I will...you are all friends ..and I admire you all..
Knoxville here I come...but first I have to get a new saddle....2197 miles in 24 days
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