Today didn’t go as planned. It’s a bit impossible to get on the road “on time’ when you’re visiting with good friends. And I didn’t find the time to update the blog. Jayne and Kevin served up a wonderful breakfast, and the conversations were way too interesting. And Jacques continued his insistence from the night before that we should stay for at least a couple more days. Despite Kevin and Jayne’s clear directions to get us to an AT&T store (phone issues) and on our route for today, avoiding the interstate, we (I) lost our way almost immediately.. and so went the rest of the day. It was about 1 PM when I finally got on my bike, on a twisty turny part of US Hwy 321 between Crossville and Rockwood, TN. Immediately I was screaming (literally) down a steep descent faster than I’d every ridden before, on a very narrow shoulder, gripping the brake levers has tight as I could. It was SCARY. But the traffic wasn’t heavy, and I didn’t go over the guard rail. My bike computer wasn’t working so I have no idea how fast I was going. The elevation eventually leveled out, and I had a good ride until the shoulder disappeared. I threw in the towel at about 18 miles. It wasn’t a good place for Philip to start his ride, so we drove on...and lost our way...and found our way...and lost our way. By this time we were behind schedule for our ETA at our night’s accommodation in Cosby, TN, so Philip didn’t get to ride today. So, he’ll need to make up the mileage tomorrow...maybe.
We followed US HWY 321 to TN 73 to reach Little River Road in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. That was a lovely drive, until we reached Gatlinburg, which is not so lovely. We spent the night at the home of a lovely and interesting lady, Dianne, whose accommodation Philip found on www.airbnb.com (check it out). Her place is WAY off the beaten path, and absolutely charming and rustic and QUIET. Dianne prepared a delicious pasta meal for dinner, and was a very gracious host. There was no Internet access for my laptop, so, again, no blog entry was posted today. No photos taken today, either.
Today we drove 291 miles, and rode only 18 miles.
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