Franz

On my way to my regular Walls of Jericho campsite on September 30, I ran across this touring cyclist standing on a street corner in South Pittsburg, TN, looking at his cell phone. I rode up to him to get his story, and, man, does he have a story.

His name is Franz, and he is from Hamm, Germany, which is a sister city to my hometown, Chattanooga.

He wanted to participate in the Seniors World Championship Table Tennis Tournament in Nevada, so he decided to make a bike tour out of the trip.

He did not want to fly with his bike in baggage compartment of an airplane, so he decided to take a cargo ship from Germany to San Francisco.  The trip to the US took about 4 months due to the ship stopping in numerous ports along the way.  When the ship stopped, it was usually for about 12 hours and he would get his bike out and ride it around the city.  The ship he was on went thru the Panama Canal to get to San Francisco.

He rode his bike from San Francisco to Las Vegas and participated in the table tennis tournament.  He is now enroute to Wilmington, NC, where he will catch another cargo ship for his return to Germany.  When I met him, he had already been away from home for 7 months on this trip.

The night before I met him, he stayed at a Warm Showers (touring cyclist lodging) host in Sewanee, TN.  The hosts were out of town, but told him to go ahead and stay at their home.  When he arrived at the home, he was met by a dog that seemed to want to protect the property, so he went and spoke to a neighbor.  The neighbor helped him safely get into the residence, and also invited him over for supper, which he accepted. This is the sort of human kindness that just about every touring cyclist experiences.

HEY!!!! Bang!!!! Ouch!!!

On August 29, 2017, I planned to do a through ride from Chattanooga to Huntsville, Alabama. My riding buddy, Bob, planned to ride with me to Stevenson, Alabama, where he would turn around and return to Chattanooga. We made plans to meet at a McDonalds in Tiftonia, just west of Chattanooga, to start our ride together.

I was on my bike enroute to meet Bob, and was on West 40th Street approaching Pirola Street that intersected from my right.  Pirola Street has a stop sign and traffic on 40th Street has the right of way. West 40th Street has a designated bike lane on it, but since I was approaching an intersecting street, I moved left into my lane of traffic so I would be more visible to any approaching vehicles. I had checked my rear view mirror and knew there were no vehicles approaching me from the rear. There were  also no vehicles approaching from the intersecting street. The only vehicle in sight was an approaching minivan heading in the opposite direction on West 40th Street with no turn signal on. So I thought everything was cool and there would be no problem passing by the intersecting road.

We'll, was I ever wrong. About the time I got almost even with Pirola Street, the van that was approaching me in the opposite direction decided to turn left, and headed straight for me.  I commenced to shouting and veering right to hopefully get his attention and give him time to avoid me.  All my attempts to avoid a collision failed, and the front passenger side of his van struck the front of my bike.  

I and the bike both hit the pavement hard.  I jumped up and gave the van driver a "What the heck?" sign with both my arms raised. He got out of his van and apologized for hitting me.  He stated he could not see me because the sun was in his eyes.  My right thigh was bruised from hitting the pavement, and was sore for a few days.  The bike had about $600 damage to it, and his insurance paid for the repairs.  Below are pics of the bike damage. 

I called my wife, who was in Huntsville, and told her, "I'm fine, but I got hit by a car and would not be making it to Huntsville."  Of course, she was ready to jump in a car and return to Chattanooga, but I was able to convince her that I really was fine. I called Bob, who was waiting on me at McDonalds, and he came and picked me and the bike up and took us home.

All in all, it could have been a lot worse.  A police report was filed, and to my knowledge the van driver was not cited for anything.  I have a feeling he would have been cited for something had the accident involved another vehicle.  Oh well.  

Bike, Hike, Bike Tour - February 18-20, 2018

I was wanting to go on an adventure before I started working weekends again at Dollywood in March. My first thought was to walk from my home in Chattanooga to my in-laws’ home in Huntsville, Alabama. I figured this 120-mile trip carrying about 25 pounds of gear would take me about 6 days. I guess I’m a fair weather hiker because I was only going to attempt it if I had a week of no to low rain chance. The weather did not cooperate so I decided to nix this plan. It was probably a good thing I decided not to do this trip because I could not even make it out of the community I live in walking and carrying a backpack without arising suspicions and having the police called on me.  No telling how many times I would have had the police called on me walking 120 miles.

With this plan axed, I decided to turn to my reliable ole bicycle for an adventure. I do not mind biking in the rain, so a forecast with rain in it would not cancel the trip. I called my cycling buddy, Bob, and he was up for a trip to the Walls of Jericho in Jackson County, Alabama, that would involve biking and hiking.

We cycled to the primitive campsite near the Walls of Jericho trailhead using the same route we used in October. Bob and I have biked to this campsite numerous times, and I regularly stop at this campsite when I bike from Chattanooga to Huntsville. It was starting to sprinkle rain when we arrived at the campsite, but we were able to get our tents pitched and get inside the tents before the steady rain arrived. We heard the yip-howls of coyotes that night in the distance. Also, an owl landed on a limb close to our tents and started communicating with another owl in the distance. It’s amazing how loud an owl’s “hoot” is when it is close. Below is a pic of our campsite. 

The next morning we got up ready for our 4-mile, each way, hike into the canyon to the waterfall. Since we would be gone for several hours, Bob decided to hide his nice touring bicycle in the woods near our campsite to keep it from possibly being stolen. He laid it on the ground, put a tarp over it, and then put some twigs and leaves over the tarp. His plan worked as the bike was still there when we got back. Amazingly, we were even able to find it upon our return. Below is a pic of camouflaged bike. 

I decided to ride my $15 yard sale Viscount bicycle on this trip since I would be leaving it at the campsite for several hours. I would not want to lose this bike, but it would not be as great of a loss as it would if my nicer touring bike was stolen. Below is a pic of the Viscount. 

On the hike down, I ran across this tree that has an amazing resemblance of Bob. (Look closely at the lower knot hole in the tree.)

At the bottom of the canyon, we had to use a log bridge to cross a stream. 

There is an old cemetery near a primitive campsite on the canyon floor. Below is a pic of Bob checking out a headstone at the cemetery.

Below are some pics of a stream and the waterfall.

Watch out for the low hanging sharp rocks near the waterfall or you might end up with one of these on your head.

Since it rained the night before, the trail at the bottom of the canyon was muddy in places. I wore my Vibram Five Finger shoes on the hike, and mud squishing up between my toes brought back good childhood memories. 

It is rumored that Davy Crockett hunted in the area surrounding the Walls of Jericho when his family lived close by. In the pic below, you might initially think it is the ghost of Davy Crockett, but it’s just Bob. 

We got pretty warm hiking back up the mountain.  Bob found this perfect little babbling brook to cool off in.

We made it back to our campsite, camped another night, and then biked back home to Chattanooga the following day. This was a very enjoyable and relaxing trip. If you find yourself looking for a good place to hike, the Walls of Jericho might just be what you’re looking for.