Day 5: 10/3/2022: Riverside Campground to Draper, VA

First breakfast this morning was several peanut butter and crackers since there were no restaurants nearby.

Below is a pic of the Holsten River, which I have been following alongside for awhile.

After about 8 miles, I hit my first big climb today, Hayters Gap.  It actually wasn't as tough as I thought it was going to be, or maybe the peanut butter and crackers kicked in.  It was about a 1.8 mile climb.

The first town I came to was Emory.  Below are some pics around Emory and Emory and Henry College which is in Emory.

I then made it to Chilhowie where I had my 2nd breakfast at McDonald's, make that a big breakfast with hotcakes.  Some pics below around Chilhowie.

Then came Marion.  Few pics below.

I spent a lot of my ride today on USBR 76 (pic below).  I got on it at Hayters Gap and got back on it again at Rural Retreat.  I stayed on the route  from Rural Retreat to Draper.  I got off the route for several miles because I did not want to go to Damascus, which would have made the day a lot longer.

Not NO, but heck NO :)

Some scenery pics from today.

A couple of pics of Draper below.

When I got into Draper, population about 600, I went to the New River Trail and asked a couple of people where a cyclist could pitch a tent for a night. They told me to go talk to Brian, and told me where he lives. I went to Brian's house and he told me I could camp on his nearby farm.

This is Brian and Christabel.

This is his farm.

View of Peak Knob from the farm.

This is where I will be sleeping.

Sunset views from the farm.

And the lights on the greenhouse ceiling twinkle.  It's like stargazing. Sweet dreams.

Total miles today: 87.9

Day 4: 10/2/2022: Thorn Hill TN to Riverside Campground VA

I spent the entire day today riding in valleys sandwiched between 2 ridges.  Even though it was valley riding, there were plenty of ups and downs for me.  Below are pics representative of my views today.  

I finally made it out of Tennessee and into Virginia.  I will be in Virginia for several days.  My route is so back roads that Lisa's "tracker" even lost me in Mendota, VA, for several miles.  Call out "Smokey" to find me :)

A lady asked me today if I was riding for a purpose or cause.  I said that I was riding to visit my daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter in PA, and to attend my granddaughter's 1st birthday.  She said that sounds like a great purpose to ride :)

Pic of a neat old country store below.  They open at 7 a.m. everyday but Sunday.  Too bad for me because I bet they serve good egg biscuits.  There were no restaurants along my route today so for breakfast I had crackers and peanut butter and crackers and cheese.

Pic below of Independence Missionary Baptist Church established in 1851.

Pic below of North Fork Baptist Church established in 1776. Nice setting with the mountain in the background.

I camped at Riverside Campground near Abingdon.  The campground manager told me she had just cooked a pot of chili and made some cornbread and would make a to go bowl for me if I wanted it.  It sure smelled good, but I knew it probably had meat in it so I politely declined her offer.  Instead, I had some trail mix, a Poptart, and an Avocado for supper:)

Total miles today: 96.3

Day 3: 10/1/2022: Kingston to Thorn Hill, TN

I was on a major roads most of the morning but they mostly had good wide shoulders to ride on. The shoulder disappeared before I got into Clinton and the Saturday shopping and running errands traffic picked up.

Pic below of Clinch River before I got into Oak Ridge.

I eventually made it out in the rural area and was on TN 170 heading east.  My turn by turn printed instructions had me turn off 170 and ride in hills and hollows to TN 33.  I followed the instructions, I thought, exactly as printed and all the turn distances were adding up correctly.

 I made it to a major road, which I thought was TN 33, and I was supposed to take a left and then immediately turn right.  There was a road to the right, but it was not the name of the road for which I was looking. I looked at Google Maps on my phone to try to determine where I was, but my dot was still on 170, so I thought my Google Maps was wrong.  I turned off my phone and turned it back on again to see if the map updated, but nope, still the same.  

Thinking I was on TN 33, I turned right and started riding toward Maynardville, thinking I would just change my route.  I rode for about 2 miles and I noticed on Google Maps my dot was moving, and it was almost at the place where I had turned off 170 earlier.

I decided to call Lisa knowing she could look at the tracker and tell where I was and she confirmed my location and sent me a pic (below) of the loop I had unintentionally just made.  I was headed west on 170.  I decided to turn around and stay on 170 to 33, then head to Maynardville. 

Highway 33 was a high traffic road.  When I got to the original turn off 33 on my printed directions, a decision had to be made.  Turn off into more hills and hollows or stay on more major roads.  Hating riding in traffic, I took the risk and made the turn.  The rest of the route went smoothly and I rode thru beautiful country (pics below).  

After I turned off 33, I lost cell service, but Lisa was watching my route on the tracker..  When I regained cell service, Lisa had texted me the following text: "You are heading south." Shortly after, she texted me this: "Okay nvmd, looks like u are heading northeast again."  She also attempted to call me a couple of times trying to make sure I stayed on the right route.

The unnecessary loop I took was disheartening, but all in all it only added about 8 miles to my day.  For a while there, I thought I was in the twilight zone.  In addition to getting turned around, my cell phone unexplainably went from 78 percent to 15 percent :)

I camped underneath a pavilion at abandoned church about 3 miles before my intended destination.

Total miles today: 93.7

Day 2: 9/30/2022: McMinnville to Kingston, TN

Last night was a perfect night for tent sleeping.  Cool temps and clear sky.  During the 3 times I had to get out of the tent last night, I made sure to put on my glasses so I could enjoy the star show.  There was very little artificial light at/around the farm and the darkness and cloudless sky really made star gazing enjoyable.

I woke up and started breaking camp at 4 a.m. to get another early start today.  Most of my day was spent on U.S. Hwy 70 so there are not many pics for today.  U.S. 70 was the first state highway across the state, stretching from Memphis to Bristol.  The section from Crab Orchard to Rockwood is very scenic, but is a 2 lane curvy road with a medium amount of traffic and not much shoulder.

Lisa recommended I try Dollar General to replace my flip flops. The first one I stopped at only had $11 UT flip flops so I passed on that.  The second one didn't have any. The third one was a charm - they had $1 flip flops on sale for 10 cents.  Now you're talking. I wore them tonight in the campground shower so I guess I've got my money's worth out of them.

The only casualty today was my pen.  I have no idea where that popped off.

I was able to ride on country roads like the one pictured below for about 6 miles.  All other time was spent primarily on the US Highway.  I definitely enjoy the quiet pleasantness of a country road.

Below are some pics and interesting information about the "The Rock House."

About 2 miles of my climb up the Cumberland Plateau was on a portion of U.S. 70 that was under construction.  Fortunately, there was a very small strip of road on the side that was smooth and I was able to ride on it.  Nice of them to leave me a bike lane (pic below).

Sunset pic below of my campsite at Riley Creek Campground.

Total miles today: 109.0

Day 1: 9/29/2022 Home to McMinnville, TN

I woke up early this morning to get started on my ride because I knew it was going to be a long hard day with a significant headwind.   I headed out before sunrise.

Below are some pics around Athens as I was headed out of town.

Sunrise pic below.  

I have always enjoyed early morning rides because the pace of the world seems so much slower.  Everything appears right with the world riding in the dark with very little traffic.

Some scenery pics from my ride today.

The temperature today was perfect for riding today, but the wind made the ride challenging and tiring.  There was a stiff headwind almost the entire day.

Tonight I pitched my tent on a farm of a friend, Theresa, of ours that lives in Chattanooga.  It is a beautiful setting for a farm (pic below).

Beautiful sunset and moon pic below.

The only casualty today was one flip flop. It was strapped to my rear rack and fell off somewhere along the way.  If anyone finds a flip flop on the road between Athens AL and McMinnville TN, it belongs to me :)

Total miles today: 105.7