Day 3: 2/26/24: Cumberland Mountain State Park to Norris TN

Other than the park raccoons occasionally clanging around the lids to the garbage cans, I had a good night's sleep last night.

Bob and I bid our farewells this morning and headed off in opposite directions.  Fortunately, Bob headed off into a headwind, and I had a nice tailwind most of the day.

The route today had several hills (I am in East Tennessee, so that's expected), but it also had its fair share of relatively flat sections.  With the help of the winds, the flats were super fun.

Scenic pic below.

I went through several small communities today including Crab Orchard, Ozone, Harriman, Oliver Springs, Briceville, Rocky Top, and Norris.  Below are a few pics of buildings from some of these towns.  I spent most of my afternoon riding in former East Tennessee coal mining country.  

Tonight, I'm staying at a Warmshowers host house.  My hosts tonight are Jeff, Jenny and their 2 sons, Nicholas and Eddie.

Total miles today:  80.7

Day 2: 2/25/24: Tracy City to Cumberland Mountain State Park, TN

I slept soundly last night.  This morning, Pat got up and made us a delicious breakfast consisting of scrambled eggs, tater tots, grits, toast and fresh fruit.  It was delicious and fueled me for a day of riding.

I encountered several steep, medium length climbs on the mountain before I was rewarded with a fast descent into Dunlap.  The last portion of the descent had several extreme switchbacks which made me have to ride my brakes a lot.  I actually got concerned that I might overheat my brakes, but I guess I never did.

In Dunlap, I met a biking buddy from Chattanooga, Bob, who will be riding with me today, and then return home tomorrow.

We had a nice day of riding in the Sequatchie Valley with nice views on both sides (pics below).  Most of the roads were country roads with minimal traffic.

Pic below of nice mural in downtown Pikeville.

About 1 mile from the start of our climb up the Cumberland Plateau we were joined by a friendly dog (pic below of Bob and dog).  We tried several times to no avail to make him quit following us.  When we would have a downhill, we could get some distance between us and the dog, but then we would hit an uphill and here would come the dog to catch back up with us.  He followed us about 5 miles, including about 3 miles up the mountain.  The mountain climb was probably like a rest break for him since we were so slow.  At the top of the mountain, we talked to a man about our dog predicament and he volunteered to hold him while we made our escape.  It worked, but then we felt guilty.  I hope he returns to his home or some nice person adopts him.

We made it to Cumberland Mountain State Park and the host there allowed us to upgrade campsites to better accommodate 2 tents.  He also had some hot charcoal from his grill and dried firewood that he brought to our fire pit and started a campfire for us.  He even provided a couple of folding chairs so we could sit and enjoy the fire while we ate.  Pic below of me enjoying the campfire.

Total miles today: 77.3

Day 1: 2/24/24: Athens AL to Tracy City TN

I'm biking toward Roanoke VA to meet Lisa.  I'll then put my bicycle in the car and ride with her to PA to see our kids and grandkids.

Let's hope the 2024 multi day bike tour season starts out better than the 2023 season ended.  My last tour in 2023 was in November, when I rode from home to Harrisonburg VA.  About the time I made it into Virginia, I began noticing a rash breaking out on my left shoulder.  I initially thought I had gotten into poison ivy somewhere, but it was odd how it was only on my left shoulder.  With the help of Doctor Google, I self-diagnosed myself with shingles.  The rash progressed through all the stages of shingles, so I'm pretty sure the diagnosis was correct.  Anyhow, time (about 4 weeks) took care of almost everything, and I'm about 98% back to normal.

Pic below of moon over Athens this morning.  I would really liked to have seen this thing last night.

Full moons typically means things start going nuts.  Well, don't know if it was because of the moon, but my bicycle computer went nuts about 4 miles into my ride today.   It was stuck on 11.6 mph speed and 4.31 miles distance showing.  I changed the battery thinking that may be the cause, but the reading remained the same.  I thought for sure that taking the battery out would reset it to zero, but it didn't.  I figured I would just have to navigate my trip without the aid of my computer.  It would be harder, but doable.  

When I stopped for lunch, I found a small stick and pressed the reset button on back of the computer.  Lo and behold, this cleared out the readings and I was able to reset the settings.  This caused it to start working again.  Fingers crossed.

Today's ride was very windy. The wind was my friend during the first part of the day, but it clobbered me pretty good in the afternoon.  Tonight I'm staying with some friends, Ron and Pat, in Tracy City.  The wind, hills, and a mountain climb slowed me down a lot in the afternoon and I barely made it to their house before dark.

A couple of scenery pics from today.

 Pat made us a delicious supper (pic below).

Total miles today: about 100 (estimate since computer didn't always work)