Wild West Tour lll: Day 17

Day 17

6-6-14

Gordonsville TN to Murfreesboro TN

Ok as the say in the movies “Take 2”. Tonight we are at the hotel we had planned on reaching yesterday before the thunderstorms chased us away. Hopefully as we begin to work our way west these thunderstorms will begin to subside. With very few places to take cover along our route big storms make us nervous.

Grapefruit size hail hit just behind us the other day destroying cars and even damaging houses. What do you do when these bombs start falling from the sky and you have no cover? It would be like someone trying to stone you to death.

We had sunshine today and mild temperatures which made for some nice biking Still plenty of nipping dogs to keep us on our toes though.

Everyone’s body has now adjusted to the daily cycling grind. Contact points have greatly improved and the hills do not hurt as bad. The constant climbing has made our legs stronger and they will still improve.

You would not want to feed us for too long…ask Rich and Kathy Kushman. We are always hungry now eating everything in sight to fuel our bodies. On hot days liquids are most important. As the temperatures rise and the population gets sparser we will have to be sure to have enough water onboard the bikes.

Riding along some very small back road we came upon the town’s gravedigger who just retired a couple years ago. He said he dug most graves by hand during his career. We could have talked to him for hours with all his stories but 20 minutes is all we could afford.

It almost seems like the hills are getting softer and not as steep. The further we drift west the less hills we should see. We have already climbed over 90,000 feet in the last 17 days!!! OUCH!

We should hit the Natchez Trace parkway Sunday. With no services at all on the 300 mile stretch of road we will need the have all our supplies with us for the days riding.