Day 5 | 60 miles fast and 3100 ft of elevation

Well not much exciting happened today except we rode another 60 miles to finish the 5 days. I hooked up with a couple of others guys and we hit it hard.  We were at the finish by noon and we left at 8:00 and stopped for the sags three times. 

A large majority of the mileage seemed like it was down and flat, although we still had hills along the way, especially two bigs ones, but they really weren't much compared to what we had climbed the previous 4 days. 

It was a great trip and one that was a not for profit ride and it was put on by the TN State Parks, which made it nice, because we rode from one state park to the next. And saw some great countryside.  Also some of the left over money that was raised from this ride is given to the development of the new Cumberland Trail. It will be s trail similar to the AT. A lot of the trail is complete and will connect with trails in many other states. 

Here is a picture of some of the park employees at one of our Sag stops today. 

I look forward to doing more of these in the future and I made some nice friends this week as well. 

Thanks for following along. 

Day 4 | 41.5 miles 6644 ft of elevation

Another great day. We climbed for many miles straight up Roan Mountain, and have several great pictures. 

Early morning sunrise. 

A horse on the way up. 

Starting up several of the climbs. 

When I was 7 miles from the top I started to see these Pac Men every mile counting down the mileage to the top. I stopped on the way down to take this picture, Grant, and no I didn't stop on the way up. 

Here are several pictures from the top of Roan Mountain. 

Notice the elevation and the Welcome to North Carolina sign in the background. It was a lot colder at the top. 

The AT crosses the top of Roan Mountain and I walked a part of it today. 

Then I rode up to the top of Roan where an old hotel was once located. 

Cloudland Hotel in the 1800's. 

My first selfie at the former Cloudland Hotel.  

Roan Mountain Gardens. 

A view from the gardens. 

Tomorrow is the last day, and it should be relatively easy, around 65 miles and not much elevation, mostly down. 

Day 3 | 57 miles and 4800 ft of elevation

Had a little show last night after dinner, this is a ranger showing us a Screach Owl. Pretty entertaining. 

It didn't take much to entertain us. 

It was another cool start this am. When we took off around 7:30 it was 46 and the rumor at breakfast was that it was 35 at Roan Mountain, that's where are going to today and staying the next 2 nights. 

Another couple of days of good hills and elevation gain. 

Another great day.  The sun coming up over the hill and steam coming off of the lake. 

A nice cow that said "moo " along the way

Hills and more hills. 

Goats on a steep hill. 

Daniel Boone was here. 

For my dad. 

Welcome to Elizabethton. 

A covered bridge   

And some friends that are supposed to be under the bridge but decided to take my route. 

We rode along this river, and then this creek for a long time today. It was beautiful and kept getting smaller as we increased our elevation. 

I found some wifi at the ranger station, so I was able to post this, but won't be able to call or text as there is no cell service for the next 2 days. 

They are showing a John Candy movie tonight, The Great Outdoors. 

Day 2 | 81miles and 5165 ft elevation

Well day 2 and some of the early risers slept in until 5:30 today. They must have needed some sleep from yesterday's ride or maybe because of the anticipation of today's 80 miles. 

Here is a picture of us lined up at 6:00 in the dark for breakfast. 

And U.S. Lined up for dinner last night. 

And here is part of the tent city last night in the mountains. 

The big topic of discussion at breakfast was, were those dogs, wolves or coyotes that were howling last night?  Clearly I slept better than they did, because I barely remember here them. 

Had another great day. It started off a little cold but a few hills in the first mile warmed me right up and was glad that I had not taken all of my cold gear as it warmed up nicely today to around 80 and dry. Great biking weather. 

Here are several pictures of the day. 

This is a drive thru in the mountains, water was $1. Notice the confederate flag.

We have seen a lot of them, not sure if it's because of the PC police in the news lately and they want to fly them, or if they always do?

Here are several pictures of the roads we have been riding out in the country.  Just beautiful scenery for miles and not many cars, which has been great. 

Just hills, hills and more hills. 

It's supposed to be warmer the next 3 days. Hoping that it won't be too much warmer, except at night. 

The good news about tonight's camping is that I have some flat land, and in this park that is a very valuable asset. The bad news is that it's near the bath house and port a potties. Hope I don't hear slamming doors all night. 

I am airing out my sleeping bag. It had some commendation and dew on it this am. 

Day 1 | 70 miles and 5000 ft of elevation

Nice and hilly day. Started out this am in the dark. Everyone is up and moving around at 6:00. 

After what they called breakfast. It was off to s cold start in the low 50's. 

Had s great day of riding and met may nice people from all over. 

Here are some pictures of my tent from last night. 

Notice the sheet on my air mattress? Nice. Only the best. Although it was raining last night so some of my stuff was damp today. Good thing I packed in a water proof bag and then plastic bags inside of that. I was able to air dry the sheet and sleeping bag when I got to camp this afternoon.  So we are all good for tonight. 

Here is picture of our first town that we rode through   

And a church. Read the sign. 

Here is an old church. 

Nice ironworks into Greenville. Misspelled on purpose. 

A small general store. 

Crockett Tavern. I think part of Davy Crockett. We stayed at Davy Crocketts birthplace state park last night. 

And here is the shower truck. 

And it's starting to really cool off. It is going down into the low 40's tonight.