Cold Wet Ride Into Nashville

Well, our good weather luck really ran out today.  We began at the McDonald's (see photo of bikes lined up) next to the Dover Inn and rode in a cold rain 92 miles to The Hermatage in Nashville.  After about 10 miles, it became pretty obvious that it wouldn't clear up and that we were pretty miserable.  We were all soaked, chilled and our little group of 5 riders broke apart at a van stop and everyone just sort of made a break for it.  Kevin was faster than me, but sadly had a worse sense of direction.  Rustin and Tara realized he was missing and began the hunt.  They found him, making good time, but 4 miles down the wrong road.  He arrived late to Nasville.  Denis caught me and we rode into the 55-mile lunch stop together.  I was thrilled to strip out my wet shirts and put on a warmer running tech shirt, a new bike jersey, a dry wind jacket, and my rain top.  With only about 35 miles to go, we felt much better and rode into town together, since we only had one dry sheet of directions between us.  Our Garmins worked ok today, but they sometimes go nuts and start ordering you to go someplace else.  They are very helpful, but... Jim and Denis donned rain pants today; however, the rest of us stuck with bike shorts.  

Scott, my roomie, went shopping at a clothing store near the old Grand Old Oprey and retuned looking like Porter Wagoner.  All he needs now is a pair of boots to complete the look.  

I weighed in at 181 this afternoon, down 11 pounds from Santa Barbara.  I've been sleeping much better and getting used to riding for 32 days.  My back cracked loudly on Scott's foam roller this afternoon.  It's clearly annoyed to ride so much.

Through years of ultra running I've learned that when I over-train, I suffer bouts of depression, not sore knees or stress fractures.  I'm certainly engaged in 'excessive exercise', but can clearly state I'm not being negatively affected in any way.  At times, I'm very tired, but am still having a ball.  There is a really tough 125-miler in two days, but...we are scheduled to have a great meal tonight and a day off tomorrow.