TheSouth2011

Day 5

Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Clarksville, TN to Nashville, TN
48.7 miles, 4h06m, 11.9 mph
Elapsed Time: 5h19m, Max speed: 40.1mph
Total Climbing: 2292ft, Max elevation: 869ft
Total mileage: 363.5

Did I mention that it's hot in Tennessee? Oh. Did I mention that this is a big cicada year in Tennessee? It is. Here they come out of the ground every 13 years. They are loud and they are everywhere. I keep finding them on my clothes. I'm surprised I haven't taken one in the face at high speed. I hope they taste good.

Last night I discovered that there was a problem with my bike computer. Every once in a while it would say "Lo Head," which is gibberish to me. Eventually I figured out that it means the battery in the head unit is low. So, I wandered out in the morning to the nearby Walmart and grabbed a new battery. Maybe now the altitude numbers won't be gibberish as they have been.

I planned to start a little later--about 9am--because the day would be a little shorter, and because I wanted to give Clarksville's rush hour a chance to finish. Don't know if it was worth it, but I did get to have breakfast at the Waffle House.

About 10 miles in I joined US41A. Look at the awesome shoulder. Idiots.

When I crossed the county line everything got better. Rather than cursing Tennessee, I cursed
Montgomery County, Tennessee. The shoulder was nice the rest of the way.

Nothing much to see. I stopped at just about every convenience store and drank several
gallons of water, Vitamin Water, and Gatorade. Here's my first Rock City sighting. It's
only a tank of gas away! Not for me.

Finally that Nashville skyline hove into view. I stopped at the "Kwik Sak." The clerk was
behind bulletproof glass. Nice.

They had a really nice bike lane on 41A through the city. I was the
only one using it.

I checked in to the Holiday Inn Express. When I got to the room I noticed that my front tire was flat. That's about the best time you can have a flat. I'll fix it later.

Then I hit the town. I wandered around a bit.

The Music City Walk of Fame.

Apparently the standards are not high.

The Country Music Hall of Fame. I didn't tour it.

There's a bunch of these around town. I took this picture because I thought
this was the real Elvis.

I had dinner at Jacks Bar-B-Que, which was excellent. Then I had a couple
beers at Robert's and listened to a guy play guitar. Then I went back to the hotel.
It was not yet 6pm. I am old.

Loud bugs.

While I was riding today I was thinking about taking a short day tomorrow. But then I got out of the heat into a nice hotel room, and I decided that I should push on. So it's on to Shelbyville.

After I fix that tire.

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