Day 8
Friday, 3 June 2011
Winchester, TN to Scottsboro, AL
49.4 miles, 4h08m, 11.9 mph
Elapsed Time: 6h56m, Max speed: 42.6mph
Total Climbing: 1988ft, Max elevation: 1885ft
Total mileage: 510.8
As you can see, today's ride was dominated by the massive climb at the
begining. Everything else was easy.
That climb was only, like, two miles, but it took me about 45 minutes.
It was very steep and very hot. I rode a lot of it on the wrong side of
the road because there was shade on that side. My shoes were squishing
because my socks were soaked with the sweat that ran down my legs.
Nice. And it was pretty much all downhill after that.
I cautiously approach the huge climb. Trust me, it's bigger in person.
The view back toward Winchester, part way up the climb.
The great thing about the climb is that once I was up, I stayed up. The
downside was that there wasn't much up there. No stores for about 25
miles. I actually got down to my last bottle of Gatorade. Then I
reached the surprisingly well-provisioned town of Skyline and all was
well again.
Oh. And I crossed into Alabama. Note the deterioration of riding
conditions.
At this poiont I started missing Tennessee.
I guess spelling's not such a big deal in Alabama.
The Unclaimed Baggage Center!
But before I could go in, I met Steve
outside. He was sitting with his fastastic Hunqapillar touring bike
(with a doubled top tube) smoking a cigarette. We talked for about a
half hour. He's done quite a bit of touring but nowadays he just takes
his bike out for short fishing trips. He offered me any mechanical help
I might need and gave me one of his spare tubes (he really hates flat
tires). He also gave me some good route information for tomorrow, which
I will use (ride across the bridge on the wrong side because it has a
shoulder, and don't use the main highway to climb the mountain on the
other side, use one of the other roads). He also liked that I was going
to ride the Little River Canyon road tomorrow.
Eventually, I went inside and Steve went on his way. I gotta say, the
UBC is a little disapppointing. I don't know what I was expecting, but
it seemed too much like a store and not enough like a place where
people's lost stuff gets unceremoniously resold. I guess I was
expecting more of a warehouse environment.
But it was nice.
They have a few oddities in display cases out front.
This is a Hoggle from the Jim Henson movie "Labyrinth." How it
became lost luggage is a mystery. It is not for sale.
And here are various religious icons and cultural symbols. Also not for
sale.
I bought nothing--though I did use the fine UBC restroom facilities.
After the thrill wore off I rode downtown to look for a restaurant near
the courthouse where the lawyer types have lunch, but no dice.
Scottsboro's downtown historic district appears to be largely
abandoned. So, I rode to the motel district and ate lunch at Ruby
Tuesday's. Then to the hotel and my enormous suite and a soak in the
jacuzzi.
Bicycle touring done right can be a fine vacation.
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"Tour of the South 2011" Copyright © 2011 By
Bob
Clemons. All rights reserved.