Thursday

I'm awake early. I slept lightly last night, waking up several times. I realize that I was excited about the great riding day ahead. This is going to be a long day, with twisties making up over 90% of the road.

It'll probably be well over 300 miles and cover the states of Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia. Specifically, it will include the Cherohala Skyway and Deals Gap, not to mention local Georgia roads like Wolf Pen Gap and Wyah road! Crown jewels to be sure.

At 6am I finally head for the showers. It's nice to take a quiet shower in the morning before the crowd shows up. :)

The sky seems to be clearing and it looks like it's going to be an awesome day. Right now, at this moment, I realize that waiting through the rain was worth it.

Back at the tent, I casually lay out my riding gear on the picnic table as I begin breakfast.

Thinking about our planned routing reminds me of a question that someone once asked me. They were considering touring in Europe and were wondering why 300 miles was considered a long day when touring the Alps. They reasoned that in North America they could easily ride 600 or more miles per day. In answering, I compared it to downhill skiing.

You can ski down the beginner trail at Aspen all day long and accumulate many runs. The trail is wide, groomed flat, and easy to ski. For an experienced skier, it requires no attention and little physical involvement. This would be comparable to riding an interstate highway.

On the other hand, you can ski a double diamond bump run. This is very steep, icy, requiring significant effort and attention. Chances are you will only have the stamina to do several such runs during the day. This is comparable to riding briskly on twisty, mountainous roads. It's just more draining.

I celebrate the apparent good weather by wearing my hot weather jacket and pants today. It provides somewhat less ultimate protection but should make for a much more comfortable day. I won't regret this.

It's now 7:30 as I hear the first bike startup at the shed. As I come around, I discover that it's Carol who's getting ready. She looks eager to ride; pumped actually!

The original plan was for her and Cindy to have breakfast at 8am with an 8:30 departure. But things seem changed now. Carol seems eager to leave ASAP and grabbing something on the road further on. As I mentioned to her last night, I'm open and flexible to anything. A few moments to get my gear on and we're off.

As we ride out of Suches, we occasionally come across impressive vistas. The light is at a perfect angle and intensity, reflecting lush greenery with gentle misting/fogging and occasional cloud patches low to the ground. The temperature is comfortable, but I have a feeling that it will get much warmer as the day wears on.

We've been on the road for an hour or so and stop in a small town for breakfast. I tell the ladies that I’ll wait for them. They're insisting that I go in, but I've already had breakfast. The sun is out, the morning is gorgeous and I explain that being cooped up in a small, crowded restaurant when I'm out here for riding would just make me antsy. But I'm fine waiting for them. If anything, I'll tour the town.

In fact, this is a good opportunity to look over my chain. Since yesterday, I've been hearing a small but definite and repeating clicking noise as I pull away under light throttle. It's a cyclical clicking as the chain goes around the sprocket.

I suspect an over-stretched link, as none appear to be binding. I also suspect that this might be related to the lopping type of surge I noticed yesterday. It wouldn't be surprising. This chain has over 20k miles, many of which have been through prolonged nasty weather.

Cindy soon comes out to join me. She had grabbed a bite early this morning and decides that she's not hungry enough to sit and wait for slow service.

As I check my tire pressure I'm surprised to discover part of the reason my rear tire was so slippery these last few days. My air pressure is a good eight pounds higher than the maximum I would ever use at sea level. Uncharacteristically for me, it never occurred to me check the air pressure at altitude.

Another ten minutes and Carol comes out. She's munching on a bagel and cream cheese and seems irritated. It turns out that service was way too slow and they've lost patience.

We move out and soon come across flooded countryside. With the recent strong and sustained rain, water levels have risen dangerously high. We stop briefly for some pictures. I wonder if this is foretelling of more ahead.

Bruno
Montreal, Canada