Day 75: September 18, 2024 - Murfreesboro, TN, to Monteagle, TN
End: Monteagle, TN
Miles: 59.4
Feet climbing per mile: 48
Record of the day's ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/222697197
When I camped at Montgomery Bell I realized that 60 is too cold for just my heavy-duty sleeping-bag liner. I had Lori send my sleeping bag, which I had sent home from Chicago, to Bob Pittman, a classmate from graduate school with whom I will have dinner in Cherokee in a few days. I’m not sure why I thought I would no longer need my sleeping bag. It’s getting to be fall and the nights will get colder through the coming weeks.
My original plan for this day was to ride 69 miles to Foster Falls Recreation Area where I would camp. When I stayed at Foster Falls five years ago I enjoyed the most glorious swimming I ever had. But I thought it would make sense to stop, instead, in Monteagle, about halfway between Murfreesboro and Chattanooga, which is just 40 miles from Foster Falls. I saw that there were several inexpensive hotels in Monteagle, so that became my most likely destination.
For the first time on this trip had developed jock itch, also known as crotch rot. I had recently started wearing my Ergowear shorts which are heavier than my custom-made Lycra shorts, and wondered whether the Ergowear shorts might not wisk sweat away as easily as the other shorts. Early in my ride I stopped at a Walgreens and bought a tube of Lotrimin Ultra. I also looked for a spray bottle, at Walgreens and a few other stores, that would fit in my bear-spray cage and that I would fill with ammonia in order to repel dogs. I did not find such a bottle. Maybe I can find one on amazon. The diameter needs to be 2 inches and it needs to be able to spray a stream, not just a mist.
I stopped at a Sonic to get a shake but the odor of dead animals in the neighborhood was so bad I forwent having thee shake. I later determined that the odor came from trucks carrying live chickens. I had seen such trucks near the Sonic. I think the chickens in the trucks were all alive.
Several times recently goats have been camera-shy.
I love pie for breakfast!
Here’s a picture of the best rock formation I’ve seen in Tennessee.
I first thought that it was shredded brown corn stalks that were being loaded into the truck.
Later I was told by a farmer that once the stalks turn brown they are simply flattened and allowed to rot. So that must have been corn being loaded. I asked the farmer how the cows across the road (sorry, no picture or video) knew to come home. He said that it was the smell of food that brought them home.
I had my second flat of this trip. The only possible culprit I could find was the tiny piece of wire shown in the picture below, but it did not appear to have gone all the way through the tire.
I was fortunate to have found at a gas station a milk crate on which to rest the handlebar, and another on which to sit as I worked.
Later, at my hotel, I determined that this was a pinch flat. I applied a patch and then verified the repair by installing the tube in my front tire.
Just before Monteagle there was a steep climb of 3.2 miles. I walked about a half mile but rode the rest. The entire climb was on a beautiful road surrounded by trees. I don’t know whether Tennessee is the greenest state in the land of the free (please post your guess about my reference as a comment), but it certainly is green.
I spent the night at The Smokehouse Lodge & Cabins, a great bargain at just $64.25 including all taxes a fees. I thoroughly enjoyed swimming in the pool with its water so cold and refreshing!
I had dinner at Papa Ron’s Pizza & Italian Steakhouse. On the way to dinner I saw the special big moon.
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