Day 25 - Dickson, TN to Chapel Hill, TN - miles: 70 Time: 5 hrs 20 min Average: 13 mph
Day 26 - Chapel Hill, TN to Winchester, TN - miles: 52.6 Time: 4 hrs Average: 12.7 mph
We start off on a clear cool morning and the day promises to be wonderful. However within a short distance Kit's rear derailleur starts to act up. After a small adjustment we are off again down lovely back country roads but a short time later the derailleur is again acting up and we have a lot of hills to go over. Not good! After several more tries at adjustments and Kit and Martha both pouring over the bike mechanic book, we give up and throw the bikes on top of the car again and drive 30 some odd miles to Clarksville where our research says is the closest bike shop.
Clarksville turns out to be a sweet town with a college - Austin Peay State College - and luckily for us a nice bike shop. The fellow makes some adjustments, says we are good to go and charges Kit nothing. Nice people here in TN. Since we have lost a good part of the morning we take a road back to our bike route that cuts off about 10 miles. By the time we get there it is noon, so we have lunch first before starting our riding again. The derailleur is not perfect, but Kit nurses it along and we enjoy the rest of a really lovely day. It is wonderful to have the cool and dryer weather after the heat and humidity of Missouri. We pass big houses, medium houses and small houses but almost all have front porches and on almost ever front porch you see at least one if not more rocking chairs. Must be the hot evening activity, rocking on the front porch. We also pass lots of signs for catfish and frogs legs.....YUMMM.
We have spent the night at a state park outside Dickson, Montgomery Bell SP. Another lovely day ahead. We are skirting around Nashville, TN and again the country side is lovely and the roads really great. We had been advised that just about any back road in TN is good for riding and we are finding that to be true. We pass many new lovely homes and they are on a minimum of one acre but usually more. We have lunch in a cute village, Leipers Fork, and Kit actually has catfish for lunch. The first she has every tried that she liked! The shop owner is delighted.
We are having so much fun on the back roads of TN that we miss a turn and have to ask direction to the next state park, Henry Horton, where Bill is waiting for us with the Tent Majal already set up. It was a long day and we are tired. However, Martha spends some time after dinner trying to make sense of the Map My Ride directions so that hopefully we don't go astray again. We vow to check the directions more often too.
Chapel Hill, TN (Henry Horton SP) to Winchester, TN proves to be yet another beautiful day. How can we get so lucky? We stop 20 miles down the road in Shelbyville, home of the Tennessee Walking Horse. We meet up with Bill and get little to eat in the old historic plaza. Afterwards Bill is off to Lynchburg, a scenic old village and a tour of the Jack Daniels Distillery. Bill can't resist purchasing a bottle of The Jack, not because he ever drinks it but because the bottle is so pretty! Maybe well need some in a couple of days as the nighttime temperatures are suppose to go below freezing!
Martha and Kit head onto Winchester and Tim's Ford SP. We pass by barns and signs of Tennessee Walking horses, one of the few breeds of naturally gaited horses. They are big and beautiful. We actually get to the campground before Bill today, a first for us, and lucky as this is a Friday night and the entire place is full by dark. Not quite a solitary night ahead.
We have been enjoying the Tennessee State Parks campgrounds and our wonderful meals...grilled pork tenderloin and pineapple with rice one night and the leftovers stuffed into green peppers with grilled yams and salad the next night. Not too shabby for camp dining!
For days now we have been enjoying the sights and smells of fall. As you can see the area is getting ready for the change in the season with fall decorations, vendors of mums and firewood.
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