Date: 2009-08-22
To: "H.O.T. 100" Bike Ride
Miles today: 0.0

Sat.Aug 22nd:The ALARM goes off @ 4:30A.M.!OUCH!Today is the "HOT 100" bike ride...i get up & head, an hour & a half drive south-east to Lascassas, TN. (Lascassas Elementary School)for the 19th Annual M'boro Bike Club sponsored "Heart Of Tennessee 100 Bike Ride" (or HOT 100 for short)...I plan on riding the 66 mile course today!I drink coffee on the way to the ride site...listening to music as I go...("Lightning 100" my favorite radio station...they even had Delbert McClinton "LIVE" on-the-air Friday singing a couple tunes...AWESOME!)As I motor to Lascassas...a Van Morrsion tune comes on the radio..."Days Like This"...Love that tune!I arrive @ 6:30am...check in...pick up my FREEBIE, "GOODIE" bag..(T-shirt & water bottle) grab a map of the course & walk back to prep my bike.Air up the bicycle tires...clean the bike a little...dry it off mainly...very cool morning...put on my shoes & helmet & warm up a bit before the start...At 7am...the Mboro Bike Club rep...makes annoucnements...& then we're off!I spot a couple of VELOTEERS Jerseys...but, didnt know either of them...so for the most part...I will be riding SOLO today.ride onto Overall rd, then Givens, down Hershel Hudson, onto West Trimble, then East, then up Hall Hill (yes its a HILL!)Pike over Goochie Ford, then up Bivens Hill Rd trning onto old Woodbury Pike & into Readyville.I pace @ abt 17mph for the first few miles...& find my self riding with a younger guy...i find out he is living in Knoxville...but grew up in Greenbrier, TN...just a few miles from my house....we ride together & have some good conversation til the first Rest Stop....he is riding the 100 miler today...I'm heading for 66...REST STOP-mile 18I found out that this is the young man's first 100 miler...I told him I had a "Century" ride coming in another 2 weeks...so it was gonna be only 66 miles today...I wished him a "good ride" & stopped @ the rest stop for a re-water & some PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME! (thats for you Lukas!)weeeeeeeeee ;0)I leave the rest stop (in Readyville solo)...heading toward Woodbury,TN...I pass a load of farms....complete with the occasional horse, mules, & cows...I pass by WBRY studios...(in the middle of a field) Woodbury's local radio station...hit Hwy 70 South thru Woodbury passing business establishments....then out of Woodbury on Doolittle Rd, onto Peasand Ridge, then Hurrican Creek Rd....& the road earned its name....for abt 5 miles or so....the road was SO RUFF....i thought i had hit the cobblestones of EUROPE!They abt jarred my teeth....I actually picked up speed to try & get thru the patch faster....it was a long patch!then we hit Hwy 96 (a main rd) with brand new pavement....woooooo-hoooooo!then immediately onto Hwy 267/Stateville Rd...& REST STOP #2 (mile 43)I re-watered here & got a few munchies...(sugar rush needed now!)...Back on the bicycle & outta the rest stop onto Greenvale Rd, Dillon Rd. Charles Smith, onto Oregon Rd, then North Milton (Milton community) then to Bradley Creek & onto Rhodes lane...beautiful sceneryon these back roads....lots of old, rustic barns...& a few Walking Horse farms....onto Cainsville Pike (Cainsville) then back onto Hwy 96 for a mile or so....then a left into the school parking lot & finished!....wooooooooooooooooooo-hooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!Good ride...cool day...not too hot....good course...my feet are aching...but not too badly...After i grab a bottled water & some Iced Tea (unsweetened, Thank You)...i head back to Springfield,TN!next ride: The Sunrise Century up in Clarksville,TNI'm slated to ride the 100-mile course that day (Sat Sept 5th)See ya'll UP the trail!