Date: 2007-09-01
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Miles today: 100.0

Saturday Sept 1st:Today is the Clarksville (TN) "Sunrise Century" bike ride...i head up I-24 for the ride...(it takes me about 45 minutes to get there from my house in Springfield)& arrive in plenty o' time...sign in, get my "goodie bag", complete with ANOTHER T-shirt & water bottle! it was about this time...i realize...that i forgot my digital camera...DARN!No photos from the ride today...prep the bike, inflate the tires, clean the bike abit...talk to fellow cyclists around me...i see R.K. & Mark Robertson, also a fellow Veloteer (of course, he didnt have his Jersey on!)then do a few laps around the parking lot to warm up the legs...its a nice morning, not too "stuffy"..(humid). temperatures today are supposed to be around 89-90. Nothing like the 102 degrees for last weeks ride...THAT was Brutal!just before leaving i see Danny Flowers (TN Senior Olympics)& talk to him for a minute or two...he is riding in the Metric Century (62 miles)...they'll take off @ 8ami'm riding the 100 mile course...so, we line up & take off from Rossview School @ a few minutes past 7am.i heard one of the officials say they had approx 1200 riders today particiapting! WOW!i'm in the back of the pack...where i like to start to avoid any crashes & Hot-dawgs!...then i work my way up thru the crowd to a comfy riding pace.(usually 16-17mph)i ride a couple miles with Mark & R.K. before they leave me in the dust!just before the 1st Rest Stop (mile 13) i meet up & ride with Donald...he rode in the Bike Ride across Georgia...we talked as we rode (makes the miles zip by)he knows one of my hiking friends, Ron Dunn from Murfreesboro.(after the first rest stop...he took off...& i didnt see him again til about Guthrie, KY)I'm gonna take advantage of ALL rest stops today...get back on the bike & head out...thru TinyTown (KY)some of these back roads are familiar to me...as the TN Senior Olympics used some of these roads as their ROAD RACE course when i first got involved with the Games...(they were, obviously, held in Clarksville then!)we ride thru some beautiful farm country...then into Trenton (KY) for another REST STOP (mile 27)grab some GatorAde here & re-water my bottles & get backon the bike...out of Trenton...we make a BIG loop..riding thru the small communities of:Pinchem & then Hermon...before arriving back in Trenton (mile 47).they've re-routed the course a bit this year...so, we dont ride by the Jefferson Davis Memorial...always a highlight for me...(a replica of the Washington Monument is there)...Next town...we ride thru Elkton (KY)...(mile 59)lots of local Police helping keep us Cyclists safe today...THANKS GUYS!out of Elkton & then into ALLENSVILLE (KY)...(mile 69) & we skirt the small town of Keysburg....before coming back out to a main road....lots of tobacco barns smoking the Dark Fired leaves...(Southern Kentucky is known for that)we ride into the town of Guthrie (KY)....i ride to Guthrie a few times each year....when i need to get in a long ride from the house..(its 52 miles from the house to Guthrie & back)i stop for another REST STOP (mile 85)here in Guthrie...this'll be the last stop!after a few minutes of guzzling water & GatorAde...i jump back on the pedals....lets go....only 15 miles to finish...Man! those last 10 miles or so....are the LONGEST!try to keep my speed up....i have BURSTS of energy...then fatigue...pedal!pedal!pedal!by the BeechHaven winery & onto the home stretch...the last few miles....then over the Interstate onto Rossiew Road & the finish line....the clock said 7:05....but if i take away about an hour worth of REST STOP time....that about my actual time...6 hours..it was a TUFF day...we had a HEAD-WIND on us all day long...i am sooooooo tired....this Clarksville course is flat...but 100 miles is TUFF...no matter what!i finished...that was my goal today!Now, time to dust off the hiking boots!                              100 Miles today!