The Times They Are A Changing
I completed an 84 mile ride yesterday. And I felt ok during the whole ride. I did this ride a little differently than last week. I ate plenty of carbs the night before and the day before and I drank plenty of water. And, I went to bed early. We call this ride the Thompson Station Loop because it goes through Thompson Station, Tennessee which is the furthest point in the ride away from Nashville. The weather was perfect 75 degrees and sunny. I stopped in Franklin, Tennessee for water and then in Thompson Station again. That gave me enough to make it home.
I had not ridden this route in probably 4 years and the changes in landscape were significant. I could not believe the new development which has taken place on roads which could be described as rural a few years ago. Going into Franklin from Del Rio Pike, they have redone and rerouted the road and put up whole neighborhoods that were not there 4 years ago. Then coming back through Franklin, I missed a turn onto McEwen Rd off of Wilson Blvd because I saw what looked like a new city on that road where it used to be nothing but farm land accessible by a small wooden bridge. Now the bridge is big and concrete. and the farm land is full of houses. Going further down what used to be one of the most scenic roads on the ride reveals more development and new roads intersecting McEwen. Then I pass a new and large Liberty Park and notice the road has been enlarged and turns into Liberty Pike. Again, nothing was here before. I see that my old road McEwen still exists and goes off under a tunnel of tree limbs like I remember. I decide to continue down McEwen road and reject the new, big, traffic riddled Liberty Pike even though barriers at the continuation point say "construction traffic only". So down I go and the road still seems to be in good shape until about a mile down the road I see the construction. The road is completely torn up an I can't pass on the bike, At least not on the bike. Not even a Rivendell with its oversized tires would work in this construction zone. A mountain bike would work. Anyway I decided to get off the bike and hike about 1/8th mile to where I could not see but knew the old road used to be and hoped it still was. I found the old road (Huffins Ridge at McEwen) at the top of the hill where I sat down and cleaned mud out of my cleats while taking in the view over I-65. This used to be one of my favorite points in this ride. It's 60 miles into the ride and it's about a mile away from Franklin where I would typically fuel up for the mostly downhill ride back to Nashville. I rode on down to Franklin and then back home without stopping. I felt like I had ridden my bike through a life sized SimCity game. It also reminded me of the movie Back To The Future and I wanted to get back to 1985. Nice ride though. I actually enjoyed this one.
Total mileage to date: 588
Total hours: 39:52
Current weight: 156.4 (goal 145)
I had not ridden this route in probably 4 years and the changes in landscape were significant. I could not believe the new development which has taken place on roads which could be described as rural a few years ago. Going into Franklin from Del Rio Pike, they have redone and rerouted the road and put up whole neighborhoods that were not there 4 years ago. Then coming back through Franklin, I missed a turn onto McEwen Rd off of Wilson Blvd because I saw what looked like a new city on that road where it used to be nothing but farm land accessible by a small wooden bridge. Now the bridge is big and concrete. and the farm land is full of houses. Going further down what used to be one of the most scenic roads on the ride reveals more development and new roads intersecting McEwen. Then I pass a new and large Liberty Park and notice the road has been enlarged and turns into Liberty Pike. Again, nothing was here before. I see that my old road McEwen still exists and goes off under a tunnel of tree limbs like I remember. I decide to continue down McEwen road and reject the new, big, traffic riddled Liberty Pike even though barriers at the continuation point say "construction traffic only". So down I go and the road still seems to be in good shape until about a mile down the road I see the construction. The road is completely torn up an I can't pass on the bike, At least not on the bike. Not even a Rivendell with its oversized tires would work in this construction zone. A mountain bike would work. Anyway I decided to get off the bike and hike about 1/8th mile to where I could not see but knew the old road used to be and hoped it still was. I found the old road (Huffins Ridge at McEwen) at the top of the hill where I sat down and cleaned mud out of my cleats while taking in the view over I-65. This used to be one of my favorite points in this ride. It's 60 miles into the ride and it's about a mile away from Franklin where I would typically fuel up for the mostly downhill ride back to Nashville. I rode on down to Franklin and then back home without stopping. I felt like I had ridden my bike through a life sized SimCity game. It also reminded me of the movie Back To The Future and I wanted to get back to 1985. Nice ride though. I actually enjoyed this one.
Total mileage to date: 588
Total hours: 39:52
Current weight: 156.4 (goal 145)
posted by Tormax at 5:40 AM
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