Tennessee Makes 36

The hardest part of today’s ride for state #37 along theKingsport, TN Greenbelt Trail was the drive this morning around the Beltway in Maryland and Virginia!  It took forever to get from Silver Spring to I-66 in Virginia, but once on 66 it was smooth sailing.  I-81 was unusually devoid of trucks and I was on the bike by 4 p.m.

The Kingsport Greenbelt Trail is pretty aptly named, going through the trees along the Holston River and the Reedy

Creek.  There were lots of curves and a few tree cracks, but the biggest problem came at several places where the trail ran into a T, but there was no sign telling the rider which way to go.  A couple of times I headed off in the wrong direction, which soon became evident so I was able to turn around before heading far off course.  On the way back it wasn’t a problem since I was now familiar with these locations.   

Anyone for a game of putt-putt along the trail?

Most of the trail is relatively flat, but the last mile at the far end is an uphill that ranged from 4-7%.  I did not climb the last 0.4 miles because that section was gravel—I was not going to take my road bike up a gravel hill so I got about a mile less than I had planned.

If you want to see the data, you see it at:

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3968728506/

Tomorrow it’s off to Atlanta for tomorrow night’s game at SunTrust Park (my 25^th of the 30 current major league stadiums), and then on Wednesday I head west to Missisippi where I will ride on the Natchez Trace Parkway on Thursday morning.  If I get to Shreveport in enough time on Thursday, I’ll also knock off Louisiana.

Look for the next update on Thursday evening.  Thanks for following along.