July 14, 2021
Third day on the road was another 40 miler with about 2000 ft of climbing, but it didn't wipe me out
Yesterday was a much needed rest and recovery day. It wasn't exciting but it worked. Today I was able to do yet another 40 mile day with about 2000 feet of climbing without getting wiped out. Part of that was because I started out rested, but another important part was that I modified my use of my bikes e-assist to better meet my needs while touring. Previously, I have been minimizing e-assist to maximize the exercise I got got while doing rides with lots of climbing - hour long climbs - followed by 15 minute of descent.
My wipe out days were following that same mode and resulted in my doing too much work over the longer ride. This morning, I realized that I needed to make more use of e-assist in order to get thought the longer rides without getting wiped out.
When I chose the smallest battery to go with my systems, I did so knowing that would reduce the battery weight and make local riding more fun, but I also planned to take two batteries when on tour so I would have the capacity to do long hilly days when I needed to. Taking two batteries also makes sense since problems with one battery wouldn't stop the tour but merely limit the longest days of riding.
My ride today started about 9:15 AM in Tazewell TN. I had to ride more than a mile just to get back to 25E with a great shoulder, which was mildly annoying. After that riding was less stressful and the 25 to 35 mph downhills were much more fun. It was about 9 miles, including several big hills, to Harrogate where I could get my second breakfast. My first breakfast was really one of my on the road snacks, a peanut butter and Nuttela large burrito wrap. I wasn't willing to ride through Tazewell's horrid traffic to get another Big Breakfast at McDs so I waited till I got to Hardees in Harrogate to have a real breakfast.
Then I rode on to the Cumberland Gap and waited ,where trucks with dangerous cargoes wait, for a truck to haul me and my bike through the tunnel. I've done that at least half a dozen time before and, as always, I enjoyed visiting with the folks helping me get to Kentucky. The CF design makes it harder to put the bike in the back of a pickup and to get it back out of the pickup on the other side. There were three of us to get it on the truck but only two of us to get it out and one of us, me, had a hard time just climbing up into the pick bed to control the front of the bike while the other one lowered the heavy back to the ground. In this case the extra length of the bike meant that he was able to get the rear wheel of the bike on the ground so I could, stiffly, get out of the truck bed to take the bike when the front wheel rolled off the tailgate and dropped to the ground.
Then I rode on to Pineville where I stopped for lunch at about 12:30. I stopped to eat at a Subway, but couldn't find it - I think I've had that problem there before - and ended up eating lunch at KFC. It was good and a good value. Unfortunately the fast food closest place to where I stopped for the night few hours later was also KFC and I went on to the next place, Wendy's for supper. It was OK but not as good a value.
My room tonight - it is the only motel between Middlesboro and Corbin - is a fancy, and very nice, Best Western. My room, after negotiating a couple of 10% discounts, cost the same for one night as my room in Tazewell did for two days. I've never stopped here before because of the price, but it really is a very nice place and a good value. My room in Tazwell was very much at the opposite extreme, although adequate for my very minimal needs. I'm looking forward to breakfast here tomorrow.
Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km)
Total: 78 miles (126 km)
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