October 13, 2020
The Grand Ole RV Resort
Day 13: Oct 13 Bowling Green KY to Grand Ole RV Resort Goodlettsville TN
Distance: 50 miles
Weather: 43 in am, 72 in afternoon and sunny
I was up and checked out of the hotel by 730 am this morning. Gosh, it was a chilly morning in Bowling Green. First, I went to Kroger and resupplied with a couple days worth of food. Then I rode on over to the post office and shipped my sandals, a hoodie, and a long sleeve cycling liner shirt home along with some maps and brochures I had acquired during the first couple weeks. I'm guessing I lightened my load by about 3.5 lbs. After that, I rode my bike around downtown and admired the sculptures around fountain square.
The last order of business in Bowling Green was to get more alcohol for my camp stove. This proved to be more difficult than it seemed. Due to Covid19, every Walgreen in Bowling Green was sold out of the 90+% isopropyl rubbing alcohol. So, I rode 3 miles out of the way to Lowes where I got some denatured alcohol which burns hotter and cleaner than isopropyl anyway. After that I was off.
The entire ride today I was on 31W South. As usual in typical Kentuckian state highway fashion the one foot shoulder was taken up by a rumble strip which forced me to ride in the road. According to one Kroger bag man, more bicyclists get hit by cars in Bowling Green than any other city. I'm sure he ment per capita but I didn't inquire about specifics. The hills were gentle today. I went through a few towns mostly small. After about 20 miles of riding south I reached the Kentucky Downs raceway (the lesser known behind Churchill Downs) Then shortly after I reached Tennessee; the volunteer state.
Also, heres another quirky observation that I've been paying attention to. I have seen more Dollar Generals on this trip than any other store, by far. A distant second is Marathon Gas Station. Though, I had no idea how substantial a presence Dollar General has. As far as churches go, the majority seem to be Baptist followed by Catholic then Lutheran.
So, how does one know they are in the south. We could argue for days about such a subject and whether Kentucky is a southern state or not but heres a better measure. If you see a piggly wiggly and a waffle house on the same days bike ride then you are in the south. Today friends, I entered the south.
When I got to approximately 15 miles outside Nashville I stumbled upon an enormous resort RV camp called the Grand Ole RV Resort. I went inside with just a glimmer of hope that maybe they would let me set my tent up for the night. To my amazement they did. Tommy, the owner drove me around in his golf cart and we picked out a nice spot in the grass. I just ate a taco dinner at the resort to celebrate Taco Tuesday and am enjoying listening to live music and country songs like, "Lonely girls make good lovers." The people are all friendly and I'm having a great time. I'm so grateful for Tommy letting me stay here tonight.
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Tommorows it's off to Nashville. Maybe I'll become a country music star there.
Today's ride: 50 miles (80 km)
Total: 684 miles (1,101 km)
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