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| Deer Crossing |
A chilly ride on bike paths out of Nashville this morning, significant hills but a gorgeous day, about mile 80 climbed up onto the Cumberland Plateau which marks the western edge of the Appalachian mountains and into Cookeville. Cookeville was named for Richard Cooke, an early settler, and the community grew up around one of the only springs in the area, becoming the county seat around 1856. It's currently a growing community of over 30,000 and Tennessee Tech University calls it home. (Also, fun Nashville note - when we checked out this morning one of the group made the mistake of having the hotel do his laundry without checking on the per item price - $310 bill... they did agree to lower it to $75 after some negotiation - I just did mine at the hotel in Cookeville in the machines for $2 - much better! should be the last laundry of the trip - a big event - a few tears shed and the lint discarded)
I've had several questions about whether I'm losing weight on the trip (hopefully not because I needed to...) - I do think I've lost a few pounds - certainly have lost some muscle mass in the upper body though gained some in the outer quads and lateral back. I had grand designs to do some weightlifting in the evenings a few times a week but my will and body have been too weak... Biking burns about 40 calories/mile so we'll burn about 140,000 calories for the trip. Between riding and usual metabolic demand we need to eat about 6000 calories a day. Breakfast is usually scrambled eggs, bacon, juice, and some form of carb (bagel, oatmeal, etc.), we usually have a rest stop with candy and nuts and other stuff (sometimes Ding Dongs!) every 15-20 miles and in between I eat a few Clif Bloks (like a big gummy square - ginger ale is good, black cherry is gross as examples) and drink Gatorade to try to get in about 250 calories/hour and stay hydrated (usually 20oz/h varies with weather). Lunch is usually sandwich, fruit, cookies, etc. though I don't eat a ton at lunch as we're usually just over halfway. A sample dinner a few nights ago - 6 of us ordered the appetizer platter (mozzarella sticks, loaded potato skins, etc.) the chicken nachos, fried green tomatoes, and giant soft pretzels, then I had a caesar salad, a 10 inch pizza, and a skillet chocolate chip cookie with ice cream. Tonight was buffet brought from Olive Garden - which was awesome... I'm going to have some serious issues adapting my diet when I get home...
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| 1/2 pound cookie and ice cream? Sure! |
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| Cumberland River steaming in a chilly Nashville morning |
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| Rolling hills and more stone fences as we get into bluff country and a lot more exposed rock |
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