Day 7: To Nashville
Sunday 16 Jun 2024
Miles ridden: 346 miles
An early and fast repositioning day along I-40 without too much annoying traffic, stopping in Nashville at a buddy's house for a late lunch... and deciding not to push on further through the thunderstorms and hail.
Not much to report, it was all interstate today. It never cooled off at night, with thin mist just above ground level as it got light out... this is the first day where you could actually feel the humidity. Sky was clear though, and I got on the road just before six. I felt validated in choosing not to go through the Delta country over to Oxford and Tupelo--the flatlands between Little Rock and Memphis were dull. The Mississippi River crossing was great though, on a high bridge far above the river with the Bass Pro Shop pyramid at the other end and downtown on the other side.
I was hoping for a little break somewhere around Nashville, so I texted my buddy Ryan about lunch and he said "sure, let's do lunch!" and just kept on trucking as best I could. There were only a few of those annoying knots where all the cars line up in the left lane passing a truck that's going 2mph slower in the right lane. I've decided to be the jerk who doesn't wait his turn in the left lane, but scoots all the way up the right lane to get in. There's always some trailer or RV that has a huge gap in front of it I can easily fit into.
The heat wasn't as bad as the recent 98 to 100 degree days in Texas; my mesh jacket kept the sweat evaporating even with the humidity, maybe a wind chill of 75F or so. I stopped and gulped a Gatorade, then met up with Ryan for lunch and then we hopped in his truck and puttered over to Centennial Park and the Parthenon which I wanted to see. And yeah, it might've been only 92 degrees and sunny, which meant there were no picnickers on the huge grass lawn to photobomb my selfies, so I took more than a few snaps before heading to Ryan's house on the way outta town for some more AC time and a check of the weather before heading east.
By the time we got to his house, big occasional rain drops were falling and a check of the weather showed there were big rainstorms ahead and some hail reported too along I-40. Uh, no. This isn't a riding afternoon, so opted for nap and pad thai instead. Yay for solid food--the heat has made me very unhungry, so I've just been snacking on all the carby snacks left over from the ALC ride, not exactly a balanced diet.
Tomorrow I'll get up early and head east to Dragon City Resort and the mouth of the dragon. It's only a three hour ride, but I'd really like to be close by early afternoon or earlier to avoid unnecessary sogginess.