Sometime during the night the rain quit. Woke to clear skies & water hazards. Trails are so wet as to be unrideable. I need to find something else to do.
Mike Pace has 420 acres in rural TN he calls Pace’s Cog Farm ( for bicycles). He has a 4X4 Sportsmobile conversion done in Austin, TX where I went. He is a talker. Enjoyed slow morning w/ him & Grace. I asked Grace to trim my beard which she did a nice job of, she is a seamstress so cutting radiused lines would be a breeze.
Grace & Mike go way back to early mtn biking in Huntsville along w/ John Dunbar whom I met in Albuquerque ( John unfortunately has Lou Gherig’ disease and won’t be around much linger), and Angel. They are racing @ Brekenridge, CO in July that I will try and make. Grace has included me in her cadre of buds.
Grace, Mike, & Lonny are racer and personal buds and camped together for this race. There is a subculture to this ultra endurance racing. I felt a bit of pull but then analyzed my participation: I would need a new bike and would have to change why & how I ride, and would need $ for entry fees which are close to a budgeted month of diesel. Hanging at a race that i am not part of is being odd man out. I can empathize w/ them from my past but not share in the present race. Perhaps meeting Grace’s gang in Breck is for sharing a constant in my nomadic life. It also creates an appointment to work to.
Drove back west on US 64 to Chattanooga then down I-75 to Chickamauga NP civil war battlefield. I perused the visitors’ center & watched a short video of battle. Many years later veterans located their units & fighting history. Placques for both Union & Confederate units are throughout the area. I am parked in an office bldg parking lot. Behind me are some of the historical placques. The Union captured Chattanooga which was a treasured transportaion hub then moved south a few miles where the Confederates beat them and drove them back to Chat. which the Union held and acted as a gateway to the deep south. Back in Civil War past.
Tonight is a sleep spot near Dalton, GA. Tomorrow is Dalton & Bear Creek bike and hopefully some of that good peach ‘shine.
Getting warm & humid down here.