Tennessee September 29 – October 3, 2017 100 miles
So here it is April 12, 2018 and I am just publishing our Tennessee ride from September 2017. No excuses. Guess it is better late then never. So here it goes.
On our road to Nashville, TN we stopped in Farmington, AR to visit the Pittmans. We parked in their driveway for a couple nights and used their electricity and internet! We were able to meet their foreign exchange student “Flip”. He makes an incredible chocolate fondue. We also went to a new restaurant called Pieology , where you build your own pizza. Yummy!!
We had a chance to watch Brittany play volleyball. She’s awesome – on varsity as a freshman. What a fun evening and popcorn too.
Time to head for Nashville, TN after a stop in Little Rock, AR to get the oil changed in the ACE. I spent the time researching trails, campsites and friendly Walmarts. We arrived in Nashville late and after some setbacks ended up getting a site at the State Fairgrounds. Water, electric and stock car races. Who could ask for more? It was a cool night and we needed heat in the morning.
Awoke in the morning discouraged! Really feeling like I would like to head home and stop chasing trails and campsites. We took off for a ride – I honestly wasn’t anticipating much, as our welcome to Tennessee hadn’t gone too well.
To my surprise we had a great ride on Stones River Greenway , Shelby Bottoms and Music City Greenway. These trails all seamlessly connect with one another. We crossed a beautiful pedestrian bridge with river boats going past. We rode into downtown Nashville to Titans Stadium. The bridge across the Cumberland River was a perfect place to view the city and activity on the river. There were some challenging hills but the scenery and beautiful parks made it all worth the effort. Sorry I was discouraged – I am blessed to be biking!! Lenny went to the stock car races in the evening and returned with the world’s best corn dogs!
Our second day in Nashville we rode the Cumberland River Bicentennial Trail. A rail trail, so no big hills. We road to Cheatham Lock and Dam. It was a fun ride with only four miles of asphalt. There was significant root damage and some washed out hills where I needed to walk my bike. Lots of shade, beautiful high bluffs, some waterfalls and wetlands.
We were up early the next day to head for Murfreesboro to ride the Murfreesboro Stones River Greenway. This trail was beautiful with lots of history. Trail was in excellent condition.
Along the trail we passed Stones River National Battlefield – battle of Stones River is the 6th costliest land battle of the American Civil War (24,645 casualties). We also visited Cannonsburgh Village, representative of early Tennessee.
After our ride we headed for Chattanooga to spend the night at a Walmart. We had an early dinner at 3 Amigos and headed out first thing in the morning to ride the Chattanooga River Walk. What a fun ride. We parked near downtown and rode to the TVA Dam where we saw many Blue Heron fishing. The section in downtown Chattanooga passed over a glass bridge near the American History Museum. What a strange sensation riding across the glass bridge.
This beautiful statue looked like it was made out of drift wood.
The Chattanooga River walk also connects to the South Chickmauga Creek Greenway. We road on long elevated boardwalks over wetlands with steep inclines along the creek. These boardwalks were breathtaking – steep, long and sometimes high above the creek. Lenny felt like he was riding on a rollercoaster. What great way to finish our Tennessee 100. We are now headed for Kentucky and the Mammoth Cave National Park.
- Bridge near Chickamauga Creek Greenway connector.
- Stones River Greenway
- Shelby Bottoms
- Music City Greenway
- Cumberland River Bicentennial Trail
- Murfreesboro’s Stones River Greenway
- Chattanooga Riverwalk
- South Chickamauga Creek Greenway