The Awkward Pose

September 2, 2016 – Sunny, 80 degrees

Miles Today: 82

Miles to Date: 15,585

States to Date: 43

The season has changed. The morning was crisp and bright and I was out early to navigate a long cycling day with many hills, constant headwinds, and a lost hour as I moved back into Eastern Time.

The first two thirds of the ride was beautiful, though I never seemed to be out of earshot of mowers. The grass in Kentucky is truly lush, the lawns are huge, and people obviously love taking care of their green expanses. Everyone has a riding mower and trimmer.

After Shepherdsville the ride took an unpleasant turn. Five miles of road construction followed by more miles of what I call ‘big box highway.’ Louisville spreads far to the east. My niece’s house, though in Louisville, is fifteen miles from center city. There was nothing to do but grind out the miles. It was all worth it when I got to Tatiana’s house and met my grand nieces Sarah and Anna for the first time.

August 31, 2016 – Sunny, 90 degrees

Miles Today: 72

Miles to Date: 15,459

States to Date: 43

My host, Bruce Day, woke early to feed me well and then ride me out of town. Actually, Bruce rode me clear out of state. It’s great to follow a knowledgeable local on a bike ride. We took one road not taken after another; beautiful scenery and scant traffic,

Bruce turned around once we reached the Kentucky border. While he retraced the hills and forests of Tennessee, I entered the more expansive world of Kentucky. I have been to Eastern Kentucky, dense and hilly Appalachia. The route to Bowling Green could be anywhere in the Mid-west: broad fields of corn and soy beans with occasional fields of tobacco. The roads are very fine and the rural drivers courteous.

I toured historic downtown Franklin. I am fond of towns that have a courthouse square with commercial blocks on four sides rather than a linear Main Street. A courthouse square organizes the town’s quadrants and celebrates our foundation as a nation of laws over individuals or commerce. We may not be maintaining that ideal as we ought, but I appreciate how courthouse squares celebrate that essential aspect of the United States.

August 30, 2016 – Sunny, 90 degrees

Miles Today: 41

Miles to Date: 15,387

States to Date: 42

I walked out of the Nashville Entrepreneurial Center, located in the former Trolley barn turned hip workspace along the Cumberland River, after spending two hours talking with thoughtful energetic young people. Downtown Nashville spread before me like a tableau of the New South. Five construction cranes hovered above the city’s bursting skyline; three more swung in the distance. On a per capita basis, Nashville may be the fastest growing city I’ve visited. The place is brimming with a concerted focus on livability and sustainability and good intentions that can’t keep up with themselves. There are bike paths all over downtown, but construction barriers everywhere block many of them.

Music City throbs with a caffeinated baseline. Energy pulses through the streets, electric bus energy that pumps your spirit rather than pollutes your lungs. The place feels good, if you hanker for a frenetic beat. Not sure where you might find a languid, tragic ballad.

I rode by the Capital and the Parthenon, and shared a great lunch at Fido, near Vanderbilt, with a long-time Nashville musician. Then I pedaled up Music Row, over the river, and through the charming streets of East Nashville. Superb cycling all the way to Hendersonville.

Bruce Day, my host for the night, demonstrated a whole new level of warmshowers hospitality. When I mentioned I’d like to check my tire pressure, the retired ED doc commandeered my bike and gave Tom a complete wash and chain service while we traded touring stories. His wife Wilma served a delicious put roast dinner and washed my clothes better than I’ve ever managed. Four of Bruce’s cycling chums, several of who are also PhD’s, gathered in the basement to share beers and snacks and chew over our prospects for tomorrow.

August 29, 2016 – Partly cloudy, 85 degrees

Miles Today: 62

Miles to Date: 15,346

States to Date: 42

I got up and out by seven for another day of scenic riding through Tennessee’s rolling hills. The greenway through Murfeesboro is one of the nicest I’ve seen; well used even on a Monday morning.

The path goes right through the Stones River National Battlefield that commemorates the Battle of Stones River, a major turning point in the Civil War. On December 31, 1862 the Union began an offensive across Stones River to cut the Confederacy, and it’s rail transport, in half. For the duration of the war the Union maintained up to 50,000 troops and an immense supply depot here. They built two miles of earthworks to protect their wares from which they could also launch cannon attacks on the town. This is where Sherman launched his devastating March to the Sea.

The rest of the way into Nashville was increasingly urban, but there are bike lanes on most major roads of the city. I spent the afternoon at the Southeast Library, an immense local branch; my favorite repurposing yet for an abandoned shopping mall.

August 28, 2016 – Partly cloudy, 85 degrees

Miles Today: 46

Miles to Date: 15,284

States to Date: 42

Tennessee is beautiful place to cycle. The roads are in good shape, drivers are courteous, and the scenery is lovely. I spent the entire day on back roads.

As a cyclist, and lousy drinker, I opted for the ‘dry’ tour at the Jack Daniel’s Distillery in Lynchburg. Still, when our guide simply lifted the top from a fermenting vat the vapors rushed through my head and cleared my sinuses for the rest of the day. Old No.7 is a powerful brew.

It’s rained, at least once, every day for the past three weeks. Today I was lucky that the shower occurred during my factory tour. The remaining miles to Bell Buckle were glorious. The landscape is so rich, green, and sculpted I felt like a figure in a toy train landscape.

Bell Buckle is a funky little town that’s transformed itself into an arts colony of sorts. My host, John, took me all over town and introduced me around to a city councilwoman, restaurant owner, and Cubs fan. Everyone is related, by blood or just by knowing each others’ business.

August 27, 2016 – Partly cloudy, 85 degrees

Miles Today: 63

Miles to Date: 15,238

States to Date: 42

A day of easy riding down the broad slope of US 231 to the Tennessee River, winding along the bicycle path up Aldridge Creek, meandering through Huntsville’s lovely suburban streets into historic downtown, and rising up Meridian Street past Alabama A&M.

Then things got tricky. US 431 is one of the busiest, least bike friendly roads of my trip. A thunderstorm storm led me to lunch at a mediocre Mexican place. I stayed dry but was hardly satisfied. Once I entered Tennessee, and passed the lottery shops that line the border, the road improved. By the time I reached Fayetteville, the sun shone once again.

Any day I reach my destination in one piece is a good day. Today felt particularly good since I managed to get in and out of Alabama without mishap, which was not the case the last time I cycled Dixie.

August 26, 2016 – Partly cloudy, 85 degrees

Miles Today: 70

Miles to Date: 15,175

States to Date: 41

Southern Cycling

…chased by dogs… pithy slogans on church signs… rebel flags on trailer houses that never move… propane farms… chased by dogs… Get the US out of the UN… Jaxson Smokehouse smackin’ hot bar-be-cue… fresh rain rising off blacktop steams the sweat right up my neck… making good time… chased by dogs…

August 25, 2016 – Partly cloudy, 90 degrees

Miles Today: 28

Miles to Date: 15,105

States to Date: 41

Birmingham: I was lost, but now I’m found; was blind but now I see.

 Today I got so lost I could not tell north from south, right from left. Clouds obscured the sun. The city has numbered streets in all directions. What’s the point of a sign telling me I’m at the intersection of 8^th Street W and 4th Court W when I’m supposed to be Northeast? Eventually I got my bearings, found my way and met wonderful people who did not discredit my being late.

I began well enough, visiting my friends at TRO, the Birmingham branch of the firm I worked for in Boston. Then I pedaled more than ten miles to complete the five-mile distance to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. After lunch I got back on track; toured the Sloss Furnaces, an incredible preservation of the city’s industrial past; went to the 16^th Street Baptist Church, where my body trembled contemplating the explosion; and took the Civil Rights walk from Kelly Ingram Park to City Hall.

There, the lost and found metaphor sunk in. This city, the most segregated and entrenched bastion of Jim Crow in our country, was lost for so long. Yet, today Birmingham owns, even celebrates, its pivotal position in the struggle for racial equality and justice. That is not to say that opportunity is equally distributed. But how Birmingham acknowledges where it was and how it changed is a credit to all sides.

I pedaled to Mary’s House on the far west side (which by then I could navigate quite well) and enjoyed a community supper with Shelley and Jim Douglass, long time Catholic Worker activists, and other folks from the Ensley neighborhood. Shelley arranged for me to sleep at the local rectory, where I stayed up too late talking with Rev. Justin Nelson, a fascinating priest from India whose vocation led him to pastoring a pair of African-American Catholic Churches in Alabama.

August 24, 2016 – Partly cloudy, 90 degrees

Miles Today: 78

Miles to Date: 15,077

States to Date: 41

 After two days of being spoiled by the Silver Comet / Chief Ladiga Trails it was hard to share the pavement with cars again. Google Maps offered a nice looking route that took me to Eulaton Gate Road, which I’ve learned is code for entering a military base. Sure enough I came up to the gate of the Anniston Depot where the friendly guard turned me around. Instead of navigating any complex on the run, I simply took US 78 all the way to Birmingham. This proved a good decision. US 78 runs parallel to I-20 so it has almost no traffic. The pavement is good and the shoulder adequate.

I enjoyed Pell City, a sleeping little town where I mused about the activities that occupy downtown storefronts after Wal-Mart shifts commerce to the superstore on the highway. One result of our world full of stuff: lots of thrift shops.

The town also had some excellent examples of small-stone houses that I see all over northern Alabama.

August 23, 2016 – Partly cloudy, 80 degrees

Miles Today: 29

Miles to Date: 14,970

States to Date: 41

Cycling through Piedmont, a town that has seen better days, reminds me of something a guy in Atlanta said. “The Civil War was the first time the 1% coerced the 99% into doing something stupid, based on the fear that they would be worse off if things changed. At least the 99% of poor whites were above the slaves.” I’m not sure if the Civil War was the first time that happened; the powerful have divided minions to control for centuries. Piedmont seems like a place where the 1% has moved beyond city limits, rending the racial differences among the folks left behind irrelevant.

Back on the Chief Ladiga Trail I spun twenty more sweet miles until trail’s end in Anniston. Along the way I passed vines so thick they spread like cancer, cloaking each discrete piece of vegetation into a leafy contour.

Anniston has a classic downtown that still shows signs of life, including what may be the last extant Western Auto store, a franchise we had in my hometown over fifty years ago.