Day 6 - May 16, 2023. Hurricane Mills, TN - Buchanan, TN

Another early start to beat the heat.  Hotel breakfast at 6-ish and on the road shortly after 6:30.  After loading up at the snack table, of course.

It was another beautiful day out there and forecasted to be slightly cooler than the last few days.  Big day, with almost 100 km and over 4000 feet of climbing.  Although I'm not normally a really early morning person, I do love the morning light and the fresh & cool air.  Less traffic, too.  And a bonus of travelling primarily north and riding on the right-hand side of the road is that we get quite a few hours of riding in the shade.  Nice! 

First picture was at about 9 miles as we crossed the Duck River.

I saw the turtle du jour, but the picture is MP's.  

A few miscellaneous shots on the way in to the first SAG stop at 16 miles.  It was a nice gentle start to the day; not too many hills..... yet........

In to Waverly at about 16 miles for our first SAG stop.  The van was parked close to The Walls Art Park, so most of us ventured over for a quick look.

I was excited that the SAG stop was in a CVS parking lot since I wanted to pick up a few things.  But - still too early in the day; they weren't even open yet.  I guess the whole world isn't on our hours.  

In the next 15 miles we certainly made up for the hills we didn't have in the first 15.  Nothing too long though; just lots of big rollers.  I saw these two signs on the one of the rural properties we went by.  As I turned back to take the pictures, the owner pulled up in a truck and was getting out to open his gate.  I'm never quite sure what kind of human I'm going to get in this part of the country, but he was very nice and we chatted for a few minutes.  It seems he's been robbed a few times and is fed up with it.  He blames it on the high incidence of drug problems in the county (and little action on the part of the police).  He was interested in what we were doing and was happy to find out why he sees quite a few cyclists go by over time (because he lives on the Adventure Cycling UGRR route).  

Carrying on..............

No more pictures until we were approaching the end of the ride.  The bridge ahead is over the Tennessee River and Kentucky Lake.  

Threatening skies, but we did not get rained on.  We're staying at the Lodge at Paris Landing in Paris Landing State Park.  The Lodge is brand new, and lovely.  A nice place to spend a rest day!  Paris Landing State Park is an 841-acre park located on the western shore of the Tennessee River, which is dammed to form Kentucky Lake (160,000 acres).  The park sits on the widest part of the lake.  Lots of amenities here, most of which are not available until Memorial Day (pool, boat rentals, etc).  The dam is a hydroelectric dam in the state of Kentucky and is the lowermost of nine dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority which built the dam in the late 1930s and early 1940s to improve navigation on the lower part of the river and reduce flooding on the lower Ohio and Mississippi rivers.  It was a major project initiated during the New Deal of FDR.  Kentucky Lake is the TVA's largest reservoir and the largest artificial lake by area in the Eastern US.  The dam is located about 22 miles above the mouth of the Tennessee River, which empties into the Ohio River.  After absorbing the Tennessee, the Ohio flows for another 46 miles before emptying into the Mississippi River.  The dam is located approximately 20 miles north of the Kentucky-Tennessee border and 10 miles southeast of the Kentucky-Illinois border.  Kentucky Lake stretches southward for 184 miles across Kentucky and most of the length of Tennessee.  The construction of the Kentucky Dam and its reservoir required the relocation of 2609 families, 3390 graves, and 365 miles of roads.  The dam was completed in August 1944.  A canal connects Kentucky Lake to nearby Lake Barkley, created by Barkley Dam on the Cumberland River.  The lakes run parallel for more than 50 miles, with the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area located between them.  We'll ride through that area in two days.  

As soon as I pulled in to the Lodge (after a quick trip to the Visitor Centre), I heard that Cindi was making a run to the nearest bike shop which is in Murray, Kentucky - about a half hour drive away.  I have been having some problems with a few gears in the back.  When I opened the bike box at home, the derailleur was well protected, but when I opened the box in Memphis the packing was no longer in place.  I'm guessing that when the baggage inspectors were in there, they dislodged the protection.  There were about six of us who made the trip.  I think the mechanic there was able to remedy my problem.  He sure knew his stuff!  Most of the other ladies had a successful trip there, but one e-bike has had a "catastrophic failure", which basically means it is unusable and will need to be returned to the manufacturer.  Another woman today (May 17) noticed that her carbon fiber frame is cracked, which again is a death knell for the bike.  She's off to the bike shop to try to buy a new one.  Some pictures from the bike shop washroom..............

The bike shop was located right at the gates to Murray State University.  I recognize the name from their occasional participation in March Madness.

 While we were waiting for the last bike to be done we made a run to the DQ and to Starbucks.  Cravings satisfied, we picked up the last bike and made our way back to the Lodge in time for dinner. 

While it's a lovely setting for a rest day, there is absolutely nothing within walking (or biking) distance, so I'm thinking we'll be shuttled somewhere for dinner tomorrow night.  

Buchanan, Tennessee

Population is not reported in Wikipedia.  It is located about six miles west of Paris Landing State Park, which is located on the Tennessee River on the west bank of Kentucky Lake.  Buchanan was founded in the 1840s.  In fact - we're staying in the Park, not in the town; it's just the postal address of the Lodge.    

Stats for the day:

Distance:  98.9 km / 61 miles

Elevation (Garmin):  1357 m up / 1387 m down.  4451' up / 4551' down.

Elevation (RWGPS):  1485 m up / 1513 m down.  4872' up / 4963' down.

Weather:  18C - 29C.  We started early again; shortly after 6:30.  I think we had a bit of a tailwind much of the day.  A bit of a headwind when we headed west.  Later in the ride the clouds started to build and I thought we might be in for another thunderstorm.  It was not to be though; nice weather throughout the day and it didn't seem quite as unbearably hot as yesterday.  

I shouldn't complain about the weather here at all.  Here's a picture of downtown Calgary today.