Thursday, February 14, 2013

RAT - 2013

      Y'all have probably heard rumors of a Spring bike ride across the state of Tennessee to the Virginia Creeper Bike Trail.  It's not a rumor.  We're calling it the RAT - 2013 for Ride Across Tennessee. We managed to put together a core group of retirees or semi-retirees to pedal about 350 miles over six days from Bruce's house to the Virginia Creeper just north of Bristol Tennessee.  We have one SAG vehicle that holds six bicyclists returning from Virginia and promises of a second if needed.  Each bicyclist will be asked to trade off driving the SAG for about 15 miles.  It will carry all our over-night gear, emergency supplies, and refreshments for along the route rest stops.  It is also available if bicyclists get tired pedaling and want to relax the legs for part of the journey.
      The dates, routes, food stops, and evening stays are planned in detail and available for viewing at our adventure website http://RAT2013.blogspot.com .  For security reasons the site is private, but if you are interested contact Bruce Day and he can set you up to view and contribute to the planning. 
      Warning, this is a Turtle-Style trip; we will be in tour-mode and will ride about 65 miles each day.  That means riding at a comfortable pace, stopping along the way to view the sights, and taking lots of photos.  This trip is similar to the adventure several of us did last May with Aussie Bob from Bruce's house to Cincinnati. Several other FOGBEES are contemplating pedaling a couple of days on the route and have planned their own transportation.
      This video, prepared after our 2012 ride to Cullman Alabama gives a little clue why we love bike touring so much.  Click Here  We were the headlines in the Delina Newspaper on the next day.  Obviously. its a slow sleepy town, BUT was a hit on Tennessee Crossroads show on WNPT.

3 comments:

Janice said...

Is this a men-only ride?

Tom_E said...

Hi Janice,
We would love to have the ladies join in this ride, especially my favorite adopted daughter. However, they create complications outside the control of the guys on the ride. If you have some specific ideas, please discuss them with Bruce.
Tom

coastdownhills said...

No comment.