I decided to delay my departure time by 2 1/2 hours. The rain followed by freezing temperature made me water runoff icing paranoid.
Thursday morning was cold with clear blue skies. 26F at departure time.
2 golf shirts, scarf crossed across my chest, Gerbing jacket liner, mesh jacket, heavy rain jacket. Thermal leggings.
Gerbing gloves, heated handlebar grips, hand guards and a fairing with good hand protection.
I will be warm.
The last time I took a long ride in the cold was coming back from Hattiesburg a few years ago. It was 28F most of the way home and I was coldddddd.
I stopped at the end of the road. Looked down at my written directions and realized I had left Plan B back at the house. Darn it.
The main road through Maggie Valley was dry as a bone so I opted to follow Plan A up and over the mountain to Cherokee, NC. This filled me with a little misgiving because there will be water run off.
The rid up to the crest is in sunshine and the road is dry.
Down the other side and I'm please to see most of the road is also in sunshine and dry. I follow a few cars and I can see from their tire spray that the water run off is still liquid and no ice. Hurrah!
Riding over one small rise in the road I see a black swathe across the road and my intake of breath combined with a bad word made a noise that sounded like Huck. It was a wet swathe.
The late departure changed my route for the first day. I had to pass on going to Muscle Shoals to get bike photos outside a couple of music studios that recorded many artists whose music I enjoyed as a young man.
https://famestudios.com/our-history/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscle_Shoals_Sound_StudioI hope that will be a ride for another day.
I wanted to stay at Cheaha State Park but their web site showed no rooms available. Motel 6 is a poor substitute.
I'm also back in the land of mask wearers. A big change from Clayton, GA and most of Maggie Valley.
Day 1 Maggie Valley to Anniston, AL
https://www.relive.cc/view/vPOpYn8JEE6Day 2
Anniston to Hattiesburg
https://www.relive.cc/view/vXOnGoLD7B6Day 3 ride to the Lynned Skynnrd Memorial.
https://www.news4jax.com/entertainment/2019/10/21/lynyrd-skynyrd-monument-unveiled-in-mississippi/https://www.relive.cc/view/vYvEjP9YdwODay 4 Hattiesburg, MS to Clanton, AL
https://www.relive.cc/view/v36AjppRBGqDay 5 Clanton AL to Clayton, GA via Little River Canyon
https://www.nps.gov/liri/index.htmhttps://www.relive.cc/view/vPOpYVmrzR6Stopped in Clayton to have beers with some friends.
Day 6 Clayton GA to Maggie Valley, NC
https://www.relive.cc/view/vPOpYVmrzR6Day 6 Clayton, GA to Maggie Valley and part of the BRP
