Day 29, Mile 2423: Union City, Tennessee

Today I biked: 103 miles, 1510 feet of climbing, saddle time 6:37, 15.5 mph.
Cumulative: 24 biking days, 1794 miles, 85000 feet.

Well, at least every other day is great.  And today was fabulous. Poplar Bluffs sits on the edge of the really flat Mississippi flood plain and today our route took us over that, across the Mississippi River on a ferry, through about 10 miles of Kentucky and then into Union City, Tennessee.

We started out at about 7:15 at sunrise, like normal. We had a photo shoot from some local characters--a long but funny story about Greg and our trip being discovered on the internet by some 91-year-old guy from Poplar Bluff who has Greg's same (unusual) last name and is friends with the mayor. Then we were off and after some hills in town, were out among the big flat fields of cotton, rice, and soybeans. It was a bit cold and rainy, and there was a hint of a headwind, but basically delightful.  I was riding with Ray who is fun and a good match for my riding speed and style and off and on with a few others, mostly Val, Ray's wife (Pikes on Bikes), and Nadie, as well as Berkas, Mike, and others.  We made great speed across the flat, despite the minor headwind and even held back, doing a good job of pacing ourselves.  The 15.5 mph average was perfect.

We wound our way down to the ferry after lunch riding along river levees and on great country roads, though one nasty stretch was gravel, but only for a few miles.  The ferry was awesome.  You call it up and ask it to come over from the Kentucky side and pick you up.  It reminds me a lot of the little ferry over to San Gregorio in Uruguay from Ruta 6. Once in Kentucky, we had a minor climb out of the river valley and some rolling hills until the Tennessee border.  I was with Ray and Mike at this point and I won the Tennessee border, though it wasn't really a race (we didn't even think there was going to be a state-line marker).  Then we high-tailed it into Union City and the hotel.  Here Val passed us and it was all I could do to keep up with her to the hotel (she claimed she was thinking about getting in early to do the laundry...).

We saw some great pot-bellied pigs along the way.  This old woman, Rose, greeted us as though she saw dozens of funny-looking bikers every day passing by and, though friendly enough, just couldn't be bothered.  She said it was fine to take photos of her pigs, though the chihuahuas and aggressive geese weren't as easily convinced.

We also saw lots of scary farm machinery that took up most of the road.  One tractor was the biggest thing I had ever seen on a regular road so I pulled out the camera and took a shot of it while riding.

Only nine more biking days until Charleston and the end!  I'm a little panic stricken--I've gotten used to this lifestyle of daily torture and what will I do with myself now!  But seriously, I'll be really, really glad to get back home to Uruguay and my sweetheart and, before that I get to see my son, Ariel, and his family up in Boston.