Gatlinburg and Maryville

So after a pretty filling lunch we headed out for the TN/NC state line unsure how mountainous the trip would be. It quickly turned into a rather steep climb for 15 miles with essentially no breaks. Luckily we had been climbing the previous two days and that morning and had learned a few lessons. Most importantly when climbing don't ever expect to stop. Just keep trudging along like you're going to be going 6mph straight uphill for the rest of your life. The second you start thinking that the road is going to level out (or even better turning into a downhill cruise) you come around the next bend and see another daunting uphill climb.

(Picture to left is of Caitlin Luna at the begining of of the afternoon ride, not quite at the uphill yet and hence the tongue out)

With this new strategy in mind I decided to simply get on my bike and ride for 30 minutes striaght, take about a 5 minute break - eat a snickers, drink some Gatorade - and then get back on my bike and climb for another 30 minutes. It worked out real well for me. I found that I was able to sustain a higher energy level and speed than I had the previous two days and really cut down on the mental frustration.

Finally we reached the TN/NC state line at about 3pm. We were greeted by a tiny sign at a lookout that said "Tennessee State Line" and gave the elevation - about 5,080 feet I think, 800 feet lower than we had hit the day before. We had been hoping for a huge "WELCOME TO TENNESSEE" sign, but no such luck. We took a ton of pictures anyway and waited for the van and more people to show up.

After that we were treated with a thrilling 15 mile downhill ride with an average speed of about 35mph straight into Downtown Gatlinburg. Upon arrival at about 5:20pm we rode around town looking for the church we were staying at. We found it, dropped off our bikes and then headed to a restaraunt/bar on the main drag that had this great balcony overlooking the street to get some appetizers, give directions to the riders still arriving and people watch.

Gatlinburg is truly a turist town. The people watching was great. At one point we saw a horse drawn wagon go by with a guy playing a banjo, a person dressed up as a clown, another peson dressed up as a brown bear and then about 3 other people who looked like they were just along for the ride. That night CVH cooked some delicious pasta and we all hit the sack.

Wednesday we rode into Maryville, TN, where we are currently working with Habitat for Humanity. It was a pretty mellow ride, only about 40 miles and with no major happenings except for Tony Woods and Mike Madormo who took a wrong turn and ended up in Knoxville (oops). We are staying at this awesome summer camp place called "Camp Tipton". They've got 4 cabins with bunk beds as well as a slip and slide, archery area, huge playing field, and a very large gym. We have all reverted to about 12 years old and our enjoying our camp experience.

(Picture to right is of Anderw at the Maryville Build Site)

During the day we've been working at different local Habitat Build sites and the Habitat HomeStore which is like a huge thrift store that also has building supplies and appliances. We had been expecting to do a Blitz build but due to some changes in management in the local habitat chapter it was canceled without us knowing. No big deal, they've got a ton of other useful stuff that we've been working on and all is going well. There is even a Women's Build that some of the girls have been participating in and seem to really love. At the HomeStore we've largely been helping them reorganize everything and sort through donations. They literally have an entire room about 12x40ft stuffed to the ceiling with clothes that have been donated and needed to be sorted. We've done a great job of working through those and have even found some great steals oursleves!

(Chris Jochem at the Maryville build site)

Tomorrow is our last day in Maryville and then we start riding again. I hope to keep posting frequently. Thanks for all the comments!