The Tennessee Two Step, Bucksnort, Tennessee

Day 24 - Piney campsite, Land Between Lakes to Bucksnort, Tennessee  76.8 miles

With the thoughts of the hills in our heads, we set off wondering what the day would hold.  As we pedalled along we noticed the vegetation changing.  It was becoming more lush.  The trees created a tunnel over the road providing us with   cool shade - a great help as we fought our way up the hills.  

Unfortunately, we missed a key turn and were once again lost in a little town called Tennessee Ridge.  It cost us about 20 miles.  Now 20 miles in a car is a minor inconvenience.  A 20 mile mistake on a bike in the Tennessee hills is devastating.  We had no one to blame but ourselves, so we did the only thing we could do.  We bravely pretended that we had always wanted to visit Tennessee Ridge!  We hung out at a gas station for a while, asked locals for directions, regrouped and got back on our way.  We must confess, we were thinking of the Costa Rican and I am sure that if someone with a pickup truck had offered us a ride to Waverly we would have been in the back of that truck before you could say "Bob's your Uncle!"

We arrived in Waverly much later than planned and stopped for lunch at Samuels on the Square - "where southern hospitality and chivalry indomitably subsist."  The food and service was fantastic...and the restaurant itself was a piece of history.  The floor was the original marble floor....over 100 years old.

Samuels on the Square - Waverly, Tennessee

Refreshed and refueled we cycled out of Waverly looking for potential campsites. The terrain was not as steep, so we were able to get a better rhythm going.  We heard the distant rumbling of thunder and watched fascinated as a wall of torrential rain moved up the road towards us.  You could literally see the sheet of rain approaching.  We hurried to get our rain coats on, but as fast as it had moved in, the rain was gone.  It was like having a quick, intense cold shower - quite refreshing!

Only 4 miles to Loretta Lynn's Ranch

 As our legs tired out, we found ourselves too far from the next campsite and decided to call it a day and retire for the night at the Traveller's Inn.  Hard to believe but we are only 50 miles from Nashville.  With a little luck and some good map reading we should be on the Natchez Trace tomorrow.

Wild flowers line the route

Giggle of the day:

Rob has proclaimed that the Tennesse Two Step is NOT a dance, but what the locals call it when "old farts" like us have to hop off their bikes and two step up the hills.

View Bicycling directions to Only, TN, United States in a larger map