Day 16: Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'
April 20, 2011We all agree that Tennessee is our favorite state so far. The most appealing thing about Tennessee is the terrain. Not only are the green hills and vales easy on the eyes, but they are also fun to go up and down. Flat roads may seem attractive at first, but they get really boring; every mile feels like 5 or 10. The rolling hills of Tennessee make the miles go by quickly. We usually get enough momentum from the previous downhill to make it at least half-way up the next uphill.
The rolling hills were present throughout our ride from Henry Horton State Park to Nashville. The 42-mile ride was pleasant until the outskirts of the city. Around Nashville, we had to deal with a lot of traffic, but that is to be expected in any large city. Drivers were quite patient though.
Midway through our ride, we stopped at Starbucks to take advantage of the free wi-fi. We weren't able to get any internet at Henry Horton and so we didn't have any accommodations lined up for Nashville. At Starbucks, we e-mailed and called a bunch of warmshowers.org and couchsurfing.org members. After waiting about 20 minutes, we had our first response. We were so grateful that someone would take us in last minute. Soon, more replies started coming in that we had to turn down. We were so impressed with the hospitality here in Nashville.
We ended up staying with Josh and his roommates Brent, Carlson, and Rob. They live in the south-central part of Nashville and are part of an awesome "community." They all do a bunch of volunteer work as well as incorporate their jobs and entire lifestyle into serving the poor, going "green," and helping out with other great causes.
We biked into the Hillsboro Village area to eat at Fido. We enjoyed some amazing sandwiches and tomato soup there. For dessert, we stopped at Jackson's to try the famous Cookie Dough Egg Roll.....mmmmmmm!!!!
Posted by the girls.
