Ambition triumphs over Skills.

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We are now back on the TAT (Trans American Trail) after leaving the TAT extension which was more road riding. The TAT is real adventure riding, gravel, tracks, challenging & sometimes more navigationally confusing.

Day 11:

Great gravel forestry roads in the morning and these wound on & off the Blue Ridge Parkway which follows the ridge through the Smokey Mountains. This is also part of the Eastern continental divide.
We stopped at a viewing point at around 1600m altitude for a break and some great photos of the view. As we re-started Keith found his bike had a rear puncture. Brenton removed the wheel and changed the tube in quick time while everyone else supervised and added helpful comments.
Back on the route we diverted to the town of Ashville, phoned a BMW dealer who had a suitable tyre to replace my bike’s worn rear. Using our GPS we all rode 13kms in major traffic to find no shop at the GPS location. The others headed direct to Hot Springs while Ian & I found where the shop is now. Riding 20kms again in heavy traffic we reached the shop, bought the tyre then headed to Hot Springs,mainly on freeway, 50kms to our destination of Hot Springs. Here we had rustic motel rooms next to a rapidly flowing river. (midges a free extra)
Day 12:
Deciding to have a leisurely start, we had a diner breakfast and I fitted the new rear tyre to my bike. Getting ready to leave around 10.30 Ian discovered his bike had a rear puncture. Another quick tube change, this time by Ian, and we were on the trail just after 11. Two punctures is a bit unusual as we have done longer trips and suffered none.
Once again, good gravel roads which were a little technical in terms of very slippery surfaces. Coming out of an uphill corner on slippery gravel I gassed it up a bit hard, my rear wheel attempted to overtake the front wheel and successfully dumped me on my arse in a pile of dust. Very slippery conditions, a new tyre, tiredness, the visibilty and the temperature all could be offered as excuses but really it was a case of my ambition being greater than my skill – or as Brenton said “You ran out of talent” No bike damage or injury ensued other than a severely bruised ego! We continued on these tracks, gravel roads and sealed highways eventually reaching Andrews our destination after experiencing another series of heavy downpours & thunder. Only 300kms today but hard riding with 75% of the day on gravel.
One funny incident I had forgotten to relate, was in a motel early in the trip where Ian (who always carries a small hacksaw in his tools) had to cut the security lock off my room door when it became jammed and I couldn’t get back into my room. The staff were nowhere to be seen and in any event if they had got a maintenance man in, he would have had to remedy the situation the same way. The next morning the staff seemed disinterested in our protestations that they had advertised our rooms with free breakfast but in the event turned out to be just a cup of coffee!

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