SAT 10/2/99 DAY 1 – Murphy to Franklin (56.5 Miles)
TIME ........... 5:20:28
DISTANCE ....... 64.68
ODOMETER ....... 2613
AVERAGE SPEED .. 12.1
MAX SPEED ...... 42
(forgot to zero the computer so it has about 6 extra miles on it)
The first few miles to Andrews NC were pretty flat. I got to use my firstaid kit
at the first railroad crossing. A young woman got dumped when her wheel jammed in
the track. The same thing almost happened to me last summer when I was riding on
River Road in Wilmington NC on my way back to Carolina Beach. Fourtunately I did
not crash but did spend a few minutes with a spoke wrench on my back wheel.
Today featured two huge climbs, and one huge decent. My butt was toast knees OK, legs OK, I can ride a bike at
4mph for a long time. Got a new seat in Franklin from
Liberty Bikes, they were the
technical support for the first part of the ride. It was just like having
a bike shope right along on the ride!
Purchased a tape of the local blue grass band. Was
passed by two really fast riders on a decent. The ambulances on
the decent into Franklin were sobering. I found out when I got back to
Raleigh that the N&O photographer had take a picture of the campground
that night. And I was in the picture.
You have to look way back in the back to find me, I've got on a yellow hat. If you bring
up the maps that go with the queue sheets you can see a mark that looks like "^^^" on the
map. I remember sitting on the gym floor the night before thinking, "Hm, 'steep climb',
but the little '^^^' marks are not too big, perhaps it won't be too bad." After riding the
first day I had a lot more respct for those three little marks. Check out the topographic
map that goes with this ride and you can see the road crossing the altitude lines on the
way up Junaluska Gap and Wayah Gap. The little dotted line around Wayah Gap is the Applician
trail. A rest stop was just there. I walked up to a picnic table to eat my PBJ and
saw a dog with a backpack on, a sure sign you are near a hiking trail.
QUEUE SHEET for this ride.
MAP1 that goes with queue sheet (Murphy thru Junaluska Gap).
MAP2 that goes with queue sheet (The rest of the way to Franklin).
TOPO MAP from Mprphy to Andrews.
TOPO MAP east of Andrews to just past Wayah Gap.
TOPO MAP Wayah Gap to Frankline (look at that downhill!)
