I haven't been able to ride for about three weeks. They have four seasons here in Tennessee, I'm not used to that. Where I come from, we skip the shitty ones—always spring and summer in California. Here, not so much. What happens here is, snow falls between 30 minutes and eight hours followed by a day of rain. Then it's cloudy for a half day, sunny for two days, repeat. I'm told it's like this through February.
When Covid-19 was introduced, they kicked us (me) out of England. At the time, Pura's British passport lost access to Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations because we got caught up in Brexit, too. Cuz that's how we roll!! When PuraDays sets sail, we depart in the middle of not one but two unnatural disasters.
My passport—American. At the time, I was lucky to find a return flight to the states, everywhere except Turkey was off limits to Americans. Once a respected passport became one of the more despised passports practically overnight. So, back to the states we go! That was August, 2020.
Having spent a considerable amount of time coast to coast in America, we decided to park in Tennessee while Covid shakes out. The people here are kind, scenery is top shelf, no gun laws or state tax, and we're surrounded by singletrack trails.
Three weeks! My arm hairs couldn't take anymore. New state, new city, new world and the weather has me parked inside all day. So I loaded up the bike yesterday and went 14 miles west toward a paved bike path at Concord Park.
I didn't make it
About five miles before Concord Park I saw that sailboat on the cover image in the middle of Fort Loudon Lake. There's just enough room on the side of the road to park the car and unload the bike. Couldn't have picked a better starting point—love it when things work out the way they're supposed to.
There's over seven miles of paved shoreline trail for cycling, running, saw plenty of parents pushing strollers, etc. There's parks and playgrounds for the kids, several picnic areas and no shortage of time consuming scenery. You know how expectations can lead to disappointment but when you take off without expectations you're likely pleasantly surprised? That happened yesterday.
Images - GoPro Hero 5
I tallied over seven miles of cardio between exploring and stopping to take pictures. It got me out of the house for four hours, too, eh! :time out:
Big round of applause for the whole @pinmapple crew and what they're doing over there at #traveldigest. :time in:
Surrounded by water, not a cloud in the sky, temperatures are in the low 40's-F but there's beanies and gloves for that. I didn't enter anywhere I wasn't supposed to and I didn't stand on the rocks either.
Whistles inconspicuously
It was nice to see that many people outside being people. I caught 25 of them being people at a playground. Kids were playing and acting like kids, what they do at that age. Everyone's got their jackets and gloves on.
No Disguises
I wasn't looking for singletracks but found several anyway, they're everywhere. I'll go back after it dries up, it's raining again as I type this.
Zoom in across the driftwood in this next one, check out the dump on the other side of the lake—private island. Gorgeous piece of property with an estate looking like Charlie Lee lives there. It's slightly visible now. With that many mature trees surrounding it, it's completely camouflaged most the year.
There's public toilets. There's a reason I told you that. I snapped a picture of a graffiti cover-up on one of the public toilet walls. Having not seen the original piece, I can't say for sure, but I'm confident the cover-up isn't much better. And then a Q&A.
Q&A
What's pictured above?
Check it out again
A bunch of two inch concrete cylinders lined up along one of the shores. They're what remains after coring a hole through concrete, just unsure how that many of them got there.
The ducks are people friendly, that's for sure. All I had for them was a camera, they're used to being fed. By the time I aimed and clicked, they made their way to my feet.
Seven more. The first one's a bunch of fungi-lookin things growing on a bolt (learned that term from @thebigsweed). Boulder scattered shoreline are hazardous to boats but make quality photos for Hive. I'm not sure what that barge crane's used for, some type of construction most likely and the base of that fallen tree is taller than me—6'1.
Tomorrow we're headed two hours east to Asheville, North Carolina. They keep saying how nice it is over there and how we need to see it. Forecast—no rain (that's the plan anyway). Asheville for lunch, get a room, return Wednesday or Thursday (that's the plan anyway). I'm sure I'll tell you about it when we get back. :cheers:
!BEER
for you
Cheers!
I have been busy with bicycle riding recently and I have to say you inspire me with this. I love riding bicycles so much now 😁 Good to see you out having fun with riding and immerse into nature..wow beautiful scenery and great shots 🤩
Btw, Can I ask how you add these moving photos here? 😊
Have a great day 😊
Well if it isn't my favorite little Vietnamese wanderer, how's it goin @trangbaby?
Inspire you to do some peddling is really nice to hear, I love it out there. Not many things I truly enjoy by myself but the bicycle is one of them. Do you agree or would you rather be with others?
Movement—of course. It's a bit of a process but simple, I hope you understand the way I explain this. When I want a moving shot, I use my iPhone, the GoPro can't do it. Then I have that live shot. By holding my finger down on the live shot, I can screen record. I send that recording to iMovie and edit the unwanted footage. Send the new clip to gifmaker.org and 'tada!' Did that make sense? Really cool you're interested, you're the first to ask. 😉
Always a pleasure when you stop by.
Aww thanks for very detailed instruction. I'm currently using Ip and Gopro 😃 I know how to take the live shot but another process is to send the recording to Imovie and edit it ..that I never done before. Wait, one more step -Then Send the new clip to gifmaker.org and 'tada!' Oh wow, not easy at all as I'm not a technical person 🤣😁. You pur much effort on it. Cool 😎
Well, I learn something new and I will try 🤗
I'm often riding bicycle with a friend after work and by myself sometimes. I feel good with both but I prefer "by myself" ..I don't know why..I'm maybe getting older and like being alone and quiet places 😅😂
Cool, glad I explained it right. And thanks for noticing the effort. All that.. really not sure how much time it takes just for that 2 second clip.
About by myself. Let me rephrase that. I love it when Pura's with me, of course, those days are always calm and pavement riding. Otherwise I'd rather be be myself cuz I'm on those narrow trails. If I want to stop, if I'm faster than the other, or they're faster than me. All of it is distracting so I like to be solo.
That's what I meant
❤️
I guess you enjoying it. 😊
Thank you for a clear rephrase man 😎 I get it
Hope you having a great weekend :))
Been eyeing Asheville and perhaps somewhere else not to far away for a quick jaunt a few months from now...so definitely looking forward to the PuraDAys report when you get back. Glad to see you finally got a wee little hit of that vitamin D. I can appreciate getting pretty nutty when stuck indoors for too long. I finally got a run in with a few friends this past Saturday and it was quite glorious to not only get out in fairly nice weather, but with company to boot.
Dammit. I saw this yesterday and just realized I forgot the reminder I set for myself to respond. I saw your ocd feature and was...
Congratulations.
I think everyone's losin their mind Plants. NC is a lot different than here. Everything's closed. State law requires masked faces everywhere, they're temp checking at open doors, weird. They're demonstrating and flying flags upside down about "I can't breathe!" Probably not a good time to visit.
About being cooped up. In the hotel parking lot alone there's seven different license plates in a row at all times. Even snapped a Ca plate and HI plate—Hawaii?!
Nothing to do.. Nowhere to go.. Driving in circles
Pura's off again today, we just got back and that thing's shining in the sky again. So we're gonna get in some foot time. Got anything today?
I don't feel any better about forgetting you but this long ass response helps
Ugghh, well I suppose it was good I asked then. No telling how things are going to be in a few months, but I definitely don't want to drive around in circles in a different state when I can just do that here.
Hawaii?? That's a long, wet drive. 😂
Got some sun shining here, so debating a run but then again I may just sit inside in the window where it feels a lot warmer. It took me halfway through my online core class to warm up, so I am kind of dreading being cold again. Decisions, decisions. Oh screw it. Gonna layer up and hit the streets. Even 2 miles is better than no miles.
And I've been slacking on the timeliness of my comments/replies lately myself, so no apologies ever needed this way. 😉
"What's pictured above...???" PELLETS of some sort😏
I caught you skimming. Busted!
A bunch of two inch concrete cylinders. <-- I copy/pasted that. What's left after you core holes through concrete. No clue how that many or why that many are on a lake shore. How many times have read me say that same thing now?
Nothing in the above comment is facetious, everything is actual and factual and you really should consider upgrading your sense of humor.
I wasn't skimming... you edited and stuck that stuff in there about cored out concrete to make those pellets spewed around in order to slow erosion😕!!! Don't lie.
That's funny.
Been in NC all day, wasn't gonna do any responding but I saw this and couldn't stop myself. Man, it was early as shit when I got your comment. By the time I got some coffee and whatever else I do to wake up, I realized the joke was on me.
Even used the word facetious in small italic letters like "guilty!" If I didn't know any better, @angryman, I'd say you've been anxiously waiting to bust my balls.
Eh, we just watched a documentary called American Selfie. Dude, you gotta watch it. How many times I told you watch a... an anything? Check it out if you do that kinda thing. They have TV's in hotels, otherwise this whole paragraph wouldn't exist.
वाह बेहत लाजवाब 👌👌🤩
मैंने सही अनुवाद की खोज में लगभग एक घंटा बिताया। आशा है कि मैं सही हो गया।
धन्यवाद @yogeshbhatt!
एक दम सत्य 👍👍
What a nice post 👌 and bunch of fungi-looking things 😅 . I hope you will have nice weather in Asheville 👋
And what a nice comment, good morning @mipiano. Happy Tuesday (I think that's what day it is). I'll tell you all about the weather when we get back—deal! 👍🏿
Always a pleasure to hear from you, thanks for stopping by. I'm glad you enjoyed this one.
Yes, it is Tuesday now 😜
Deal 👍
Wow that’s gorgeous! It’s awesome to find new spaces to use under the current restrictions. At the moment we are allowed to exercise and do our usual things but beaches are closed (it’s summer at the mo. ) We trying to make the most of summer in our surf village with no beach...
This is a nice surprise, good morning @zo3d, glad to see you over here. I'm glad you liked this one, thank you!
I trip out on the different restrictions going door to door. Seems each street corner has their own rules. My friends in England have it the worst I think. Talked to a gentleman in Austria, not as bad as England but very restricted. There's just too many variables.
I hope your beaches open up soon. We were in Florida a few months back, beaches are wide open there. Such a weird time, nobody really understands a lot of anything including those who continue placing restrictions.
How are you, well? I hope you and yours are healthy and Covid free as you read this.
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@pinmapple is where it's at. @lizanomadsoul, you're an angel. Not sure why it took me this long to delegate, sh.... 🤫 :secret:
See you soon, Liz!
Ain't it great when things work out the way they're supposed to? It was a last ditch effort just to go do something while the sun was out. I don't really enjoy pavement and would rather ride singletracks but my hand was forced. Man, I really misjudged that one. There's a lot more ground to cover over there so I'll be going back.
Thanks for checkin this one out @kohsamui99, I'm glad you liked it. One of these days I swear I'll put up some video when I dive that Great Barrier Reef, it's the first thing I think of when I see Australia—your location. It's been on my to-do list for awhile. Do you dive? Ever dove that GBR? Sir, I appreciate the follow, thank you! See you soon.
Oh you lucky man.
About 5 years ago, a buddy of mine and I were playing chess on my balcony. I lived on the sand in Long Beach at the time. We talked about diving, something he and I wanted to do but never did. I think it was later that week or something, I had a birthday and that guy bought us each diving lessons, how cool is that?!
Been diving ever since. I'm glad I just told you this, I haven't dropped Dave a line in awhile. It's time I do that. 😉
oh brothers @dandays & @kohsamui99 I did some snorkelings in Philippines and it was absolutely stunning.
I wish I could Scuba Dive 🙁 It would be fun
I wish I was a wish granting genie.
That's a good mate to have!
We met a fella in Costa Rica who was from Australia, he went by the name "risky." He did the same thing. Said he went to CR to visit and dive, one thing led to another and now he's got a dive shop down there for about as long as your mate, 10 years or something.
That damn virus!