Cades Cove Loop
I am a bit late on this post but here it is anyway. During my TN trip this summer I asked around and found that I was really pretty close to a place I had heard about but never visited. I decided I would make the 45 min drive out to the National Park and ride Cades Cove Loop.
What a fateful decision that turned out to be. I had a direct route from my
U Man Bike Shop
daughter’s house to Townsend, TN and from there it was just a quick trip up the road to the loop. But wait, there is more…… in Townsend I ran into a shop that rents recumbent trikes. It is owned by Bill a regular on RRI (Recumbent Riders International), and although he was not around his lovely wife Kiela was. This was not just a shop but Bill manufactures Edge Recumbents. They are really
U Man, KMX rental stable
great modifications on the old Burley line and really are a good deal. Quality manufacturing and a great product. They rent trikes to be used in and around Townsend and their 11+ miles of trails. Looks like a great idea to me and I wish them luck.
Traffic anyone??
After a quick chat I headed out and the park was fantastic. Kiela had warned me that traffic would be bad on the loop but I was going anyway, traffic be damned. She was correct, the traffic was very often bumper to my front tire, especially when one of the local inhabitants dropped by for a bit of lunch. There were quite a few deer and they were not hesitant about munching away very near the road. The “Loop” is a newish one way blacktop road that snakes around a rather large bowl scraped out
Around the corner there was a deer 10 feet from the road just looking around and enjoying this view.
of the Smokey Mountain Range by some geologic forces that are fully explained by the rangers but I was more interested in riding than listening. There are some hills and some flats, some wooded and some open but it is all beautiful. Pics were taken ohhs and ahhs were exchanged and traffic ground to a halt quite often. It was still a great 11 mile ride and I will make a point of coming back when I can ride either a Wednesday or Saturday morning when the road is closed to motor traffic from 0800-1000. I am looking forward to it. I will post a few pics so you can also enjoy the beauty of this lovely ride.
Sunlight through the trees.
Time to slow down??
