BRAT: I think I've bitten off more than I can chew

[Tuckervill]

I think you change your outlook on it and go and decide to have fun whatever happens!

Are you doing it by yourself? Maybe you can hook up with someone else via a message board to hang with. Don't be afraid to walk up the hills, either. Or skip that day, huh?

Just think how much fun you'll have just being around other cyclists and all the brouhaha that goes with it. Don't worry about your performance. It's going to be what you make it, so make it fun no matter what.

I didn't know Tennessee had a ride like that. Middle Tennessee, yikes!--i lived in Mt. Juliet (east of Nashville) for a while and our back yard went straight up! My husband rolled over on the riding lawnmower trying to mow it once.

I say do the ride anyway!

Karen

[SouthernBelle]

Karen, used to live in MJ, live in Lebanon now.

[Tuckervill]

Karen, used to live in MJ, live in Lebanon now.

Went a little further out, huh?

I love the Nashville area, but we lived there during the real estate bust. We ended up in Memphis for 15 years due to job situations, and now we're back in Arkansas where we belong!

I would love to live in other places (Corvallis, OR comes to mind), but I just don't belong there. So I'll just travel a lot!

Karen

[Mr. Bloom]

I love the Nashville area, but we lived there during the real estate bust. We ended up in Memphis for 15 years due to job situations,

Did we know that? We lived in Nashville until '93 (Woodmont Blvd) and then moved to Memphis (Germantown). Were we neighbors and didn't know it?

[Veronica]

I have mapping software similar to the Navtek used to calculate the climbing. Mine is DeLorme. Anyway... it always over calculated the climbing by 30 0r 40%. It said my 4 mile commute had 400 feet of climbing! It really has 157.

Don't worry about the profiles. Go and have fun!

V.

[Tuckervill]

Did we know that? We lived in Nashville until '93 (Woodmont Blvd) and then moved to Memphis (Germantown). Were we neighbors and didn't know it?

I knew you lived in Memphis at one time, but I've never mentioned it. Yes, we lived in Mount Juliet from 89-91. We lived in Bartlett the first time we lived in Shelby County. Then we lived in Little Rock for about 2 years and then back to Memphis. We lived in the Raliegh area that time--don't gasp! We had just as fine a house as any in G'town, and a private lake. It was just surrounded by decay. Job changes forced us out to Fayette County for a while, and then we made a permanent change to NW Arkansas.

I was just in Germantown last weekend for a friend's 40th. Took a bike ride. I forgot how dangerous the drivers are in Memphis! I managed to find a MUT but it was only 3/4 of a mile long. I still like Memphis, just not the pace of life there.

Karen

[DirtDiva]

Honestly? I don't think it looks so bad. Yes, it's a lot of climbing all together, but there are only two or three climbs over the whole thing where you have to climb more than a hundred metres at a time, and most of the climbs are a lot shorter. May not be easy, but how freakin' good will it feel to have done it!?!

[indysteel]

Thanks for the words of encouragment! I'm going, and I'll do my best. I've done a lot of other things bikewise this year (my first full year of riding I might add) that I never would have predicted so I'll hope and pray for the best. Obviously, I'll report back when I return.

If this doesn't turn me into a goat, nothing will!

Kate