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.
Screen Saver Photography @ Fort Loudon Lake
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 
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 
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: