Lettin’ It Go, Lettin’ It Flow

All good things must come to an end. And so it did on Wednesday with our final 55 mile ride to the end of the Natchez Trace in a Nashville suburb. Wednesday was probably our best day of cycling. The terrain was more varied with many climbs and descents and for much of the day we cycled on a ridge with nice views. The weather was perfect in the morning. The last 10 post-lunch miles were in a hot sun with little shade and we finished our ride just in time before I got that “baking in an oven” feeling. Here are a few pictures from the ride:

Yesterday was a nice day touring around Nashville, although I learned at the Muscle Shoals section of the Country Music Hall of Fame that Steve (my friend since 7th grade) and I were not the first Jewish guys from Queens to have visited that city:

This was a fun seven days of cycling, 432 miles in total (a few sections of the Trace were closed for construction). We cycled through areas of the U.S. that I had never visited. The consensus among our group was that the scenery was not as spectacular as on our Western trips, but we’re all glad we did this trip. A few random thoughts:

First, it’s tough to be a vegetarian in the rural South. Vegetarian options on restaurant menus? Uh, not really. Even the vegetable side dishes contained bacon, pork fat and lard. A cab driver told us that gravy is the key to Southern cooking — white for breakfast, brown for lunch/dinner and a tomato-based gravy for special occasions. All contain stuff like sausage and bacon. Our cab driver said that gravy is considered a beverage in the South and it clearly is.

Second, how is it that I have been taking cycling trips for years and only now focused on the benefits of an afternoon caffeine pick-me-up??? I mentioned in a prior post that Liz’s half coke/half water concoction was a welcome surprise. The other day I decided to up my caffeine game when we stopped for lunch at a Trace town right next to a local coffee shop. The proprietor was a bit confused when I poured his newly made double espresso latte into my water bottle. Sipping on that latte for 20 afternoon miles — boy was I flying. On the last relatively long hill of the day, I passed most everyone until I reached monster cyclist Liz in the front. She was clearly of the “no way I’m letting this soon-to-be Medicare recipient pass me” mentality and we both pushed the pace. After a mile or so, Liz turned to me and said “do you really want to do this since we still have a half mile to the top?” I was breathing too heavily to speak coherently, but thought to myself “damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” as we raced to the top (she beat me by a wheel). So bottom line — sports drinks out, double espresso lattes in, although I may need to consult blog reader and cardiologist Dr. Linda about the wisdom of this strategy. Here is Liz on the left and that other Cooperman rider in a more relaxed moment:

Third, a few “Badass Awards” for two truly inspiring people. Blog readers will recall Art being knocked off his bike last September in a Glacier National Park rock slide (see 9/16/25 post). Unfortunately, things did not improve for Art’s cycling. In October, he fell while riding his bike through wet leaves and ended up needing a partial hip replacement. Serge and I convinced him to join us on this trip, thinking that slowly biking half the time and taking the van the rest would be a good recovery ride. Thankfully, bad cycling news for Art did not come in threes. For a guy who could barely walk six months ago, Art rode all but 10 of the 432 miles at his usual pre-injury pace. Really just wow! Here he is bombing down a hill:

And then there is the winner of the “Ultimate Badass Award”. At 72, never before having ridden a bicycle with gears, and practicing on an old-fashioned spin bike in the basement of her Manhattan apartment, Priscilla rode the entire Trace. She cycled at her own deliberate pace, always with a smile on her face and with no kvetching that readers might expect to hear from me in that type of circumstance.

Finally, we all have ways of “letting go” to escape from life’s stresses. Cycling is mine and the long rides on this trip without having to climb up mountains were pure zen. I’m glad that I was able to let it go and go with the flow this past week with good friends and my best friend for the past 45 years:

Will we be still pedaling in the future? You betcha! Until next time…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo81ymmfKh4