Mark was so industrious as to have already made a deal with the local bike shop (Woody’s Bicycles) to let me rent a bike: a Trek 1 Series. Between them, Mark and his friend John were kind enough to let me borrow shoes, shorts, and gloves, and John even took pedals off of one of his bikes and installed them on my loaner. So I was all set to ride!

The descent

The next morning, Mark showed up at my room at 5:40am and we set out to meet up with a couple of his riding buddies, George and Jerry. After intros, we set off for the scariest part of the ride; a decent off the Cumberland Plateau. It was a very steep 2 or 3 miles of high speeds and hairpin turns. This was my first real descent, and the previous day I had heard a few stories about the recent crashes on this descent by local cyclists. It was something of a hairy trip, but we all got into the valley without any mishaps.

Here (below) is the view from our start/end in Sewanee

We set out from the top of the Cumberland Plateau and descended into the valley. Our route would take us around the jutting leg of the plateau, through the farmland below. The roads were pretty darn good and there was almost no traffic (and none at all on the Alto descent, thank goodness!). It was a beautiful ride and we had only one slight run-in with a large, vicious dog who misjudged his trajectory and missed my bike by a few inches. Amateur.

The climb back up

The fast descent aside, the real challenge for me on this ride was going to be the climb back up onto the plateau. There are no mountains here in the Dallas area where I live and I’ve never ridden a real climb. This one was about 3.5miles (5.5km) up what looked to be a frighteningly steep grade. I have to say that it was every bit the challenge I imagined, but I got into a good rhythm and knocked it out with no problems. Very cool stuff.

It was about a 24 mile ride, and though it was pretty short it was one of my favorite rides ever. It had a lot of firsts: first descent, first climb, and first group ride with other cyclists. I likely won’t be able to do this again anytime soon, but I’m sure I’ll be back to Sewanee and I’ll be sure to bring my shoes and shorts and a jersey!

I want to take this opportunity to thank Mark Kelly, who made all of this possible, and the folks at Woody’s Bicycles. This impromptu ride and the great kindness of many folks who hadn’t before met me helped to make this a wonderful trip to Sewanee. I can’t wait to get back.