14 Aug TAT DAY 14 : Miles Huntsville AL to Counce TN (354km/220mi)
Armadillo +1, supeglue -1
We hightailed it out of Huntsville and rejoined the TAT at Elkton. The trail wound its way through rural back roads. Mostly poorly maintained sealed road with the odd bit of fast moving gravel.
We stopped for lunch where the TAT crosses the Natchez Trace Parkway. Our lunch stops usually entail finding a shady spot on the side of the road when we start feeling hungry. They don’t always match up with a town or a scenic view though, but that OK.
Today was the first time we had to ride in the heat and dust. Sim got a lot dustier than I did as he was riding behind me all day. The gravel got progressively more difficult for little Grom wheels. Don’t know how to describe it properly, but it was a rougher gravel that shook and vibrated every part of us and the Groms. Lots of logging trucks in the area too.
We stopped at Brush Creek as we had thought we might camp there, but it was way too early, so we pushed on.
The little wiggly bit on the map near Waterloo turned out to be a bit scary. It was very steep and twisty, made for an interesting afternoon.
Sim damaged one of his fender bags today. It must have worked itself a bit loose. The fender bag add ons probably were a mistake, they add just a little bit too much onto the height and don’t give a big enough clearance.
The replacement shock seems to be working fine though.
We had a brief maintenance stop in the afternoon as my throttle grip came unstuck. Superglue to the rescue.
It looked like the weather might turn, so we headed for Counce. Burgers for dinner tonight.
Highlight(for me) of the day was spotting an armadillo snuffling his way through the grass on the side of the road. Fun fact, armadillos are the only other animals other than humans to host leprosy.
View this post and comments on ADV Rider
