Biking on fall color weekend '19

On the weekend of Nov. 9 I had my annual fall party and the weather on Sunday and Monday was so spectacular, I decided to take a last fall boat trip and bike climbs up Raccoon Mountain.  I knew a huge weather change was coming so I knew I had to do this trip and be back early afternoon so I'd have time to winterize my boat.  Temperatures were forecast to drop an astonishing 50º by Tuesday to an overnight low in the low teens. 

On Sunday I got the boat ready early and left Sewanee at 9:30am to launch and take the 15 mile cruise up the river to meet my HS friend Bill at noon, and we did the climb up Raccoon Mtn.   It's always a tough one.

The leaves were at peak fall color and the temp was well into the 60ºs and sunny, although crisp and cool in the morning.   The view from the top was spectacular.

From Visitor's Center, Raccoon Mtn.

View from the top Raccoon Mountain

Bill and Bill at East overlook above Chattanooga

After the hill climb, I cruised into Chattanooga and spent the afternoon hanging at Whole Foods and biking around Chattanooga.  It was a beautiful night with a full moon.

Full moon over the Hunter Museum by the TN River, Chattanooga

I cruised back to the gorge and tied up to my favorite channel marker and fell asleep fairly early. I didn't hear another boat pass all night and I got up very early, like 4:30 am. Watched a little "Morning Joe" on my computer, (thanks to my unlimited data plan on my phone) and slept a small bit more. After a little espresso, I put the boat up at the Raccoon Mtn. dock and did the hill climb again myself, very bright an early.   I was hoping to take a video of my bike trip down the entire 4 mile hill but the video cut off after 90 sec.  Maybe I'll post that later.

Raccoon Mountain dock

I soon cruised back to the launch point and then was back in Sewanee early, just after noon.  It took  me almost 3 hours to completely unpack the boat, and totally winterize the engine and water system.  It was a chore as usual but good to get it done.   The boat deserves good maintenance, it ran perfectly all season, and I put several hundred miles on it this year.

It turned cloudy by sunset and started raining which changed to snow in the wee hours.  Tuesday was unbelievably cold, only reaching a high of 22º.   It got down to 13º Tuesday night.  This was certainly one of the largest temperature changes I've seen here.  It reached 70º on Monday in Chattanooga and 13º by Tuesday night, a drop of 57º. 

Here's what it looked like Tuesday morning.


It was a great trip. It was probably good that I put off running for another week. This plantar fasciitis has been persistent and I will update on the next post.