A View of Chattanooga.

  I am always fascinated by the impressions that visitors have of Chattanooga, and the impression of cycling visitors is of special interest to me.  I have written before the visit of Laura and Russ of PathLessPedaled.  They are the couple who gave up life as they know it to live on the road-the road on bicycles that is.

   Laura wrote yesterday of their impressions of Chattanooga:



    We found Chattanooga to be a really wonderful city with a “small town” feel. It’s an active city, with a city-sponsored focus on how many amazing outdoor activities are nearby. And it’s fairly easy to get around on a bicycle, as there are a lot of low-traffic side streets and a beautiful greenway that runs for many miles out of the city.
     Of course, when people say that Chattanooga is a “working” town, they’re absolutely correct, and this distinction colors everything that happens in the city. You spend time in Chattanooga and you can feel the work ethic that runs through the veins of the city. Even with all the recent progressive changes, it’s a definite Southern, old-money, conservative place (with a long history as such). But it’s also a city that’s not afraid to get its hands dirty, and Chattanooga has put itself to work transforming itself from the most polluted city in American to a gem of an outdoor recreation destination (Chattanooga is host to the highly successful Head of the Hooch Regatta, which now rivals the Head of the Charles).

  It sounds like they got a good impression of Chattanooga and got the nail on the head. But she framed this impression around another impression that we are envious of Asheville.  That caught me by surprise, and by the talk around here, it caught a lot of us by surprise.  Asheville?  I can't say that we talk about Asheville often and as far as I know, it is all positive.  A getaway to Asheville is considered a nice thing indeed.  But wanting to BE Asheville.  I don't think so.  We do talk about become the Boulder of the East, but as far as I can tell, it has not been expressed that we are trying to be Asheville.  Jim Johnson posted a wonderful reply to that impression.  Mostly, I think we are fashioning ourselves with waht we have-a unique mixture of southern conservatism and progressiveness.  We are following our own path into the future.  We might take our clues at times from other cities but the expression is always our own.  So much so, I know that other cities come to study how Chattanooga has done what it has done and how to emulate it. 

  But over all, I think Laura and Russ enjoyed their time here and we enjoyed having them.  They are getting to a lot of towns and I am sure they have learned how to read them. I find reading about their observations and experiences immensely interesting. I am glad we were part of it.

    To read their compete post go here

New Picture

 I have been meaning to get a new blog picture of myself.  The picture I have up is a picture taken of my with my bike (though the bike really isn't evident in this cut) for a public service announcement that Chattanooga was doing  to encourage to get moving.  Different active people were photographed and then put up on billboards and buses with the admonishment to Just Get Moving".  I was the biking person and I saw my picture going by on the bus for several years.

  So obviously the picture was out dated and I needed a new one.  Since I let my hair go gray I felt this picture was a bit misleading.  But I liked it. I don't have many pictures-or at least good ones-taken of me so I hated to change it.  I happened to see Trisha's picture on LGRAB at the same time that Russ and Laura of  PathLessPedaled came into town.  What a serendipitous moment!  I would get Russ to take pictures of me with my bike for the blog. 

  So Russ and I met early Tuesday morning to get some pictures and I think I definitely got some to take the place of the currant one.



  Thanks, Russ, for helping me update my blog picture.  Happy travels to you and Laura!

Visitors!

  Imagine selling everything you own, setting out on your bikes, with only your trade of jewelry making and photography to support yourself for an adventure of a life time.  This is exactly what Russ and Laura did a year ago and have been on the road ever since.  They rolled in Chattanooga Thursday for a week of exploration.

    They headed out from Portland, Oregon a year ago and have been meandering every since.  They don't have firm plans set and take suggestions from oneplace as to where they should go next.  They were in Nashville when they were told to come to Chattanooga.  I don't know exactly who mentioned CKhattanooga, but looking at the Nashville people Russ and Laura talked about I know Dan Hensley of Nashville Bicycle Lounge and Tricia  of Let's Go Ride A Bike fame.(though I haven't actually met her in person)

  This is their trip so far  
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  So who are these people?  To read more about them go to Path Less Pedaled.  Chattanooga was treated to a presentation Thursday night at Outdoor Chattanooga to hear their story.  There was less then a day notice to arrange and publicise their presentation but there was a good size and very interested crowd that showed up.

   A small group of us took them to dinner at Taco Mamacita's for Mex fusion food.  Russ and Laura are a delightful and down to earth couple.  To live such a lifestyle, going with the flow is a valued attribue and they seemed to have just the right amount of mellowness.    But on the other hand, to live a life where you don't know from one night to the next, where you will be sleeping and always seeing new places and meeting new people requires an alertness and sharpness that is often lost in living the same ole same ole.  After a year on the road, Russ and Laura seemed to have gotten those two contrasting attributes of mellowness and sharpness about right. 

   They love the quiet touring where it is just the two of them, rarely talking to others, and they then look forward to the constant socialization of city stays.  It does sound they get the both of both worlds.

  Talking to them does light those adventure fires that are always smoldering deep within.  Maybe it is time to  Sub 24 hour overnight trips (S24O).  I used to do those occasionally, long before there was a name for them, but it has been a long time since I have done them.  Time to hit the road again, I think.  Russ and Laura might be leaving behind a trail of inspired bike tourers in their path.  What fun!