The Heinous Loop

The heinously early start to the day got us rolling into Townsend before the smoke of the Smokies had burnt off. The cool start to the morning quickly gave way to blistering heat and muggy humid air. We made a quick spin up River Road to the Foothills Parkway to start the ride. 11 miles up to Look Rock and I was pouring sweat in the first 3. I was well aware this would be a long day and a big ride. And chasing some of Knoxville's most accomplished endurance riders up the Parkway was a humbling experience at the beginning of a long ride.
Crossing over the top of the world and down onto 129, we moved headlong into the tail of the dragon. We followed the curviest road in America to the state line.
We turned into the woods on Parsons Branch, and climbed along the running creek on un-maintained mountain service roads. The long ascent over the ridge gave way to fast run through the mountains dropping into Cades Cove. From peaceful mountain outdoor adventure to the circus of vacationers with lawn chairs in the truck beds driving 5 mph through the once pristine cove. I turned into an alley cat racer, passing cars in tight narrow roads dodging parked cars in the middle of the road because of families taking pictures of squirrels or whatever wildlife they could scare up. We sprinted around the loop to the final climb up Rich Mountain. I felt good considering the length of the trek, and made the push to the top in a quick hour. The final descent was a burner. We finished in less than 5 hours of ride time, 64 miles.