Nail, hammer, wheel, derailleur

A brief summary of Tennesee thus far:

Maryville: Building was incredibly hot but fun. Michelle, Maggie and I spent most of the day mixing stucco and drinking tea. Well, I mostly drank the tea. I have usually been opposed the idea and consumption of sweet tea for most of my life, but this tea was amazing. Probably because it was acutal tea and not just sugar with a little brown water like you find at a Bojangles, a popular and reputable eating establishment found on every corner in Charlotte,
NC ( Mom's favorite).

Sweetwater:
A short ride, consisted of coasting-contest with Dan Carmody (I win, naturally), and quizzing Devon on what cartoons have been made into live action movies.
Ben Ryan's mom bought us Pizza Hut after which we ate ice cream at A&W/Long John Silver
s next door. Apparently Long John Silvers has Wifi? yes. So Emily Pedneau and I forced our fellow riders into a viewing of "Bet on It." They are all better people for it.

Dunlap:
29 people oversleep. How is this possible? No one is quite sure. Dave did not oversleep. He later admitted that for the hour that we were still in bed he went into the weight room at 5am to pass the time. so amazing.
The ride was intensely hot and there was huge climb after lunch. We all got somewhat dispersed--namely Scott passed me going up. I am pretty sure his bones are hollow or something like a weird little bird. A man in a pickup saw us at the top. He offered some water and told that it was 98 with a heat index of ten. I would tell you what he looked like but my vision was blurry from my own sweat pouring in my eyes. That was gross and likely too graphic.
Also that day: Cole hit a dog. We think the dog is fine.
Michelle bought Dan Thomas and I a carrot cake from a local store. It was a symbol of love and friendship and was to pacify our constant desire for Carrot Cake Clif Bars.

Sewanee:

DAUS MOUNTAIN. The moral of this story: if you don't drink gatorade, you won't just be thirsty-- you will die.
I actually don't want to discuss Daus Mountain in detail. If you want a better description I would suggest jumping to other riders' blogs. Mostly because I can't really remember it. I came to at lunch time. All I can recall is blinking a few times and waking up with some pretzel sticks in my hand and some peanut butter on side of my face. I was in the grass and there were a two empty water bottle next to me with remaining orange gatorade residue.
We camped outside Sewanee: The University of the South. It was a delightful place, and I was happy that gatorade was invented to that I could enjoy it.

Pulaski:
A group descent out of Sewanee followed by bagels and coffee at mile 20. Somewhere between bagels and lunch there were a few moments of insanity which involved a lot of spontaneous songs, mostly disney. Post-first lunch, Dan Carmody and I racing on the flats, trying to hold 27 mph, then failing subsquently each time we tried again. Mile 75, ice cream at a BP. The precious fuel of frozen dairy. Mile 78, flat tire.
Dinner was at the mayor's house. How did this amazing event transpire? Again, no one is quite sure, it was fantastic.

Adamsville:
All sense time had begun to dissolve at this point. We wake up, and no one is quite sure what time it is... I guess it is usually 5am. Then we bike, then we eat, bike, eat, bike, eat in that order.
On our way to Adamsville, we are delighted to see that Ben had found a great spot for first lunch ( two lunch on 90+ mile days). We are also delighted at the surplus of potluck food from the night before. Maggie and I had some feta-olive pasta. She also suggests a pork sandwich with hot sauce too. "Good idea, Maggie!" As I take my final bite and finish my delcious sandwich I happen to only now look at my watch. 9am. Truly vile.
We also chalked the road for Samuel's birthday. We were afraid that Samuel might catch up with us and see his birthday message before completion, but as some other riders pulled up and told us got a flat tire. We all cheered. Poor Samuel.
On a less pleasant note, Dan Carmody took a spill. But was fine only with scratches. I tried to help by trying to true his wheel. I failed miserably. But Dan was fine, in fact, he later raced ahead of us and left us coughing in his dust with low self-esteem.

And finally short tale of Patrick Mallory and his flat tire:

Once a upon a time Patrick Mallory got a flat tire. Many of his friends stopped to help him. He gave them a replacement tube to put in the tire. They pumped up this tube, but would not get over 90psi. Weird, Patrick, we have been puming this tube for little over a half hour. Oh well, let's go.
Patrick sits on bike.
Tire pops again.
Patrick gave his friends a tube with a hole in it, apparently.
Patrick's friends are no longer his friends.
The end.