After the torrential rain and flooding of the previous weekend, the weather stayed bluebird and perfect. Spring in TN is almost as amazing as Fall in TN. Crisp sunny days, not a lot of bugs, and great water. Having traveled the last weekend, it was going to be nice to have a quiet weekend at home. The shop has been flooded (literally and figuratively) and an epic adventure would be the perfect ticket to refresh mind, body, and soul. Luckily my wanderlust has found a apt partner in Kenny. We’d been talking of doing a bike to paddle ride for quite some time, but life just hadn’t allowed the stars to align. That is until last Sunday.
Kenny swung by the shop early Saturday morning just before the storm of Saturday customers hit and we roughly crafted a route to the river. He later tweaked it and sent me an updated version Saturday night that I loaded up on my Wahoo Sunday morning just as he was pulling into the driveway. The plan was to head out of town, ride some quiet lanes to gravel, put in on Spring Creek and paddle to the boils on the Roaring River, pack up and ride some gravel and country roads home. About a 35ish mile ride with a 5-6 mile paddle in the middle. No shuttle required.
We wove our way from my place on roads I never even knew existed. Previously anything Northeast of my house has been pretty much off limits to cycling due to insane amounts of traffic, narrow twisty roads, no shoulder, rumble strips, and poor visibility. Yet Kenny had mapped out some of the hilliest, quietest, prettiest roads I’ve yet ridden so close to home. In less than 3 miles we were winding our way on quiet country lanes and taking in views of the ridge. The paved lanes wound round and eventually turned to gravel.
The gravel road eventually parallels the river and we stopped at the first put in. The river was flowing solid with some ripples, rapids, and strainers to contend with, but beautifully clear turquoise water. We quickly set about unpacking and inflating the boats and assembling our paddles. Bikes and gear strapped down, we began the next phase of the days’ adventure. One of the “pro’s” for moving back to TN was the proximity and access to so many rivers. I’d been unable to procure my packraft until I was living in Colorado, which I used it frequently, but the ability to ride and paddle multiple rivers was harder to coordinate without requiring much more planning and driving. The packraft is at home in TN and there are myriad trips dreamt up already, especially now that Kenny also has one he snagged from the Outdoor Experience.
The river provided us with fresh perspectives of roads ridden. Cabins and homes hidden from the road were in full view from the river. Recent flood victims of toys, trailers, tents, sheds, clothing, and other debris littered the banks and gave an oft eerie vibe. Parts of the river were moving fast and others full of wide slow eddies and wind hampering forward progress. Midway we ran into a downed tree causing a river wide strainer. I got stuck on the rocks and in the branches leaving poor Kenny the bad line and washing him directly into the strainer. Boat capsized, him trying to climb up, boat and bike stuck in the tree it was a harrowing few minutes but we were able to get Kenny and gear back to safety. A reminder of how even what seems the most mundane tasks can quickly take a turn for the worse. We’d just been discussing needing to acquire a throw bag shortly before too.
Shortly before we reached the boils along the Roaring river, we stopped at a rocky beach with access to a gravel road to get us back to Blackburn Fork for our route home. We deflated our boats, broke down the paddles, and strapped everything back up to the bikes. A feat which I never do exactly the same but somehow always end up with a tighter and better pack that previous attempts. My whole setup is under 5lbs and so easy to carry either by bike, backpack, or car. I’ve hiked it up to glacial mountain lakes, stopped on cross country car trips to get a paddle in, and ridden with it stuffed into a messenger bag on bike paths along rivers for a shuttle-less happy hour river run. I can inflate it in under a minute and a half, and have it broken down in under 5 minutes. Pretty cool gear and a hobby inspired in 2008 by friend and fellow bike adventurer Eric Parsons of Revelate Designs fame.
Arriving home I was cooked. It’d been an amazing day on the bike and on the river. We lucked out on with amazing weather, a perfect route, and an experience to fuel us throughout the workweek until we can get out and play again. The upper Cumberland is a pretty unique area. It hosts beautiful waterfalls, myriad rivers, and incredible riding opportunities. A bit of imagination, some decent gear, and a buddy to adventure with is all one needs to reap the riches that await.