Riding in the Soup

Very Poor Visibility

The Smoky Mountains of Tennessee are aptly named.  They often appear to have smoke arising from the sides of the mountains and the valleys in between.  It appears to be mostly fog in the mornings and other times during the day when the temperature and humidity are right.
We often have some fog early in the mornings here between Spring City and Dayton TN, but this morning it was truly THICK.  I started riding late, about eight, and the fog was still so thick I didn't even slather any sunscreen on and just rolled up my pants legs to the knee and socks down to the ankles (i.e. RedNeck Spandex) and took off.  Not only did the fog not clear up;  it actually got thicker, to the point I could hardly see 50 feet in front of me.  My glasses fogged up to the point I had to stop and wipe them several times to clear up my vision.  But no sunburn occurred.  Just a nice ride.
So far I'm fairly impressed with Tennessee drivers.  There aren't that many cyclists around;  I've only seen one actually riding besides me.  There are obviously others but our schedules have not overlapped to the point to where I've encountered more than just the one.  In spite of the seeming lack of cyclists around, invariably the vehicle drivers I encounter give me more than enough room as they pass by, and they often give me a friendly "Toot" on the horn as they pass.  Even on the 4-lane divided Highway 27 with extra wide shoulders, they normally pull into the left lane as they pass me and then come back to the far right lane after they pass, with plenty of clearance.  Nice guys.
I also, while pedaling along and breathing heavily, enjoyed a lengthy ham radio conversation with Henry, KC4IJO.  Also have established temporarily radio friendships with John  N4AOW and others.

Ride Started: 7:52 AM    Ride Ended:  9:23 AM
Beginning Blood Glucose:  141   Ending BG: 150
(No breakfast;  insulin pump basal rate cut back to 90% for this ride)
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  11.5 
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed  
8.1 MPH                                 9.1 MPH                     17.0 MPH 
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time 
1 hour 25 mins                       1 hour 18 mins               9 minutes