Shins or Chins
Which is worse the Ozarks or Appalachians? But before we can answer this we need to clarify how you pronounced that last word. Did you say it with a “sh” or a “ch”? Growing up in the Midwest I always heard “Appala-shins.” But in talking to my friend who is going to school out here we learned to say it like “I threw an apple-at-chya.” So “chins” and not “shins” is the way to be incognito.
Now back to the question at hand. I like the western mountain grades at 5-7%, with the long up but therefore long down. The Ozark hills can get steep, one we swear was 15%, but they are also super short. At first I thought the Appalachians were the better of the two. But then I met this one hill that was between me and camp. This hill was a beast; well I guess it’s a mountain, but they are so different from the ones out west. A local said she didn’t understand why they routed us on that one lane road that was used in the ‘30s. I would like to know too. You can’t enjoy the down hills out here either. The roads are steep and too twisty to gain any kind of speed. We met one guy who took a corner at about 30 and wrecked, nothing major, just some soar muscles and road rash. We end up just riding the breaks the whole way down. Thus I’ve decided that the Appalachians are the worst terrain of the whole TransAm.
We had our 8th rain day today. We’ve had three of them in a row and another forecasted for tomorrow. But we only have 10 days left! We’ll be in Yorktown on July 16th , where my parents will pick us up and drive us and our gear back. Thank you mom and dad for saving us the hassle, pain, and expense of trying to ship our bikes back.
Jake Report:
In lieu of taking a rest day we opted for a short half day.
Miles: 34.5, time on bike: 3h 27m, average: 9.9, weather: rain and sun
Which is worse the Ozarks or Appalachians? But before we can answer this we need to clarify how you pronounced that last word. Did you say it with a “sh” or a “ch”? Growing up in the Midwest I always heard “Appala-shins.” But in talking to my friend who is going to school out here we learned to say it like “I threw an apple-at-chya.” So “chins” and not “shins” is the way to be incognito.
Now back to the question at hand. I like the western mountain grades at 5-7%, with the long up but therefore long down. The Ozark hills can get steep, one we swear was 15%, but they are also super short. At first I thought the Appalachians were the better of the two. But then I met this one hill that was between me and camp. This hill was a beast; well I guess it’s a mountain, but they are so different from the ones out west. A local said she didn’t understand why they routed us on that one lane road that was used in the ‘30s. I would like to know too. You can’t enjoy the down hills out here either. The roads are steep and too twisty to gain any kind of speed. We met one guy who took a corner at about 30 and wrecked, nothing major, just some soar muscles and road rash. We end up just riding the breaks the whole way down. Thus I’ve decided that the Appalachians are the worst terrain of the whole TransAm.
We had our 8th rain day today. We’ve had three of them in a row and another forecasted for tomorrow. But we only have 10 days left! We’ll be in Yorktown on July 16th , where my parents will pick us up and drive us and our gear back. Thank you mom and dad for saving us the hassle, pain, and expense of trying to ship our bikes back.
Jake Report:
In lieu of taking a rest day we opted for a short half day.
Miles: 34.5, time on bike: 3h 27m, average: 9.9, weather: rain and sun