Cades Cove bike ride-11miles

Last Saturday this Lonas clan ventured out w/another family to ride the Cades Cove loop (in Townsend, Great Smokey Mtns) on our bikes.The loop is right at 11 miles long, so as you can imagine, this was no small feat for me!! We went w/the Keeble family (Jason, Deidre, Kailey and Ty; we were missing their eldest, Calvin), but they were so supportive and very helpful as to what it takes to ride this trail w/endurance and of course, enough rest stops (looking back, Im thinking those were meant MOSTLY for me, but we'll just say EVERYONE needed it..lol)...We started off, it was a BEAUTIFUL morning, not too hot yet, just perfect...Now, to recap, there was probably about 10 of us, cuz remember we both have pretty big families, so we had to pace ourselves....The loop has many uphills and downhills, but very equal, so everytime you were pushing yourself, struggling to get uphill, you knew in the back of your mind, there was ALWAYS a downhill waiting for you somewhere...thats what saved me..ha ha...So, were going at a pretty good pace, on our bikes, and then about a 1 1/2 miles into it, I hear Jake crying..Now, this is not a sound you want to hear about 100 ft in front you, and not able to see..He wrecked, and it was not pretty, according to my husband, he couldnt control his speed going down a BIG hill, and apprantly wiped out, flipping off his bike about 4 or 5 times...Well, a few crocodile tears and a couple bandages later, we were back to the trail..I have to admit, I was getting tired by the 8th mile, then miraculously my 2nd wind kicked in...By that mile, we ran into a park ranger who said there was a black bear not too far ahead of us, that was spotted...We never did see the bear, but we saw several deer, one of which , was right next to my friend Deidre...All in all, we finished the whole 11 miles...And did I mention, my kids did it too!! They were such troopers....Glory be to God, we have this kind of blessing to look at everyday, in our little East Tennessee dwelling...It was a GREAT day!!