Fuller Ride: Nashville

Sunday – Arrival in Nashville

When I connected with the bike ride in Nashville, I felt like I was joining a military unit that had just been through a tough battle and taken many casualties.

Here are some of the things that happened over the last two weeks before I got here:

• Five people have left the ride due to COVID. Three because they tested positive, two because they just were concerned with the risk. That was about a third of the group. The first person that got COVID actually quarantined for some days and then rejoined the ride because he had come from England for the ride. So he was undeterred and has come back.
• One of the riders pulled off the road to a scenic overlook for a bio break. He saw a single car in the parking lot and for some reason was moved to go and look at the car more closely and discovered that inside the car was the dead body of 25 or so year young man. It looked like it was either a drug overdose or a suicide.
• Then, even as I arrived there were issues. The the ride leader, apparently had been frustrated with one of the support people who volunteered to help with the ride. She was the “communications assistant, responsible for posting to social media and drawing media attention to the ride in the towns we visit. Apparently she was a bit of a free spirit and didn’t always comply with the rules and traditions of the Fuller Center ride. The ride leader, a young woman of about 23, had been growing frustrated over the past two weeks. The dealbreaker had to do with COVID. The Nashville church had asked that all riders be tested before entering the facility. The communications assistant apparently disregarded that mandate and entered the church without a test. And that was the last straw. So, one of the things I witnessed upon arrival was the communications assistant getting fired, which was awkward. Guess who the new communications assistant is? Right, your faithful chronicler.
• So, in compliance with the church’s request, we all began taking our tests and most (key word: most) came in negative. Unfortunately, one of the drivers, who actually brought one of the vehicles to help with the rest stops and other things, tested positive. So he and his wife who had joined the ride only a couple of days ago to help with the support tasks had to leave and take their car with them. So we’re down to the one van as a support vehicle. Doable, but not ideal.

It is not the typical way I’ve joined these rides. Yet, through such adversity, the group seems to have bonded and it’s a good group. I’m getting myself acclimated at here at the Scenic View Baptist Church in Nashville.

Last night, a group of us took a walk to a nearby tavern described in the Yelp review as “a wood paneled dive.” We had a very nice time drinking IPA beers and, for a couple of the riders (not me), bourbon. But it was a good way to get acquainted with some of the riders, one of whom I know well, but the others I did not. I was very entertained by the rider from England who apparently is the son of a sound engineer who worked with the Who on the movie, Tommy, and got pretty well acquainted with all the members of the band. He regaled us with stories of Keith Moon, Pete Townsend and the other members of the Who. He also encountered Elton John, Ann Margaret and some of the other stars in that movie and that was very entertaining.

So here it is Sunday morning. We’ve been asked not to join the church service due to our COVID exposure and the fact that the congregation at this church is apparently leans to the elderly. So I found a Catholic church nearby and will probably attend the 830 mass and have today to continue to get myself acclimated.

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