Tuesday was a tough day as we got our first real taste of the Eastern Continental Divide. We rode a measly 64 miles but it felt like a century because of the 15 miles uphill stretch from Lake Lure through Chimney Rock to Fairview at 2880 ft up in the sky. The people on this mountain were super friendly and I definitely want to go back (in a car)!

We got to REI in Arden which is about 10 miles south of Asheville around 6 pm and had our bikes worked on. Shane went on ahead to Asheville to chill with the locals. Dave and I arrived in town about 9pm at the Wayside Bar and Grill where my friend from college James was eating dinner. It’s a cool spot that used to be a train station next to the Biltmore Estate. Apparently that’s the richest privately owned home in the country and I believe it because even the McDonalds across the street had a piano in it.

It was so good to catch up my an old friend and we also met some cool locals. One guy even offered up his floor for us. His name was Jingle Jangle so we decided to ride 2.5 miles in the opposite direction of town tonstart with our very rad hosts who are friends of my good friend Color Collage. He used to be in a band with this nice people so they let us take over their home for the night.

One of them manages a band called Holy Ghost Tent Revival and the other sings backup. If we weren’t on a mission to Nashville by Saturday we would take a detour to Bristol for this three day music festival and where they are playing all weekend!

All in all it was a good day. We saw amazing views of the mountains and Lake Lure was my highlight.

Day 16 – Time to climb more mountains!