Sevierville to Asheville, North Carolina - 90 miles and our second last state!
An absolutely beautiful ride across the Smoky Mountains and alongside the French Broad River. For the first time on the trip, Jeff, Joseph and I were actually the first ones to leave the hotel, along with Karl and Bill. It was freezing cold and very foggy, but we persevered and it soon warmed up as the sun rose and broke through. Once we could see where we were, it was beautiful, and we rode at a pretty sedate pace for the 50 some miles before lunch. Post lunch, it was time to climb. For the first time, I forgot about the rule of energy conservation and just rode the climbs the way I would ride Mt. Tam - and Jeff and I left the group behind pretty quickly. We knew it was only a question of time until Joseph caught us on the more level road alongside the French Broad River, as he had a Boys and Girls Club reception waiting for him (including his son) in the hotel parking lot. Once we were reunited we headed into Asheville as fast as our legs and the need to absorb the great scenery would allow.
Asheville is great, and we had a very nice dinner with Bill and his wife Susan, who have a second home here. Wish this was a rest day as I'd love to spend a bit more time here. We're now down to three serious ride days left (80, 100 and 109 miles) before our short 32 mile ride into Charleston and the Atlantic Ocean.
We might actually make it!
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