The Domestique was a nice place for cyclists. Besides the obvious cycling theme, everything was set up with cyclists in mind. (Oddly, there is no elevator, so the second floor is not accessible. If cyclists are coming, you would assume you don't need an elevator but I am not sure how they get away with that in terms of ADA laws.)
There is a room on each floor with snacks, including little bags of Scratch, my preferred sport drink, a mini-fridge with complimentary water, soft drinks and wine!
There are pictures of him everywhere. I suppose it's his hotel and he can do what he wants but it's a little self-indulging. I suppose if you are to become an elite athlete (or elite anything), you have to love yourself a little. Moreover, he was friends with Lance so that probably explains some of this.
The multi-purpose room has two Pelotons (in case you didn't get enough riding) and this is where they held yesterday's yoga class. This picture below plus the second portrait (above) were on the walls.
Here is the view off the balcony where we had dinner last night.
In case you're thinking about going to the Domestique sometime, rooms go for $399-$499/night. Plus you're not likely to actually meet Hincapie. I bought his book, The Loyal Lieutenant hoping I could get him to sign it but, duh, he doesn't live there.
Sidenote: the book is like many books where a celebrity tells his story and a co-author actually does the writing. Spoiler alert: it's not very good writing.
As always, there were multiple options for today's ride. We had our sights on a route that included a climb to Caesars Head. The route would be 40 miles and 4000' of climbing.
We started at the hotel and rode into North Carolina. We also crossed the eastern continental divide. (I didn't know there was a such a thing.)
We met the support vehicles at the base of the climb. None of the other members of the group chose to do this segment. Instead, they rode to the bottom of the climb and the guides drove them to the top. They cheered us on when they passed us in the van. Very nice.
Here we are at the start of the climb. Mike was ahead so he didn't get into this picture.
The climb was long but not terribly steep. We have 11-34 cassettes on the back and a 50-34 chainring so it was just a question of grinding away. I would stand every once in a while but only because my butt was sore and my back would stiffen up.
Here's the view from the top. It's a state park and there was a nice observation deck. Again, I have a picture of me with the same background, but why ruin the picture?
We rode off the mountain and on to a farm that Backroads had rented for lunch. This is some of what they prepared for us.
And here's a picture of them. They are: Haven, Garrett and Kayla. We couldn't keep the guys straight so we called them Gaven or Harrett.
There was a segment following lunch but I had pretty much made up my mind that I didn't want to eat and then ride. Sorry guys.
But it was fun to watch the other riders as we passed them in the van.
We drove to the meeting place and caravanned to the Biltmore.
More on the Biltmore tomorrow after we take the tour.
Here are the stats for the day: https://www.strava.com/activities/2407446369
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