The four of us started out on a lovely route that took us through rolling farmland and along a ridge with a beautiful view of the mountains. It wasn't advertised as a very hilly ride but it was almost 2000' of climbing.
Pictures from a phone never capture the grandeur of the scenery.
Mike wanted a picture of this church and he was having issues with his phone so I took the picture of it.
Mike suggested staging a picture from this spot. Here it is.
There were a lot of churches on all of the rides throughout the week. I wish I had taken a few more pictures of them but I would have had to do it while riding since we weren't stopping often. Today we saw a lot of lawn signs that said: "Thank you Jesus." Yes, it should have a comma.
Here's a picture of Stu and me on the ridge road.
At one point, we were pretty spread out. Mike and Walter were ahead of Stu and me. We were in an area I would describe as exurbia, probably a 20-minute commute to Asheville, still countryside but with a lot of construction of subdivisions of houses that would probably look pretty much alike. About 30 yards ahead of me, a large black animal tumbled out of the brush. As cyclists, the first we think of is "dog on the loose". I thought it was a really big and really clumsy Newfie. It lumbered across the street and into the brush on the left. Unfortunately, I didn't have my Virb action camera on the handlebars and running as proof.
We ended up in a little town called Weaverville where we had lunch.
Morning stats: https://www.strava.com/activities/2410176284
One of the things that makes Backroads different from VBT is that there is a lot more included in the price of the trip. Today's lunch was covered regardless of what we ordered. Yesterday's stop at the end of the ride at The Hub included a beverage of our choice on Backroads. Dinner at any of the Biltmore Estate restaurants last night was covered. VBT includes fewer meals but they do include airfare where Backroads does not.
I decided to do the Ox Creek climb so I loaded up on Clif bars, blocks, and gels and got an order of food "to go" that the guides brought to the end of the climb for me. Kayla asked me if she wanted me to try to convince Haven to ride with me and I felt it would be easier if I rode alone. (Haven was a professional tri-athlete in a former life and was on the US Olympic team, so I would have burned myself up trying to ride at a speed I thought he would expect me to ride rather than to ride at my own pace ) So I started out alone while everyone else was having lunch and it was just a little weird.
I started out on about six miles of flat road and took a right onto Ox Creek road. I texted this picture to Mike so he would know I was still alive.
About a mile up Ox Creek, the Backroads van passed me with the first batch of riders who had completed lunch. They would be delivered to the top of the climb and begin riding back to the Biltmore. Mike, Stu, and Walter were in this group. The plan was for me to meet them at the top but there were going to arrive at the meeting spot long before I got there.
The climb up Ox Creek empties out onto the Blue Ridge Parkway. This is what we were looking forward to on today's ride.
I don't have any pictures of the climb since I couldn't take my hands off the handlebars. But it was a fun ride and Haven was waiting alone at a turn-out on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The riders from the first van had already left.
I rode down the parkway to the Folk Art Museum, the next meeting point, and most of those riders had left except Walter. I decided to call it a day so Walter set out to try to catch the others. I took the van with Garrett and my lunch back to the hotel.
Here are the stats from my afternoon ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/2410082353
Totals from both segments: 38.40 miles, 3480' of climbing
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