Day 5

Well we got to do some riding today around Raleigh. We rode at the Beaverdam recreation area, some pretty sweet trails there that we had fun on. The trails were near the lake, so again not a lot of big climbs, but more up and down with a few 4ish minute climbs as the longest ones. We did about 11 miles, then I went out and did the 3.5 mile loop by myself. Had some fun messing with some locals, :). Anyways, it was a good day, we just did some relaxing and the riding so it was a nice midweek day.

Day 4 - Snow!.

We got snowed on today! We went to see Raine's cousin at her college, Montreat College in Montreat, NC. It is up in the mountains a bit, and a really pretty town. It started snowing right when we got there. We went and had lunch, and by that time it was snowing pretty good. So that was cool. I didn't get to ride Pisgah today, it was really cold and wet and supposed to snow there so we decided to skip it. We tried to hit another trail on the way to Raleigh, but it was closed when we got there. :( So we're gonna ride around here tomorrow. See ya then.

Day 3

We slept in a little this morning and then cooked some breakfast. Yum. It was cold and a little damp today but we got dressed for a hike and headed out.

The Mountains to Sea Trail runs right behind the cabins so we picked it up headed East. This trail runs along the Blue Ridge Parkway and is really nice. We hiked for about an hour total and it started raining on us a bit as we headed back to the cabin. We had some lunch and hung around the cabin for a while until I had to get out. It was still a bit sprinkly and in the low 40s but I bundled up and headed out on the bike.

I rode up to the trail and headed West. The trail was awesome on the bike with good flow going up and down. I was following pretty closely to the Parkway, going on it a few times for road crossings. I rode for about a half hour until I saw a no bikes sign so i turned around and headed back.

I passed the cabins and headed the way we'd hiked earlier. After about a mile going that way I met a runner who informed me that this trail was closed to bikes, hiking only. Oooops!! There weren't any signs saying no bikes except for the one where I'd turned around(assuming it was that section only). Oh well. It was a sweet ride on some sweet trail.

Tonight we're going out for BBQ with Raine's cousin. Gotta get BBQ up here!! I'm gonna hit the hot tub again after dinner. Then tomorrow hopefully I'll get to ride Bent Creek in Pisgah National Forest before we head out to Raleigh. See ya then.

Day 2-Tsali

This was the scene this morning outside our cabin at the noc. 33 degrees and the Forester perched on the side of the hill. We slept in a little and then had breakfast beside the Nantahala river. We headed out to ride Tsali and saw some awesome views of lake Fontana.

I didn't get any pictures on the trail but this was just up the road. The trail followed the edge of the lake a lot and then back into the woods. There was a fair amount of climbing but not a whole lot since it followed the contours of the shoreline. It was a good ride, Raine did really good. I had a flat so that sucked but other than that it was great. The weather was beautiful, mid 50s with lots of sunshine. Then we came on to Asheville and checked into our cabin. A good dinner and the hot tub capped off a great day.

Vacation

This is Tennessee. Or North Carolina. Or Georgia. Doesn't really matter. It's what i'll be seeing for the next week! We're finally off on our next vacation, riding bikes all over NC. Tonight we're staying at the Nantahala Outdoor Center. We'll be riding Tsali tomorrow, then riding around Asheville for a couple of days, then heading to Raleigh to do Thanksgiving with some family and do some riding there. This is the first vacation We've been on since Colorado last year so we're really excited. I'll try to make a short entry every day and a big one when we get home. I obviously haven't blogged in quite a while, been too busy!