Today's adventure was a 107 mile journey from Asheville, North Carolina, to Boone, North Carolina. With the exception of a side trip up Mount Mitchell and the last 5 miles coming in to Boone the whole day was spent on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The first couple of hours were very cool and there was a lot of fog both in the valleys and on the mountain peaks. So we ended up riding between the two layers, which was fun. I decided to do the optional side trip up Mount Mitchell, the highest point in the Eastern United States. By the time I got to the top the fog high up had burned off and there was just fog in the valleys far below. I was really glad I did it as the views were amazing.
We also had a good view of Grandfather Mountain and Linville Viaduct which is a spectacular curved bridge high in the air. This section of the Parkway was the last to be completed because of the difficulty building it. Riding across it was a lot of fun.
Today was the now normal mix of 8 mph climbs followed by 40 mph descents. The road surface was not quite as smooth as yesterday but still pretty good. There were a few tunnels but they were short and fast.
The cool weather has made this ride a lot easier. In hot weather the climbs would be baking hot and you would have no air movement as you slowly climbed. On the flip side, much cooler and I think the really fast descents would be pretty cold.
Tomorrow is back on the Parkway headed to a new state, Virginia. At some point later down the road when I don't have as much to report I'll tell you more about the inner workings of Pactour. It's a finally oiled machine that thinks of everything.
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