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Josh

"Well, shit."

That's what I said to myself when I went outside to get the SAG truck ready this morning. I first noted that our gas cap was open and then I realized that someone had stolen gas from us overnight. I checked the back of the truck and then noticed that our brand new Coleman shade canopy had been stolen too. It had been out with some other things to dry off and air out overnight. Shame on me for not securing it properly, and shame on the thief for being a despicable human. I tried to shrug it off and I recalled a saying from my time in the Army, though it certainly didn't apply in this situation: "there's only one thief in the Army, everyone else is just trying to get their shit back.''

Right before we pushed off I said to Danielle that if this is the worst thing that happens to us today, then we're doing pretty good.

The morning started off with my kind of weather, dry mid to high 50's. The rest day had rejuvenated the legs quite a bit and the miles and climbing started ticking off pretty quickly. I was feeling really good but had to remember to continue to throttle-down my effort as the 'high mountains' are still to come in the next few days.

We hit our first major descent and started to see more 'road closure' signs as we crossed 421 near Boone. The detour would've taken us down a  busy 4 lane highway. The barrier gate was open, so George and I decided to risk going on the closed road and ignored the warning of  '6 months in jail or $5,000 fine' indicated by the sign if we were caught. Well, we got about 100 yards up the road and the construction crew was there and basically said, "yeah-naw that ain't gonna work mate'' as literally half the road was washed away. So we ended up turning back and we happened to hit the highway descent just right and really had no traffic come by us. We reconnected with the parkway and met Madeleine, Danielle, and AB for a quick refueling complete with genuine, bonafide-original, freshly baked Stick-Boy pastries. BEST.SAG.EVER.

We climbed a quick 4 miler near Grandfather Mtn and the Lynn Cove Viaduct. It was gorgeous and at one point came around a bend and saw a picturesque sight that included this huge shear rock face over looking the viaduct. We had lunch and then we rode back across the viaduct to try and get some drone footage. Unfortunately, the traffic was actually quite heavy and I was really concerned that flying it too low, to get the great panoramic shots of the valley thousands of feet below, would risk hitting approaching cars and motorcyclists. 

We all went our separate ways with Team Mom/AB hitting up the Grandfather Mountain zoo and bridge, Madeleine going on a long hike, and George and I heading to Little Switzerland. We made good timing. The innkeeper somehow knew me by name and offered to get us checked in early and make breakfast for us in the AM. 

Today by the numbers: 

Wildlife: Deer, adult, 1. Ground hog, road killed, 1. Cat, American short hair, road killed, 1.

Calories: 3319 kcal

Food Consumed: half of a WJ Slice cheese pizza slice (the Ledos is finally done). PBJ, 1. Mini Cheetos bag, 1. Juice, pickle, 4. Coke, cherry, 1. PB cup, Reeses, 2.

Normalized Power: 248 watts

Fellow Cyclist: 4, all north bound. 

Max Speed: 48.9 mph, average speed 15.9 mph

Amount of time stopped at a construction 'red light' on the parkway: 4 minutes

Ride Time: 4:35:27

License Plate Situation:

USA: We added Iowa, South Dakota, and Mississippi today, woo!

Thus far we have seen: Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina,  Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, PA, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Colorado, Texas, Kentucky, Montana,  Utah, California, Nevada, Alabama, Washington State, Washington DC, Oregon, Rhode Island,  Iowa, South Dakota, and Mississippi.

No signs of Canada, America's hat, today. Thus far we have seen Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia, and Quebec, salut.

We are staying in Little Switzerland tonight, but no signs of the famed Swiss HD riders. I suspect by this time they are much further down the parkway.

George

I'm not going to jinx myself by thinking of actually finishing this ride in the next couple days, but speaking strictly of today I felt the strongest I've been on a bicycle in a long time.  Lots of things played into that:  

• First of all, yesterday's rest day effectively erased the shoulder and neck pain I've had since stage 1.  
• Next, the weather was cool, dry and sunny; the kind of day in which I just didn't sweat despite pushing harder than I did over the last couple rides.  
• There was also a pretty good tailwind it felt like, though every time I brought it up Josh reprimanded me and said "There is never a tailwind in cycling.  You're just having a good day!"  
• Danielle's Stick Boy Bakery run to Boone was right on time!  Arriving at SAG stop 1 and seeing that cinnamon roll through the cellophane of the brown cardboard box was even better than the tailwind, er, good day I was having.
• My bike derailleur adjustments were pristine and the chain stayed on the gears where it belonged.  No more stopping and kneeling in the grass getting my hands, gloves and clothes greasy in a tug-of-war match with the sharp teeth on the front chainrings.
• The scenery today was the best yet, with sweeping views throughout.  It was spiritual to look at panoramas 50 miles or so deep and fully understand the naming of these "Blue Ridge" Mountains. Inspiring.

But like I said yesterday, it wasn't all cupcakes and unicorns:

• We hit another detour, though in the end it wasn't a big deal.  But it's no fun to have to get off the BRP not knowing exactly when you'll be getting back on.
• There was a temporary stoplight erected on the BRP.  Of course it was in the middle of a screaming fast descent too.  I was at the front of the traffic jam and couldn't see what we were waiting on.  After 5 minutes it went from red to green and around the bend I saw a bunch of still warm asphalt kernels all over the road. My tires were coated in them and as my speed picked back up the little black shards shot up into my neck, arms and face until I stopped to clean them off with my gloves.
• My daughter has been super-sagging for us, but was given the afternoon off to go and find a hike to do (proud dad moment- she bagged the Strava hiking QOM for the Profile Trail on Grandfather Mountain.)  However, I forgot to move my suitcase over to the Henderson's truck so I had to sit around the motel room naked with Rx sunglasses on for 5.5 hours waiting for her to get back after my ride!
• As I crested one 15 minute climb with unusually high speed and excitement I encountered an older fellow with a walking stick hiking slowly along the road.  He must have been impressed by my energy and as I was coming into earshot began, "Enjoy being young because when you get older..." About that time I had pulled even with him and he got a good look at me, then finished the sentence abruptly by saying, "Oh... you are old!"  I think I'll be shaving my white whiskers away soon.

Well, I'd better get to bed.  I sure hope today's good form stays with me, especially as we have Mount Mitchell coming up tomorrow.  As we sat on the balcony of tonght's motel, the Skyline Village Inn, we admired the tall mountains in front of us.  I pulled out the PeakFinder app on my phone that identifies mountains by name and height.  The tallest one of all was only 3,600 feet.  Mount Mitchell is 3k feet taller and will take most of 30 miles to ascend. Stay tuned for that recounting tomorrow.