Mount Mitchell

After a well deserved lunch and a leisurely exploration of Asheville which included a trip to the local bike shop as well as an outdoor gear shop to stock up on some camping supplies, we headed out of town on Town Mountain Road. As soon as you turn onto this lovely road, the pitch kicks up and never really drops for the next 20 or so miles. It was pretty unbelievable. Dense woods and lots of switchbacks and steady climbing took us to our camp spot for the night. As soon as we picked out where we would camp the fog ominously rolled in. It was a dense, gray fog apparently pretty characteristic of the Great Smokey Mountains we were on top of. The lightning, which continued to crackle in the distance got closer and closer as we wisely chose to sleep under a canopy in a nearby deserted picnic area. The rain came down throughout the night, but I slept well and awoke refreshed and ready to tackle Mount Mitchell.
As we rolled out of the campground and down the treacherous switchbacks which were slick with runoff from the previous night's rain, I marveled at how similar this section of the Blue Ridge Parkway was to some climbs I'd done in Europe a couple of years earlier. Amazing views, beautiful pavement and leg-breaking climbing characterized the next four and a half hours on the bike. Due to a bit of construction on a small portion of the Parkway, the road was blocked off to traffic and we were treated to an amazing ride devoid of any cars at all. It was like they had completely shut down the road for us.
No part of the climb is particularly steep, but it is tortuously long and steady climbing with no stretches to let the legs recover and the burn to subside. We went through a few tunnels which further reinforced the Europe comparisons, and then finally we reached the Mount Mitchell State Park. After that it was only a couple of more miles up to the summit and the waiting tifosi.
After a few minutes snapping pics at the elevation marker at the summit it was back down the mountain to the car and then back to town for a good lunch and the local pizza spot and then back on the road and headed north.
The next five hours ended up being the hardest section of the trip, but finally we rolled into Richmond and met up with my brother and his old lady for dinner. He was gracious enough to let us stay at his place for the night, so we got a nice shower and warm bed for a change.
The next morning we got an early start to try and miss the DC, Baltimore, and NYC traffic, and by the end of the day we ended up lucking out and doing just that. We only hit about 10 minutes of traffic the entire trip as we entered Connecticut, but it was a far cry from what we thought we were in for as we studied the map the night before.
We rolled into Clinton CT on the shoreline at around 4:00 and set about stretching our legs with a nice walk with Toby Mammoth before settling down for an early dinner. All in all it was one of the smoothest and quickest roadtrips I've ever been on. It's good to know I'm getting a little better at some things as I get older.