Mountains!

In Forest City we woke to fruit salad, meaty gravy with biscuits, and sausage! It was about a 60mile ride to Ashville into the mountains. I did the second half today and my achilles are feeling so much better actually. There were some really pretty views! We passed the continental divide too! Ashville is a very neat town. We are staying on the west side and biked by the Biltmore, largest home! We tried getting in free on our bikes but got a little discount that still would have made a simple bike through $40 -__- So we continued on through the town to our host. Once there we walked through a little farmers market with lots of veggies, eggs, flowers and all sorts of interesting things. Showers were at the YMCA and way too fast! I’ve learned to take 5 minute showers! Ashville is a rather interesting town. Its very earthy, natural, hippie, and rather organic place. There’s lots of art and music as well. After a yummy earth fare pizza and salad, we went to a bar that looked like a movie theatre where there was a blue grass concert going on! It was actually pretty neat and many people were there! The group I like most had a acoustic, banjo, mandolin, stand up base, and fiddler. They were really good! Today (Wednesday) we had a build day in Ashville where a group worked with Ashville Habitat and another group (that I was in) worked with Mountain Housing. I mostly primed the ceilings and walls the entire day and we had a great Jasons Deli lunch! They even gave us all t-shirts! Afterwards, we met up with the other half of our group for a wall raising ceremony. This was actually pretty neat and gave me and others I believe a better understanding of what we are actually doing when we prime, nail, and build. The family that will soon live in the house was present and various sponsors and volunteers to watch and partake in the first wall being raised. We then took showers and now I’m blogging with no internet once again so I will post these as soon as I can. Tmrw we go into Waynesville which is about 30miles.

Finally have internet! In Waynesville NC now! Its a very nice town! Wish we had more time here, it seems like a peaceful little cute town to walk around. The ride today was nice and right in the mountains! The climbs are pretty rough but the downhills I fly on. I hit 37mph at my fastest I believe and slowest was about 4-5mph going uphill. We just got done with showers and now are getting ready for dinner! I'll try to post pictures later tonight. Tmrw will be a tough ride for sure!