Drivin' down to Asheville

Heavy rain in Kentucky

We hit the road yesterday morning around 7:30. The rain began just as we were loading up the cars and continued almost until we hit North Carolina. The picture above was taken somewhere in Kentucky and the rain was coming down hard and visibility was limited to a few hundred feet. We drove Rt. 23 all the way to our destination which allowed us to pass through Chillicothe to see some of the early, soggy TORSV riders slogging back home to Columbus. We saw dozens of cars loaded up with bikes driving back home that morning - I'll bet more riders would have bailed if they had the option. This was the first TOSRV I have missed in several years and it was probably a good one to skip.

Louie ready to take his turn at the wheel

We arrived at our house in the afternoon. Located high in the hills overlooking Asheville, the views of the city are pretty spectacular. We chilled out for a bit and after watching the Giro on Versus Mark, Mel, Andy and I took a short spin along the road leading from our house to the Blue Ridge Parkway. The awesome views and beautiful scenery were just as I remembered. After returning to the house we got cleaned up and headed out to dinner at a noodle house that has become our traditional first night meal.

Watching the Giro after arriving at the house

I called Mom last night to wish her a happy Mother's Day and she told me there were tornado warnings in Columbus. Andy spoke with his mom last night and it sounds like a tornado may have been sighted near his family's home. I also checked e-mail to learn that Tym cancelled/postponed yesterday's Granville race. When I think of how nasty the weather was when we raced this course in '06 (cold temps & heavy rain complete with cow dung elixir spraying up off the roads) it makes me wonder how much more lousy yesterday's weather had to be? Just a few more reasons to love Ohio weather in the Spring.

An awesome view of Asheville from my room

Today's weather in Asheville is cool and windy with a chance of showers. After Louie the Wonder Lab gets his morning constitution, we are going to head out to visit a few bike shops and then go for a ride this afternoon. Tuesday's weather looks to be the best of the week so we are going to plan on this being our long day on the saddle.