Slow Going

(won't be talking in third person until I really get on my way)

So, it is day 2 of my bicycling trek, and I am only in Asheville. Yesterday late afternoon, I walked up (as the switchbacks were far too much for my tired legs) Beaucatcher road to Windswept road, as a leather tramp suggested some 6 weeks ago (the last time I was up here), and found a quite flat, quiet, and dry spot nearly at the top of the mountain. At the top of the Windswept community, I discovered a excellent viewing point (as about as good as you can find on a tree-covered mountainside. After a certain altitude, perennials give way to hardy conifers that become more sparse the higher you go) where I also happened to meet one Brett, a sporty, friendly, man in his mid-twenties (who owned a 24-speed mountain bike so sleek and nice that I couldn't believe it when he told me it was second hand) who gave me a good spot of information on many trails and wildernesses that I have longed to visit ever since I discovered western North Carolina some 9 months ago. The views were just as pleasant in the morning, and the shortcut road off the mountain had me occasionally fearing I would break my bike or fall off. My legs seemed to be weaker from LEAF (all that contra dancing), not to mention my now 35 pound backpack (was 40+ pounds before LEAF and at least 40 pounds before I donated half of my clothes and what must have been a 3 pound jar of peanut butter this morning to the Rescue Mission on Patton Ave.) After that and a more close-to-body and compact backpack arrangement, things seem more manageable.

For now, I am taking it easy in downtown Asheville, exploring the fine art, enjoying shops and bookstores that make those of Charleston appear dull and uninteresting. I was most impressed with the Grove Arcade. Though most of the stores therein had a finesse and sophistication I have not until now experienced (such as the Biltmore antique shop, the Jazz Giraffe, or the meat and cheeses shop, where the generous cashier gave me a 1/3 pound block of pepper jack cheese on top of the 1/3 pounds of pre-sliced pepperoni I purchased), it was the architecture of it that entranced me. There I was, with a sizable backpack, staring as straight up as I could, admiring the incredible stonework, more so as a whole than in detail, though the crumblings in the stone were a fantastic detail (though I can be deliberate in getting attention by, most of the stares and double takes I surely get are just a product of my natural peculiarity).

Recently, I have spent a good hour or so in an excellent cozy establishment intended to give the feel of being in one's own study, enjoying wine and good literature (though I of course relished in the literary portion), and am now in the UNCA Library, having been fed up with the Buncome County library system, for its painfully-limited selection and non-free internet, but will soon be headed back towards the Folk Art Center to obtain the best maps of the area and pitch camp for the night.

Note: I won't be updating nearly as much after I hit the Blue Ridge Parkway to Mount Mitchell. It will isolate me for about two and half days. Also plan to visit Graveyard Fields during the end of my time in North Carolina (Oct. 27-29) to allow for the best colors. Everything else is relatively unplanned thus far.

bike troubles:
10/8 unsuitable pedal (replaced)
10/15 stripped pedal thread (fixed)
10/18 pedal dislodged from crank (fixed)
10/19 increasingly-loose pedal-to-crank connection (will soon fix with thread sealant)
as one can see, each one of these problems lead to another
every other system of the bike is in working order

I worry about my caloric intake. Fear I am not eating enough. Feel fine about my fat and protein intake though. Will require much more food per day once I start biking my planned 20-30 miles per major travel day.