Sunday, July 9th 2000
Asheville, NC to Little Switzerland, NC; 58.6 miles, 8,100’ climbing
by Arend-Jan Koning
Yet another 6.00 am PAC Tour style breakfast in the parking lot, after which we head of for Little Switzerland. It’s only after 1.2 miles that we’re back on the Parkway again; back into the quiet beauty of the Parkway.
The highlight of today is supposed to be the optional miles up Mount Mitchell, the highest point in Eastern United States. With these nine optional miles, the total length of today is still only 58.6 miles, but it contains a lot of climbing. Some riders want to spare themselves for the tough day of tomorrow, when we will be doing about 140 miles with many feet of climbing.
The scenery is a continuation of the day before with beautiful views on rows after rows of mountains, as usual in all densities of haze.
For most of us, it takes 28 miles to get to the left turn leading up to Mount Mitchell, starting with a pretty steep section. It was already clear from the start of the morning that views from the mountain might be wishful thinking; cloud cover takes away any view. Climbing to the top makes for surrealistic conditions while many trees, only comprising of stem and some branches, like they were the victims of a forest fire, add to this atmosphere. It makes a change from the romantic Parkway. After about two miles of fairly steep climbing, the gradient decreases, the riding easier. On the top the view is about 0.5 miles, showing mainly clouds. It’s not exactly warm on top, but still higher than the yearly average of 44 F. The van, manned by Lon, is not able to get rid of much ice, though he is trying.
It’s not worth staying for too long on the top, so after a short while we return back to the Parkway the same way we came up Mount Mitchell. The maximum speed of 25 mph on the road leading up to Mount Mitchell, is ignored when the speed goes over 50 mph. They surely can’t give a ticket to a bike if you’re not required to have a calibrated speedometer? The big fun is worth something, but not a ticket.
Back on the Parkway some of us are surprised to see the tandem, manned by Doug Slack and Susan Cooper, heading in the wrong direction. They had missed the turn to Mount Mitchell, had discovered this only at the second sag stop and had to back track for about ten miles, most of it going uphill. No wonder they were the last ones to reach the motel.
Because of the length of the route, lunch was served in the parking lot of the motel in Little Switzerland. This time not a motel of a big chain, but a one-off hotel, designed in some respects as could it have been a Swiss hotel. The large rooms, the beautiful spacious lounge and especially the location and its views over the valleys made it our favourite hotel by far, and that position is hard to beat.
As a town, Little Switzerland had nothing to offer but the hotel, some souvenir shops, a post office and a bookshop, but we loved it. It made the choice of where to eat rather easy; the restaurant next to the hotel was the only place to go. And the food was very good.
Most of us were in bed early, with breakfast the next day at 5.30 am and a tough riding day ahead of us….