Everyone kept staying it was all downhill. Despite how the profile looked, I found that hard to believe. But yes, it was actually downhill, and fast. It look just over an hour to cover the 23 miles, and for the most part, very little pedaling! We flew through 5 or 6 tunnels and one of them was quite long! Pretty exciting going through the tunnels at 30 mph. The Parkway was designed so it didn't have a lot of switchbacks so for the most part you didn't have to use your brakes.
There was lots to do in Asheville and most weren't really sure what they wanted to do. It happened to be the weekend of their Arts District Studio Stroll and that's what I opted to do. The studios are in old warehouses along the French Broad River. I was a little disappointed - I was thinking it would be something along the river and outdoors, but you really couldn't see the riv
er at all. One of my riding buddies went to the Biltmore House (I regret not going), while a few others went to the Folk Art Center which is located on the Parkway just beyond Asheville (I regret not doing this, too). And a few hung out at the hotel until the local bike shop opened.After the studio stroll I headed back to the hotel to check in. Thought about walking into the Biltmore Village to look around but the sky looked awful dark. I had no sooner gotten a shower and was down in the lobby when we heard a huge clap of thunder...and the electric went off! Well, this would make for an interesting evening, especially since I was meeting a couple of people I went to school with for dinner across the street!! Dinner plans moved to downtown Asheville with a mini-stroll and driving tour of the city afterwards.
A nice ending to the mini-version of Wally's tour.
