This past week I put on 34 hours in the car and 22 hours on the bike for spring break. My destination was North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains. My mom, brother and I decided it was time to leave the frozen tundra, also known as the Upper Peninsula. The trip had two objectives: look at potential colleges and get some road miles on my legs. The first school, Lees-McRae, is located smack dab in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Banner Elk. I loved the environment, the school and students. I rode with at least fifteen riders on several mountainous routes. We never were at a loss for challenges or conversation. Matter of fact, the twisty roads and switchbacks were some of my highlights.
The second school was Brevard College, about two hours away from Banner Elk and close to my teammate, Colton Brookshire. I contacted Colton before my arrival hoping to have a chance to ride in his neck of the woods. He met me the first day, where we went for a three-hour ride in Brevard. The ride seemed epic; we climbed above the clouds while it was raining with hail below. Needless to say, my mom was a bit worried. Colton and his father were gracious enough to join us for dinner in Asheville at a burger joint called Farm Burger. The make-your-own burgers and legendary draft root beer seemed perfect as an after-ride dinner.The following days included riding with a former teammate, Janelle Cole, and a student-athlete named Wyatt. Wyatt made quite an impression on me. We'll just say we were similar and different in many ways. The ride seemed so gratifying that the 4.5 hours just slipped by.
Some things that I learned on this trip...... The Blue Ridge Mountains are beautiful; Lees-McRae and Brevard, and all that went with them, were worth every minute of the long drive; white squirrels are good luck (spotted some); and cyclists are the same regardless of where they ride.
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