Stage 8 was to be a short day. No problem. But it was tough. Climbing into the mountains of North Carolina was stunningly beautiful but steep, twisty, wet and cold. We worked our way up the switch backs through dense forest to 6000 feet. The “Smokey mountains” loved up to their name with fog thick in many places. Occasionally we would get a peek at the valley below…here we are at about 4500 feet elevation:
After the picture was snapped above, I changed out of my sunglasses and into regular glasses….it was a good move. Also, note that my headlight is working while Vince’s was not. These two factors played a roll in what happened next. Several bikes and riders found visibility extremely limited as they entered a curving pitch black tunnel in the mountain side. This resulted in some minor bumps and bruises as bike and rider bounced off of the tunnel wall. Here is the scene at the tunnel exit once we put some flares in place for safety:
We continued down the mountain and arrived in Maggie Valley to a great reception at Wheels Through Time museum. Great spread of food, museum open for viewing and lots of enthusiastic fans to mingle with…excellent! Matt Walksler and the team at WTT went all out:
We are off to Tennessee today….and tomorrow? Rest day! This will be much appreciated by weary bikes and weary bodies.