Tracey, my CTS Coach, came to the hotel to see me off this morning

The group is envious of my fan support these past few days!

At the top of Hickory Nut Gap; 2,880' just outside of Chimney Rock / Lake Lure

The descent to chimney Rock Village was an awesome ride!

Chimney Rock

The Broad River on its way towards Lake Lure

Another bitter cold start, 36 degrees when we left at 7:45 am. It took almost to 10:00 am before it warmed up enough for me to no longer see my breath! Prior to departing, my Carmichael coach joined me for coffee as I ate my typical "quick" breakfast - Banana, OJ, fruit, waffle, bacon and a Bagel.

After a quick ride through town we turned on to the Blue Ridge Parkway once again, heading North for 4 miles then we turned south for the day. We had one last significant climb to tend to prior to departing the Appalachians for the rolling hills of South Carolina - the climb to the Eastern Continental Divide at Hickory Nut Gap. The descent took us to Chimney Rock and Lake Lure; the scenery and landscape was just beautiful. The Broad river which made its path along our roadway was filled with large boulders and rocks.

The rest of the way to Union, SC made for comfortable cycling. The rollers steady lost their degree of incline as we dropped all the way to 570'. We crossed the state line on a country road that was apparently so rural South Carolina didn't posted a sign welcoming us to their state.

All in all, today was a great ride. I handled the cold with proper clothing; the cycling was fun, especially on the long descent into Chimney Rock.

Today's key stats:
103.5 miles
6:35 in the saddle for a 15.5 avg mph
6,020' of climbing elevation
Matt sat the day out due to food poisoning!
2,170 kcals burned during the last 4.5 hours (my SRM didn't record data for the first two hours today - too cold for the electronics! This happened on Saturday and Sunday also.)
No flats today.

Tomorrow: 123 miles to Orangeburg - lots of rollers coming before we hit Low Country.