CC20 - Day 20

I've been on the road for nearly three weeks now. About a week ago I made an appointment with Eurosport in Asheville to get a new rear tire – under the assumption that I'd ride roughly about as much as I had planned. Reality got in the way and I rode about 800 miles less than I had planned. Still, I kept the appointment, wasting some rubber on the rear tire, but since it will definitely not survive a ride back home, I needed a new tire anyways. 

The rear tire I had on for the last 8100km / 5000 miles still looked good and I felt slightly sad to replace it today. 

Rear tire after 5000 miles

At least the tire shows that I found a good mix of curvy roads while still making quite some distance over the last 19 days. There just less than half a millimeter tread left to the wear markers in the center, a bit more on the sides. Not too shabby, the tire would have lasted the distance I was actually planning to ride on it, just around 6000 miles.

The front is still good:

Front tire after 5000 miles

I hope the front will last another 4000 miles which should get me comfortably back home.

The riding today was great. It was cold most of the day, it was under 10C/50F for around two thirds of my ride. The heated jacket was really worth it! It kept me warm and comfortable, although I did have cold fingers. 

The routing led me down some weird roads though:

Weird routing ...

I had selected "paved roads only" for the routing and that didn't work out ... ;-) I had to turn around since the "road" was closed a little farther in.

Near US 421 "The Snake"

US 421, nicknamed "The Snake" is a wonderful motorcycle road. Curvy, not too tight, not too fast. It has a rather low speed limit which I adhered to, of course, ... cough ... mostly. 

After the one day the new rear tire is scrubbed in:

Rear after about 200 miles

That's one reason why I love the Continental tires, they stick from the first moment on without any issues. 

The route looks a little weird – I rode "The Snake" first South East and then decided it was so good, much better than the rest of the loop I had planned, I rode it back North West. It was a lot of fun ... I liked it more than "Tail of the Dragon" since there was nearly no traffic here and I also liked it much more than the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is also much busier. the side roads are where the fun is, as it is so often.

Route Day 20 (Click for real map)

CC20 - Day 19

Today was an "off-bike" day. Spent the day walking through Asheville, NC. It's a really nice city, I like it here. No photos today since I took the film camera to have some old school fun. 

Tomorrow, I have an appointment at Eurosport Asheville to get a new rear tire. After that I'll slowly start making my way North. Will be in Alexandria, VA, from Tuesday evening to Thursday morning, after that my way home starts.

CC20 - Day 18

Since my ears are still giving me some trouble with the ear plugs, I'm riding shorter days and take more breaks. I need to get this settled before I start my journey back to California. I might waste some of the rear tire tread, since I had the appointment planned for about 1000 miles more, but it is what it is now. I'm better off riding less and getting better. 

Regarding the ear plugs, I'm switching back and forth between NoNoise re-usable plugs and Howard Leight Max Foam plugs, both have their advantages and downsides, although I think I have actually less issues with the re-usable ones right now.

Today I rode from Knoxville, Tennessee to Asheville, North Carolina via Little River Gorge and Route 441 as well as a short part of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Again, some of the roads were very busy, Little River Gorge was pretty much one continuous traffic jam ... It got better on 441 and even Blue Ridge Parkway was much better. So far, I can only say the roads here are great, but riding them is a lot less fun than it could be. Great nature, but it would be better enjoyed from something inherently boring ... 

Along Blue Ridge Parkway

So far, so good. 

Tomorrow I'm thinking of taking a closer look at Asheville itself. Basically take an Uber or Lyft ride into town and walk around a bit with a camera. So, likely no riding tomorrow.

Route from today:

Day 18 Route