Mud, outdoors - Day 569 (Yr 2, Day 204)

Asheville, NC

First, if you noticed that I skipped from day 186 to 204, it's because I discovered that somewhere along the line, starting from June 25, 2014 (end of first year), the math got screwed up.  Rather than going back and retracing my steps and then editing the titles for over 180 entries, it's easier to just correct it from this point on.

So... it was flurrying 2 days ago, and today it was in the mid-50s, bright and sunny.  I can finally remove the double long sleeve layers I've been wearing and replace it with a t-shirt.

Ok, why the title?  Well, being a really nice day, I took a walk to the office, but upon returning and finding my work load very light, I decided it was time to give my urb-e a little exercise and took it out for a ride along the greenway.  Mind you, this is along the French Broad River, which a week ago had overflowed its banks.  Although the campground is pretty much dried out now, I hadn't thought that the greenway was in much worse condition.  It wasn't bad, but there were about 3 or 4 patches of muddy water, which I had to ride through.  Not at all deep - basically just wet and muddy ground.  It wasn't until I got back that I discovered that not only was the urb-e completely covered with mud (up to the seat), but my shoes, pants and even bottom part of my sweatshirt were also covered.  I gave the urb-e a good rinsing with the hose (will need Mitch's help to wash it down with a rag and detergent due to the bending), removed all the muddy clothes, rinsed them out in the sink and then put them in the washing machine (except the shoes which hopefully will air dry in a few days).  Either way, it was well worthwhile.

The "entertainment" for the day was what I found at the end of the path (about 2 miles down).  On the other side of the river is the Biltmore Estate, which is over 8000 acres.  During the other 3 months, you can't see anything because of the trees, but now that most of the trees are bare, you can see what's on the other side.  This is the far corner of the estate, not far from the hotel.  They are currently running their annual gravel grinder bike race (more info: http://idaph.net/events/du-the-asheville-du/gravel-grinder-bike-race-course-information/).  I heard about it on the local news.  Difficult is a complete understatement, even for the most professional mountain bikers. I was able to hear the announcer and see part of the trail and the bikers, as well as all the tents set up.  I took a photo from my phone, but it appears too far away and you can't make out any details, so I'm not posting it.