Falling leaves and Michigan!  Many years ago I rode Minneapolis to Saginaw MI via the UP.  First week in October.  The UP, riding along Lake Michigan, the lake to my right.  Cape Cod with vegetation to the water's edge (no salt).  To my left, all the fall colors of Vermont.  Light prevailing westerly at my back.

And my sleeping bag scare - first night in Wisconsin.  Found a nice pine grove for camp.  Had my brand new, minimalist synthetic sleeping bag.  I was cold!  Got up and not a trace of frost.  Did I miscalculate badly?  I'd spent 4 years in Ann Arbor.  I knew that further north and west and nowhere near moderating water, it could hit mid-20s or lower.

I was in near panic, not for right now, but for tomorrow and the rest of the week - until - I tried to make coffee.  My WB was frozen!  Oh yeah!  I'm in pines.  No frost to be seen.  I know that!

Spent the rest of the week perfecting the technique of not compressing any of the sleeping bag walls; sleeping while wearing everything I brought.  Took a couple of nights but I learned how to sleep very well in it (but never again bought a "regular" sized sleeping bag!)

Thinline, Ashville to Mt Mitchell sounds roughly like my two sorties to Crater Lake with Cycle Oregon.  First time from the south, up and around, then down and miles of gentle descent.  Second time from Diamond Lake to the north (at 5000' so a very real head start).  Biggest difference (besides Mt Mazuma having a full Mt Mitchell's worth of material gone missing) is that the parkway starts at the top and stays there.

Enjoy!  For me.  Between the fires and COVID, I get to miss the September ritual of Cycle Oregon for the 3rd time in 5 years.

Great info.  Unfortunately, our options are a tad limited.  We are going on a planned tour with, gulp, Trek Travel.  So, we will be flying down without our bikes but riding Madonne SL7s.  I did a Trek ride camp in Greenville SC several years ago and they got the bike to fit me perfectly and it was a very nice ride, so I'm good with that.

Each day there are a couple routes available, the regular route and the "avid" route.  Day three the regular route goes to Craggy Pinnacle and back with the avid continuing to Mt. Mitchell.  We'll see how it goes!

Thanks for the info.  From what I've heard I expect I will want to go back sometime with a couple friends and plan it all out ourselves.

We were supposed to  be going to Italy, first in May 2020 (cancelled) and then next month but we decided to postpone another year just in case things get worse.  So, we got online and found this trip on short notice instead.

Thanks for the info!

Had a fine time.  Got to Asheville a few days early (West Asheville) and used the bus system to get around and check out stuff.  Did a walking tour with a group called Hood Huggers to learn a bit about the history of the black community in Asheville.  Very informative.  I recommend it to anyone visiting the area.

As for cycling, we got some rain on 4 out of 6 days.  Generally not bad, just rained for a bit.  Most days :-) 

Day one was a nice ride intro to the area of a couple hours.  Marshall to Asheville in a meandering fashion on some great roads.

Day two we did the longer route option that featured an add on at the end of a climb up Elk Mtn. Scenic Highway to the BRP and a descent of Town Mountain Road to finish.  The climb was awesome.  Very cool switchbacks.  The descent started out as super fun but then it started to rain hard the second half where it was steep and twisty with increasing traffic towards town so we had to cool it. 

Day three was Mount Mitchell day.  Started out in the rain with a 4 or 5 mile climb to the BRP, then north with a loooooong piece of climbing (mellow to occasionally moderate grade for about 12 or so miles).  Thankfully, the rain had stopped and it was really quite nice, even got some views.  But, the last 2 miles of that we were suddenly in pea soup clouds, nasty cold winds, and cold, cold, sideways drizzle/rain.  Got to the lunch spot, ate quickly, and decided against trying for the summit of Mount Mitchell (another 12 miles or so, 8-9 on the BRP then about 4 on a road to the summit) given the weather.  One person out of the group did it but bailed on the bike and got into the support van just after starting back down.  He was freezing and in nasty conditions so opted for warmth and safety.  Can't blame him.  I was a tad jealous I did not go for it!  The fun part (after the fun 12 miles of downhill on the BRP), we again descended Town Hill Road but this time on dry pavement with no rain and little traffic.  Dang, that was fun!

Next day, rode to Brevard.  Okay, partway.  We stopped for lunch at the Sierra Nevada brewery and when we came out, strong winds gusting to maybe 20-25 mph and sideways DOWNPOUR rain.  Alright, into the van and to another brewery. 

Day five, freaking gorgeous pedal out of Brevard under blue skies and sunshine, comfy temps after a brisk start.  Rode through DuPont State Forest then veered off the standard route to the add on option section on a road called East Fork just off the Greenville Highway, and I suddenly realized, hey, I have pedaled here before.  It was on a trip several years ago that also used that stretch of road as part of another route.  Pretty cool and awesome stretch of pedaling. 

Last day, short ride before heading to the airport.  Beautiful but very chilly.  Numb toes and fingers but well worth it.

I have to give my sweetie and "atta girl" for her tenacity.  This is only her fourth season cycling (started at age 57) and she toughed it up all the long climbs, went for the long route options on all but the day three route (Mt. Mitchell day), which I think she would have tried to go for it if the weather was good.

All and all a fine trip if a bit wet and chilly at times.  Looking forward to the next one!

As to ski season, we are expecting a nice run of fall weather here in Vermont.  Foliage is peaking and skies are clearing right now.  Looking at several days of sunny weather in the 60-70 degree range.  I smell a lunch time pedal and maybe some end of day golf at the local mountain course!

Hope y'all are well.

LSD,

We rode out of Brevard mostly using a bike path for a couple miles, then quiet roads (starting from pilot Cover Cabins).  We turned right onto a road into the DuPont Forest and immediately began a climb of a mile or so.  At the top on the right was an ice cream stand/snackbar by what looked like a campground if that helps you figure it out.  Descended about a mile then right into another climb, maybe 1.5 miles or a tad longer, then a short mild descent to a T intersection.  Turned left and a bit later turned right onto the Greenville Highway.  Took that for maybe 2 miles and turned left onto East Fork, climbed up by a fire station, went through a series of rollers before a steep descent with really tight hairpins onto the valley floor by the river.

Hope that helps!