March 29, 2009. Hey, we're in Frog Level! This is part of old-town Waynesville. They've done a great job of restoring some of the old brick structures in this area. Oh, and a neat name to boot.

March 29, 2009. A quick stop for the mandatory photo at Richland Balsam, the highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway - it's about 34 degrees. No photos for the next few miles, thanks to ice-shrouded trees and thick fog. Springtime - not up here!

March 29, 2009. How cold was it? Here, Karen is kneeling by her bike, hoping to warm her hands on the engine. Note: it works pretty good. We left the Parkway a few minutes later to drop down the mountain into Waynesville.

April 3, 2009. Now, this is more like it! It's warm, the sky is deep blue and I have the day ahead of me. Today's ride drops off the mountain out of apple country in Henderson County and passes through the Hickory Nut Gorge and Chimney Rock before looping on down into the foothills of South Carolina.

April 3, 2009. A poster in one of the shop windows in Chimney Rock.

April 3, 2009. Horse country in upper South Carolina. I don't have a destination in mind - just a day running up and down any backroad that looks interesting. If you haven't tried it, do so - upper South Carolina, in the shadow of the Blue Ridge, takes a back seat to no place when it comes to beautiful scenery and good biking roads.

April 3, 2009. Further west on the Oak Grove Road, north of Hwy. 11 between Tryon and the Greenville Watershed. It's a good place for a quick photo - with the emphasis on "Quick!" Just up the road is a home with about 4 slobbering, aggressive dogs that have somehow avoided being creamed by passing traffic as they try to attack passers-by. Slow down, point, shoot, gun, and go!

April 3, 2009. Poinsett Bridge, in the background, was once part of the old 'highway' between Greenville, SC and Asheville, NC. It was built in 1820 by Abram Blanding.

April 3, 2009.

April 3, 2009. One more shot of the old bridge from downstream. It's getting late, it's getting cold, so it's time to smoke it up through the watershed to home.