Riding around Lake Lure and then crossing over the dam, we hit the Buffalo Shoals Road that climbs up and around the Lake. It's a curvy, twisty ribbon of asphalt that is great fun to ride. Just be sure to watch out for the inevitable HumVee coming at you on the wrong side of a blind curve.

Looking back out across the lake towards the Chimney Rock Park on the other side of Hickory Nut Gorge from the Buffalo Shoals Road.

Uh, the green sign behind Jon actually says, "CONDOMINIUMS" Like the dog back at Puncheon Creek, Jon might be thinking, "Hey, that bull ain't got nothing on me!"

Cool statue at any rate, this bull is on the Buffalo Shoals road as you climb over Shumont Mtn. on the way to Bills Creek. I wanted to show Jon a bit of the Bills Creek region, but with rain hanging on to our north, we cut back to the south, taking back roads over to Mills Springs and then up through Green River Cove to the Pigtails and Saluda.

Green River forms up in the mountains near where I live, on the south side of the DuPont State Forest. Much of the headwaters are inside the Green River Preserve, a large protected swath of forested hills with a lot of wildlife. It adjoins the State Forest, providing a safe corridor for wildlife moving between the Pisgah National Forest and the wild lands of the Greenville Watershed. Down in the Cove, where this photo was taken today, the river has grown to a wide, trout-filled river. Upstream, one of the best whitewater stretches in the southeast is found at the Green River Narrows, a legendary set of Class 5 and Class 6 drops that were considered unrunnable only a few years ago.

White rhododendron blooming by the river's edge.

Racing the rain out of the Green River Cove, we hustled through Saluda, still dry, and cut across the Greenville Watershed to climb up the mountain on Hwy. 25. From there, we rode through the Bobs Creek community to the upper Green River Valley. Time was running short for Jon, so we took the 'short cut' across Mt. Olive, climbing up from Green River through the Mountain View region, and then dropping off the mountain and down the dirt road past Camp Tonawandah. Jon headed towards Asheville, and I stopped back by the house long enough to lube the chain on KawasiMoto and then went back out for a late lunch at Papas Beer. All in all, an excellent weekend of riding, despite the dismal forecast.

Life is good!