Eat & Ride

My bride and I finally got away for a weekend in Asheville to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary a few weeks late. She said "why don't you take your mountain bike and I'll go shopping". And that is how you stay married for 20 years!

So I hit the Bent Creek trails for some big climbs, bombing downhillers, and fun single-track.  You can see the downhill high banked berms in a couple pics below...they were a lot of fun to just carry so much speed into.

The rest of the weekend was a culinary and IPA lover's dream.  We stayed in a downtown hotel and walked everywhere.  We enjoyed the following establishments and highly recommend them all:  Limones, Tupelo Honey Cafe (get the Sweet Potato Pancake loaded - my pre-ride breakfast), Salsas, Posana Cafe (100% gluten free restaurant), and Doc Chey's Noodle House.  All these places are just a handful of many great restaurants in the Asheville area that focus on sustainability and largely source their food and ingredients locally. The Thirsty Monk, Asheville Brewing Co, and Green Man Brewery served up great brews.  One place I didn't get to this weekend but I love to visit in Asheville is Barleys. 

Asheville is a fun town with lots of live music opportunities, great food, plenty of outdoor recreational and mountain sport opportunities, and is now ranked the #1 beer town in the USA.  I'm glad its only a 2 hr drive away.