I ride for a while on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is a gorgeous road. Along the parkway I made a discovery. I had smelled so much nasty road kill over the past week that my nose was becoming finely tuned. As the sensitivity and precision of my nostrils was sharpened I began to play a game with myself called "Determine what kind of dead animal you smell on the road before you look at it." I'm pretty good at determining a possum, racoon, bird, deer, snake, and turtle. I think my sense of smell is also hightened because I'm colorblind. You know how they say one sense makes of for the lack of another? So booyah, I'm a super smeller on the road. The biggest downside of being a super smeller is that with so many intense inhalations I am increasing the amount of free radicals in my body...you know, those suckers that cause cancer (I'll never forget when my buddy Justin Johnson said, "What's a free radical? Sounds like a bunch of guys I was at a Phish concert with" Ha!) It was good, since my free radicals were exponentially increasing in my body, that I met a doctor later that taught me about how brocolli sprouts are the best antioxidants out there. Anyway, back to the bike ride...
There was so much down hill during this ride. From Boone all the way through the Linville Gorge I was flying. The only climb was during the last 15 miles of my ride up Black Mountain. Once I finally made it to Montreat I was amazed (Montreat is a place just East of Asheville). It is a town that was formed by the Presbyterians way back in the day and it now has a college and a huge conference center. I went up to the college because I wanted to talk to the professors about their graduate program in Environmental Education. Unfortunately, they were all on vacation. After checking out the college I went to my destination. I was staying with some people I didn't know.
Montreat Gate
My best friend / next door neigbor from Annapolis Francesca told me she had a friend in Montreat; Anna Barker. I met her one time when I was visiting Appalachian State but I didn't really know her. I contacted Anna and she said I could stay at her house, so I did. Since Anna's last name was Barker, I was hoping that her Dad's name would be Bob. Anyway, as soon as I knocked on the door to Anna's house, her mother Jessie welcomed me with open arms. She provided delicious lemonade and gave me a tour of the house. Jessie told me how it was fine that nobody really knew me. Their house was 110 years old or so and Anna's dad grew up there. It has always been a place where tons of random people crashed. Jessie asked me great questions about my life and she inquired about my time with God during the bike trip. It was fun to talk to her for a bit because you could tell she was a loving woman who truly cares about people. The whole time we were talking there was great worship music blasting through the surround sound speakers. I felt at home.
What happened next made my day. Anna's dad walked into the room and introduced himself. "Hey! I'm Robert." YESSSS! THIS IS AWESOME! I just met "Bob" Barker! Haha.
Robert is the man. He is soft spoken, but he has many words. Immediately he showed me the hammock that I could crash on if I wanted and he told me all about the town called Black Mountain that I should visit. It was just 2 miles down the road. Robert took out the map and showed me the coffee shop, ale house, outdoor shop, and bike shop that I needed to visit. He asked if I had cycled out West and I said no. He was curious because he lived with Jessie in Montana for a bit and did a lot of hiking out West. He mentioned that he did the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) when he was 17. Right then I knew he was a tough guy. He was wearing a Mount Mitchell marathon shirt and I asked about the race. He didn't do the marathon, but the ultra-marathon. The race is 40 miles long and Robert has done it for the past 14 years. Did I mention that Mt. Mitchell is the highest mountain on the East Coast? Later he told me stories about being in blizzards on alpine mountaineering trips, and how he has done 120 mile bike races, and how he was applying to run a marathon on top of 10,000 + foot mountains in Utah. Cool! He wasn't bragging...he just wanted to share fun experiences. Robert was definitely inspiring. He is a family practice doctor and amidst his job and exercise, he seems to be an incredibly great father. My assesment is that this Robert "Bob" Barker is way tougher than the Bob Barker that punched Adam Sandler's lights out in Happy Gilmore.
After Robert and I talked I went to all of his favorite places in Black Mtn. It was amazing to ride my bike with all of the gear off of it. Aretha was so fast! Once in town I first went to dripolator coffee shop, which I later incorrectly called dropopolis. Then I checked out Black Mtn. Ale House.
Ale House.
Since I was in Pisgah National Forest all day I ordered a Pisgah Pale Ale. Pretty tasty.
Four guys in is Jamie. He is a cool guy. We got talking and I figured out that he grew up in Connecticut and played lacrosse. He went to U of Georgia and played there. We talked about all sorts of things and since I was a guest in town he bought my beer. Thanks Jamie! Good people in Black Mtn.
After the Ale House I hit up the bike shop named Epic Cycles. Allen the owner told me that he rode across the country when he was my age. He slept a lot in churches and at airports. Allen told me along the way to go to a Police Station or a Fire Station and tell them that I was too poor to afford expensive campgrounds. Along his trip the cops told him the places he could stay...abandoned fields, baseball fields, etc. What an awesome idea! He also said to look for the brick houses next to the church because that's generally where the Pastor lives. Anyway, Allen gave tons of encouraging and great advice. I later learned that he goes to the same church as the Barkers.
Eventually I went back to the Barker residence for dinner around 7. Anna was finally off of work and I got to meet her again. She is awesome! We had a ton to talk about and we probably did talk the rest of the night until I went to sleep around midnight. We had to stop talking for a bit so that we could eat dinner, but right before dinner started another member of the family walked in; Anna's younger brother...Robert Barker. YESSSS! I met another Bob Barker!!!! Haha. Anna has 2 older brothers that were not around.
We ate a delicious meal of London broil, potatoes, Sister Shubert rolls, asparagas, and watermellon. I should have taken a picture of it. After dinner Anna and I considered going Contra Dancing at Warren Wilson College, but we were a bit late. Since she teaches art at the Montreat Conference Center, she decided to teach me how to "throw" pots. I had no idea that was what it is called when you put the clay on the wheel that spins around and try to make something. She was a patient teacher, but I am not a potter. Is that what you call it? A claymator? Who knows...but it was a fun experience.
We had some great conversations about the Holy Spirit, hearing from God, our identity as God's children, and spiritual healing. We had only really known each other for a few hours but she was an instant friend. I wished it wasn't so late so that we could keep talking, but alas, sleepy time was calling my name.
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