unexpected Asheville fun

Then the day got awesome.
As I mentioned, I had been following route 70 toward Asheville all the way from downtown Nashville. It was generally a nice road, especially toward the end as it followed the French Broad river and then up into the mountains. suddenly, however, the road signs told me to turn right to keep following 70, and I'm now on Interstate 26... a 4 lane highway. i stopped right after the ramp to check my phone map and get my bearings.
Then this truck pulls up alongside and this guy calls out "hey, you need a lift to the next exit or something?"
That's Wayne. we chatted for a minute. he was going on a mountain bike ride (his bike was in the back of his truck) and had seen me twice before on the road leading up to the highway. Even before the highway he was thinking about stopping to chat, but lost me and then gave up and got on the highway and found me again.
Anyway, I loaded up my bike into the truck and we set off toward Asheville. I had been planning on meeting up with my friend Eric in town, so I was just going to be dropped off somewhere and hang out until then (maybe get some work done).
Well, then Wayne says "hey, want to grab a local brewed beer?"
it was 11:30. I had already gone 35 miles. yes.
so, we went to Barley's and had some hummus and a hefeweizen. and then a porter. stout. ESB. mocha stout...
Eric met up with us there. We're just chatting and enjoying the 'lunch'. It's 2:30 by now, and Eric says "hey, the only thing I've got going on today is that I'm running this 5k downtown"
I say, "sounds good. me too"
as does Wayne.
So, we go back to Eric's for a minute to prep. I throw on some of Eric's awesome 6" running shorts. my cycling shorts turn out to be a bit longer, which makes for a pretty considerable gap in the tan line. ALL THE BETTER.
We head down to the race, wait for a few minutes, and we're off. It starts with a pretty big downhill, then uphill almost the whole rest of the way. I was trying to be careful with my knee, but enjoyed the change of pace with the run instead of the bike.
finished at 22:05.
after that we just hung out for the rest of the day. I iced my knee. Wayne headed home (turns out we distracted him sufficiently from his mountain bike ride), and Eric and I ate a pound of pasta.
then i slept on a real mattress!
I like Asheville.