Pennies from heaven

The temps yesterday was a high of 89. Today's high was 64 and cloudy and windy. I wore a jacket and no sunscreen. Such a welcome change. 

I went out for a long ride and did not really know where I was headed. Tired of Saluda and Ceasars Head today. I wound around the base of Paris Mtn. and went on North, South and Old Parker Roads. Also some dead end roads just to explore. There was a road off Dreamland that doug said was steep. I got to a spot of 17 percent grade and then it got real steep and a hairpin turn. There was sand or dirt over the road and I was freaking out that I would loose traction and fall down the hill but I found a narrow spot of pavement and struggled on up. Fwew!

I ended up riding the Swamp Rabbit trail down to it's end and over to Parkers Mill Road before turning around. Back through Cleveland Park, downtown, and up to Furman. I headed for the old well worn trail of Paris mountain before going home. 

Found a penny on Altamont just about 1/4 mile from old buncombe.  Then I saw more coins up the road. A quarter. A dime. More pennies. This went on for an hour. I picked up maybe 120 coins. A mile or so stretch. On the road, on the white line, in the grass, in cracks in the road. I wished I had my running shoes. I can envision so many strange scenarios of how these coins spilled down the mountain. 

So it took over an hour for me to climb the backside of Paris Mountain. I estimate it was $8 in coins. The quarters were $5 alone. As Doug Guth knows I will circle back for a penny on a group ride so this was a compelling situation for me. 

Not a great day for training for my B2B event but time in the saddle and some interesting distractions. Time to increase the training!





Dave