The first hill of the day was up Lakey Gap which is designated a NC Scenic Byway. This hill was long but not as steep as our leader painted the night before at the meeting. However, the ride down the other side was "interesting" with lots of nice steep switchbacks. Most of the hills this day were long. The top of the first hill was over the Eastern Continental Divide. The hills around Lake James, booked as "challenging", were. Boiled peanuts were to be had somewhere along the way. They seem to be popular in the South. They are horrible. They say that you have to acquire a taste for them. Yuk.
