Bonfire at sunset on Saturday night after the Slow roll, Mini enduro and Jump Jam.

The Festival was held at Cedar Glades Park, a venue with a 360 view that is part of the Hot Springs National Park.

I never had my 3 girls stand on the same podium before! Hey, there's a first for everything! Also: first time I saw an Elvis cat with a viking crown.

The local microbrewery, Superior Bathhouse brewery (that uses hot springs water to make its beers ), even created a special beer for the event. It was a delicious Norwegian Farmhouse Kornol (never heard of that type of beer before? Me neither!) brew… — The local microbrewery, Superior Bathhouse brewery (that uses hot springs water to make its beers ), even created a special beer for the event. It was a delicious Norwegian Farmhouse Kornol (never heard of that type of beer before? Me neither!) brewed with voss yeast and local red cedar. You could really taste the cedar and we really enjoyed it.

Stout rolling in the grass and soaking up the sun during the festival.

Aïsha leading the Cat 1 ladies at the start!

That last hill (that they had to do twice!) was a dozer after 25 km of racing.

The girls got to race with a pro from Colorado who was incredibly nice and kept encouraging them. I just love the mountain biking community!

My adorable little vikings shared the podium (they were the only ones in the Cat 1 15-29 category).

The Güdrun Northwoods Mountain Bike Festival celebrated the one-year anniversary of the opening of Hot Springs’ new Northwoods Trail System and combined a mountain bike expo, a group ride through downtown Hot Springs, a mini enduro, a Jump Jam and the annual Attila the Hun Mountain Bike Race.

Güdrun is a Germanic heroic legend. A woman warrior Viking! She was the wife to Attila the Hun and later defeater of the Huns. We were sold!

As you might know from our social media, we barely made it to Hot Springs National Park** in a cloud of white smoke before the bus engine died on us. Replacing it is an expensive and long process, so we are figuring out the best options. The Festival was a great diversion and allowed us to focus on something else for a bit and let solutions emerge (isn’t it often the best way to go at it?).

We thought we would at least enjoy the hot springs while we are stuck here, but soaking in the springs is only allowed in the bathhouses in town (the cheapest one is 20$ per person, so 100$ for a soak for our family… yeah, no).

Whereas most national parks cover thousands of acres, are far from city streets, and keep natural resources away from commercial users, it is not the case with Hot Springs National Park. This smallest of national parks borders a city that has made an industry out of tapping and dispensing the park's major resource: mineral-rich waters of hot springs.

A National Park inside a city? Well, almost. The city of Hot Springs, Arkansas was founded right up against Hot Springs National Park (which happens to be the smallest National Park in America) to capitalize on the tourists coming to the area for a dip in the healing hot spring waters.The city’s main street (called Bathhouse row) is actually part of the National Park.

Here’s a little back story that won’t surprise anyone:

Following 8,000 years of use by indigenous peoples, European Americans discovered and appropriated the springs. Then, the government decided that bathing in spring water would only be available in approved facilities at a cost (and they diverted the spring water from the mountains to the bathhouses only). The entire Bathhouse Row area is designated as a National Historic Landmark District and contains the grandest collection of bathhouses of its kind in North America. Comprised of eight bathhouses, these stately structures owned by the National Park Service were constructed between the years of 1892 and 1923. The historic Fordyce Bathhouse, located on famous Bathhouse Row, serves as the park's visitor center.

So, there you have it. It’s one interesting way for a National Park to say that they are “protecting the ressources”...

It’s no biggie. The people we have met here are really nice, the town is just quirky enough for our liking and the trails are pretty sweet! We’ll be OK for a bit.

** Hot Springs National Park is a first-come, first-served campground with full hook-up for 30$ per night, only 10 minutes from the Northwoods mountain biking trails and 5 minutes from Bathhouse Row (downtown Hot Springs).

It’s the perfect time of year to ride in the Pisgah National Forest!

Working and doing online classes at Odd’s Café in West Asheville. Good coffee at a very decent price and great atmosphere. Dogs everywhere! We loved it.

FOOD!! Hole donuts (made fresh in front on you!), Asheville sandwich company’s shoestring fries and Chai Pani (Indian street food).

West Asheville art and delicious ice cream at The Hop.

The Oysterhouse (West Asheville): dusted and fried oyster with blue cheese and lemon zest; Fish and chips.

Wicked Weed Brewery and beer tasting at the Funkatorium.

Just like Bend, OR, and Boulder, CO, Asheville, NC, is among the top cities where everybody wants to move. And for good reasons. It is surrounded by world-class hiking and mountain biking trails, and has a definite liberal vibe with a big LGBTQ+ community, a strong local movement, a big artistic and musical scene, over 30 microbreweries (in a town of a little over 90,000 people! That’s a lot of beer drinkers per capita!) and amazing restaurants with tons of vegan/food intolerance options. Oh, and it’s super dog-friendly (coffee shops, restaurants, trails, etc.).

Needless to say, the city is bursting at the seams. Obviously, we were here during one of the busiest times of the year (fall colors), but I heard locals say that the traffic has gotten simply insane in the last few years.

Even if the cost of living is not cheap and there is definitely a housing crunch in Asheville, it is still about half of the cost of places like New York City and the Bay Area. However, the economy is mostly service-based and poverty and homelessness are rampant. We saw lots of people sleeping in their cars in parking lots at night and lots of squatting spots around town.

It’s easy to forget that we are in the South, but stepping out of town reminds you quickly that you are indeed not in California.

Downtown Asheville is very cute, but parking is no fun. Get there early or be ready to be patient! West Asheville is really a fun laid back neighborhood that can be a good option on busy nights to avoid downtown.

FOOD AND BEERS

Here are a few of the places we loved:

The Oysterhouse - Good beer and delicious and affordable food in West Asheville. The girls ordered fish and chips and they had 3 pieces + fries for $12!!

Hole Doughnuts - Simply the best donuts ever. Made fresh right in front of you. They have 4 flavors per day and drip coffee. That’s it. When you do something well, there’s no need to expand your offering. It’s a very cute little spot, but you might leave smelling of donut grease!

The Funkatorium - It’s an off shoot of Wicked Weed Brewery, where they serve their sour and funky beers, along with some tasty food. Try their fried sweet potato burger and their arancini as an appetizer.

The Hop - Great ice cream, not too sweet, lots of vegan and sugar-free options. There are 3-4 locations across town. If they have their Bees Knees flavor, try it!

Odd’s Café - in West Asheville, very good coffee at a reasonable price, beautiful place where to work. The Asheville Sandwich Company is just next door for a quick meal (they are known for their Banh Mi and shoestring fries)

Goodwill outlet in West Asheville

For next time (or for you if you go!):

-The Wedge Brewery

-Thirsty Monk Brewery

-Chai Pani - Indian Street Food (they don’t take reservation and there’s often a long wait, so plan accordingly). Things to order there: Sev Potato Dahi Puri, Pani puri, Bhel puri, Butter Chicken Thali and their Mango lassi.

-White Duck Taco (River Arts District Location)

-French Broad Chocolate Lounge - They offer 30 min tours for $6 per person (including a chocolate tasting). We wanted to try their liquid truffles as per our friend recommendation.

And more breweries recommended by our friends from Live Small Ride Free:

Highland Brewery, Green Man Brewery, Hi-Wire, Burial, One World, Asheville Brewing Company, Sierra Nevada (in Mills River), and Oskar Blues (in Brevard).

MOUNTAIN BIKING

There is so much riding in the Pisgah National Forest! There are tons of ways to connect trails and it is possible to do very long rides. One thing that might surprise some is that a lot of the up tracks are gravel roads. All the good riding is South of town.

Bent Creek area

The biggest issue with Asheville is that there is no cell signal at the trailheads. We are used to park the bus at a trailhead and take turns riding while part of our group works or do school. Being on the East Coast is much trickier schedule-wise for us. The closest trail network from town is Bent Creek and is therefore always busy. We were quite surprised to find the parking lot full on a Wednesday morning. It really reminded me of Boulder, where it seems like nobody works and just hang and have fun.

A few of the trails/rides not to miss at Bent Creek:

Green’s Lick (fast flowy downhill)

Ingles Field Gap Loop (in MTB project)

For an easy exploration ride, check out Pisgah Area SORBA Beginner’s Loop (in MTB project)

For a longer ride, check out Bent Creek Epicito route (in MTB project)

Where to sleep in Bent Creek/West Asheville :

Lake Powhatan Recreation Area is right in the middle of the trails, but the signal is spotty. We were able to work from the Big John Loop (1 to 2 bars 4 G LTE).

Another (free) option is the Cracker Barrel in West Asheville on Crowell Road. The nights were pretty quiet even if the lot is not exactly leveled.

Brevard/Pisgah area

We found one great spot right by the Brevard trails and the Hub bike shop where we could park the bus and ride right from our door. It is a huge parking lot (look up Walmart Brevard on Google Maps), but it is forbidden to spend the night there.

From there, it’s easy to ride the Black Mountain Trail and the Thrift Cove/Sycamore Cove Trails.

For longer, more challenging rides, this is the place. Here are a few trails that shouldn’t be missed:

Squirrel Gap Trail

Laurel Mountain/Pilot Rock trail

Avery Creek Trail

Trace Ridge Trail

Where to sleep in Brevard/Pisgah:

Davidson River campground (in the Pisgah National Forest): signal is spotty, but we found out that sites 1 to 11 had good enough signal for work.

Dispersed camping in the Pisgah National Forest: free, no signal, right down the road from the Davidson River Campgrounds (check iOverlander for exact coordinates). First come, first serve basis, 14 nights maximum. Right off the road, but have a fire pit and some with picnic tables. The road is pretty quiet at night. There are some beautiful spots by the creek for smaller rigs and you can ride right from your site.

Walmart Hendersonville: that a good 20 minute’s drive away and is pretty noisy (a street runs through the parking lot and people love to drive fast there!), but it’s free and there is good signal.

Dupont State Forest

Then, there is Dupont State Forest, where the trails are more beginner-intermediate friendly. We loved Ridgeline and Hickory Mountain Loop, but there are many more to ride in that area. We wanted to ride Cedar Rock (the only slickrock in the area) and Reasonover Creek Trail.

This is by no mean an exhaustive list of all the trail areas in Asheville, just some of them that we rode in the most visited areas.

The other sector we didn't get to ride is Mill Creek. It is located between Bent Creek and Brevard. Our friend recommended riding the Fletcher/Spencer Trails there, but we didn’t have time.

A lot of this great information comes from our friends at Live Small Ride Free. We are always incredibly thankful to get recommendations from local, but Ching’s super exhaustive list made our time in Asheville really incredible.

Güdrun Mountain Biking Festival, Hot Springs, Arkansas

Mountain biking, eating and tasting beer in Asheville, NC