We arrive in Hickory late on Saturday afternoon. One of us wants to get a few miles on the bike, just to stretch the legs. Kevin is a good sport, and has confidence that Doug knows what he is doing, since he says he's done this before. From the hotel it is obvious that one direction leads immediately to hills and the other appears to be flatter. For once these observations are correct, but they don't consider the neighborhoods or traffic that would be encountered.
Registration is uneventful.
By the second plate it is obvious that we are going to have to find more food for dinner. By the time we start to look for a restaurant, all the Italian restaurants have more than an hour wait. This leaves Chi-Chi's time. As we enter to add our names to the waiting list, we are surprised to see friends for Columbia. Jokingly, we ask if they can squeeze two more into their party.