My brothers Tom and Jerry and my sister-in-law Cheryl have joined Black Bear Adventures to ride their bicycles by such places as Looking Glass Rock, Graveyard Fields, and Devil's Courthouse. The organizers describe the experience as "Active Travel" which entails full immersion in the experience. "Your body, mind and soul will be completely involved while participating; whether cycling along the incomparable beauty of the Blue Ridge Parkway or taking in the rich history of the Natchez Trace. The experiential nature of active travel compels you to get to know the area along with its unique culture and traditions like no other method. The inherent nature of traveling by bike at its slower pace allows you to hear the subtle sound of the song bird and the gentle fall of a running stream as you allow your internal noise to dissipate."
They hope to discover the beauty and history of the Appalachian mountains on this 575 mile bicycle tour along two of the most scenic and pristine roads in North America. They will cycle from the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina. It will be a test of will as they will climb over 50,000 vertical feet. Hopefully they will enjoy the thrills of the many descents as their reward for the effort!
There are not too many easy cycling stretches on the trip. As an example, no rest for the weary, is this description of the last day of riding. "After the shuttle ride back to where we left off yesterday we begin the final leg of the tour. From Beech Gap we roll along as we make our way up and over Richland Balsam, which is the highest point on the Parkway at 6,047 feet. After Richland Balsam there is one more major climb, Waterrock Knob, but then the final descent into Cherokee will have you grinning from ear to ear as you descend 3,698 feet in 18 miles."
Stay tuned to follow their progress over the next two weeks.
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Whether they are made of pork, as is most often the case, or of beef, veal, buck, goat, chamois, venison, sheep, wild boar, or horse, cured meats (salumi in Italian) were born of a need to conserve meat for months after the slaughter of the animal. Salting, smoking, and air-drying are the three processes by which fresh meat is transformed into a long-keeping staple.
While all meats are salted, some are smoked, and others are simply air-dried. Italians have been making an amazing array of cured meats for thousands of years using both noble and humble parts of the animals they raise. The ancient Romans prized the spicy pork sausages crafted in the southern region of Basilicata (called Lucania then, and giving rise to sausages named Lucaniche still eaten today). And, fond of intensely tasty foods, they smoked or salted whole pig thighs, yielding savory Prosciutti not unlike those still made in mountain villages across Italy.
Two thousand years later, pork remains Italy's favorite meat for curing. Pigs are especially prevalent in areas where there is a notable cheesemaking tradition: after all, wherever there is cheese, there is excess whey, which, combined with bran and corn, becomes perfect feed for pigs.
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