Tour Day 70 A New State and a New Language Sept 3 2010

One quote has rung through my head this entire trip. It is from a little known film called 180 south, “You learn that what is important how you got there not what you have accomplished”. I know it is not the time to reflect yet but it is hard not to when how I got to this point has been so amazing.

Anyways back to the day. Today was the first day in 3 days that my shoulder has not hurt. You might ask “Evan why was you shoulder hurting”? Well stranger that asks the questions that I was think I crashed back in Washington. It was another brain not communicating with body move. I was at a stoplight slowing down to a crawl. The light then turned green so I should have started moving. Well I didn’t and right there in front of a crowd of strangers I fall over with the bike in the middle of the road. It was not bad it was just embarrassing as all heck. It also put the last nail into my handlebar tape.

So today when I was just starting my ride at 6:20 it was still dark because of the black clouds. Thinking I was smart I turned on all my lights and rode on the shoulder. Well the should had a nice sharp rock that was unavoidable. I hit it and think no hissing great start to the day. I get 300 feet up the road and it then starts to leak. There I am its already 78 degrees outside, it is raining, and I now have a flat. Luckily there was a patio near by that served as my shelter while I changed the flat. Even better it was a front flat so it was easy. The only tick off was when I was working on the wheel the bike fell over and my new bar tape got all mangled. It was so comfy, nice raised edges in a perfect spiral. It is the simple things that make me happy. Now that bar tape had to be fixed with none other then electricians tape.

So I was back on the road and still somehow on time. I had no idea where I was going to end up today, or what the weather was going to be like because as it turned out the hurricane was super lame. The weather for the morning was nice it hovered around 86 with an overcast sky. Finally a climate similar to my igloo back in Canada.

After stopping at a gas station to look at a better map to make sure highway 1 did not merge into the interstate as my map showed the weather changed… again. The clouds all disappeared and it started to get hot. I could feel I was slowing down. It was not the heat but rather the humidity that killed me today. Because it rained last night as soon as the clouds disappeared everything blew up.

Lunch came in a small town called south hill just before you go into North Carolina. I asked an officer where a good place to eat was. He gave me an answer that I could not understand. It was as if some home had turned of the accent switch today. Thinking it was bad luck I asked someone else and it was more of the same. The second I knew that I was in the south was when I heard my first “y’all” at a local gas bar.

Lunch was the best Chinese buffet ever. For 6 buck it was all you can eat, and this place had it all. From bacon covered scallops, to various sushi rolls (even though that’s Japanese ill let it slide), and even a desert line to die for. Even better was the music selection. The manager was this young Asian guy with a passion for rap so the entire lunch was filled with uncensored rap music. I found it all right but I can only imagine what the other patron where thinking as multiple f bombs in a row were dropped.

After using the smallest bathroom ever I was back on the road. When I say small I mean my knees were hitting the sink, and the sink was so close I had to lean at a 28-degree angle just to get by.

Welcome to North Carolina. The land of hot weather and peaceful roads. Today was the first day in roughly 1.5 weeks that I have had a chance to take up some space on the road and not have white knuckle the bike every minute. It was also the first time in about that same time that I got some honks which is always a good indication of the type of people you are going to be dealing with. These facts have me excited for the south.

Because it was another 100 degree plus day with humidity I was moteling it because there was not way I was going to be able to sleep in that heat without sweating like a beaver. In Henderson I stopped. I had three motels to choose from. The first had no space. The second was more expensive for a single then the other was for a double. The third and final one was the last choice because it looked by far the worst. It had space and it was cheap. That ticked pretty much my only two criteria. I must say my expectations were low for this place… until I opened my door. For 40 bucks a night I get a queen sized bed, a huge space that I will never use, a full bath, and counter that has two sinks covered in some rock of a sort. I want to say its marble but it probably is not because lets face it, it is a motel in Henderson.
Trip Distance: 168km
Ride Time: 8:14hr
Avg. Speed: 20.39km/h
Total Distance: 10196km
Total Ride Time: 478hr
Destination: Henderson, North Carolina