I have made a choice. Because it is so hot here it just will not work camping. I mean 96 degree outside in the shade means that my tent is over 100. What this means is that I will be moteling it more as I head south. I realize this will limit my time on the road, but I this trip is also about enjoying each day. It is hard to enjoy each day when you don’t get any sleep because you are sweating so much, and then on top of that you start your day dehydrated because you have been sweating all night.
The days ride today actually really enjoyable. For the first time I did not have any hiccups. Infact I was hauling down the road. I made it to my lunch stop in Raleigh by 11 am. Because it was only 11 I did not feel like stopping so I kept riding through Raleigh. Much like the bike brand Raleigh did not have much going for it. There was not much of anything in the town, and what was there was ratty and tatty.
The other thing that was kind of a tick off was the interstate merged with route 1 for a good 15km’s. This means that I have to take back roads which with my horrid map always lead to me going further then I have to, and or get lost. Today was no exception. After going past my turn that was not market I asked for help. The two cyclists that I asked said “fallow us”. So I did and they led me right to where I needed to be. After thanking them for saving me 30minutes of trying to navigate I was off on my route again.
At first I was a little nervous because this part of route 1 was 3 lanes divided. It was a prefect time for me to ignore my mind and listen to some music. After the rap Chinese food joint yesterday and seeing roughly 15 mid 90’s beige cars rollin on dubs I was in the mood for some gangster music. Today’s choice was a possible the worst song in the world called lemonade by Gucci mane. Any man who raps about everything being yellow has to be gangster.
Lunch was in the back of my mind but when 120km came around I was starting to get hungry. Unfortunately the next town was 20 miles away. Luckily I had a tailwind and my legs were just starting to come into their own. It must have been the donouts I had for a snack because I was a man on fire.
Lunch came at 149km’s. It was actually very rewarding because I was still good to go. I simply stopped because I knew it was the smart thing to do.
Unfortunately it was not the smart thing to do because as soon as I finished lunch and got back on the road I encountered sore legs, and a wicked headwind. The funny irony is that the head wind started to kick up as soon as I entered Moore County.
The end of the day came in Aberdeen and I was cooked. The last 3 miles took so long that my mind was playing ticks on me. I kept thinking it was around the next corner, but when I went around each corner and did not find a town my moral dropped further and further. The only thing that brought it up was knowing that I was going to be enjoying some ice cream in about 2 hours. All in all a very satisfying day.
Trip Distance: 196km
Ride Time: 8:56hr
Avg. Speed: 21.99km/h
Total Distance: 10393km
Total Ride Time: 487hr
Destination: Aberdeen, North Carolina
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