Laurinburg to Whiteville
CNC 2005
Mileage - 73.28
Ride Time - 5 hours 22 minutes
Average Speed - 13.70
Maximum Speed - 20.8
Accumulative Miles - 404.41
Accumulative Ride Time - 30 Hours 38 Minutes
Maximum Heart Beat - 104
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| "The Cotton Fields" |
"Flat Roads and Getting Tired"
I awoke this morning about three
and guess what? It was still raining. Turned over and went
back to sleep and woke up about about 5:00 A.M. and it was still raining. I knew
it there was no use getting
up just to stand around in the rain. Snuggled back into my sleeping bag. Read
some in my Bible and wrote
some in my journal. My plan was to come out of the tent about daybreak and maybe
there would be a
break or slowdown in the rain.
It was about like a sauna in the
tent with the heat and humidity. And God smiled on me again. About 6:30 or 7:00
A.M.
the rain quit and I got everything together, took down my tent and packed all my
personal belongings together and
took them to the truck for transporting to the next stop.
The overcast skies were still
threatening rain; just a matter of time. In my haste to get everything together I
accidentally put my socks back into my baggage and they were packed on the
truck. Well I would just go
without the socks today. My shoes were soaping wet anyway. Why would it matter?
By this time it was misting
rain again.
As I rolled out of the parking
lot at 7:50 A.M. it was a misty rain. The local police was at the first two
major
intersections monitoring the travel for us. This was great. They have been
nice and beneficial on the trip.
The roads were reasonably flat, especially compared to the mountains. But I
missed the mountains. The flats
are okay, but it seems there is just continuous pedaling. A little boring at
times. I found it more exciting to
get with a rider or small group of drivers and go with them at their pace.
I think it was after the first
rest stop that as I approached the next curve that I sighted a SAG Wagon and
about
a dozen or so cyclists in the road. As I passed by I observed some blood on the
highway and apparently a bloody cloth.
The rider was still laying in the road. I wondered what had happened and at the
same time I said a prayer
for the injured rider as I rode by.
At the next rest stop I overheard
a nurse saying that she was with the gentleman after he fail from his bike. She
was traveling behind the fallen rider and came upon the accident right after it
happened. She said he had
two large cuts under his eye, but he was conscious, but had lost some blood.
I heard later that the EMS
came to pick him up. It seemed that we were way out in the country. I don't know
where the closest hospital
was. My understanding was that he got mixed up in the wheel of the rider in
front of him and he received the
worst end of the accident. I don't know how it happened or who was at fault.
I noticed yesterday during the
rain that the SAG Wagons were used a lot more than earlier in the week, at least
from my viewpoint. Yesterday for example, I observed the SAG Wagon stopped on
the side of the road
and there was a police car, fire truck and EMS at the scene. Not sure what was
going on there.
Because of the rain and the
length of the trip and the miles logged, I believe that fatigue was starting
to
set in causing the riders to make mental and physical errors. As the
circumstances of the previous accident
that
I mentioned above, most accidents on bicycles are caused by wheel to wheel or
bike to bike contact.
So folks, if you take this ride or any other ride do not travel in a close group
with inexperience riders. Stay far
enough in back or in front that you will have time to adjust your line if someone in
front or behind makes the
wrong move. Staying out by yourself is the safest way to travel on your bike trip.
As I left the second rest stop I
observed a woman putting on her lipstick in the rain. I said to her, "that she
needed to keep those lips looking pretty." She, with a chuckle said, "that she
never knows, but Elvis may be
around the next corner." She said, she thought she saw him yesterday, but
could not get close enough
to be sure. I laughed and we biked on.
It was raining heavy as I left
the rest stop. We had gotten rain all the way on the ride. After about an
hour,
the raid stopped and now was starting back raining again. It rained off and on all
day.
My lower back was starting to hurt due to the hours on the bike. I stopped several times to stretch the back.
As we left the town of Fair Bluff
we were at the 50 mile marker and only 20 to go. By now it was so level that
you could see the other riders for maybe a mile as they rode by the cotton and
soy bean fields.
I continued to push on, my legs
certainly were not as strong as they were in the beginning of the ride. The Lord
smiled on me again. As I got to Whiteville, N. C. the rain stopped long enough
for me to set-up the tent and my
personal belongings were put in the tent. It was hard to find a high spot that had no
water to put the tent. I camped
behind the school building because it was the highest ground I could find. Laid
down to take me a short nap
after showering in the "Rubber Duckies."
About 5:30 I walked about 4
blocks to a fish house to get some fish, my favorite. This is where I am writing
these
notes - before I forget them. I had broiled flounder with the trimmings. No fried
fish or anything else fried for me.
I will be going to bed early
tonight, maybe do some reading and get ready for tomorrow, the final day. "Our
trip to
the Promised Land." I was thinking maybe if the weather is nice I will leave
early so I can be in Wilmington by
1:00 P.M. or so. My wife Martha is to meet me in there. I'm starting to
get a little lonely. No one here to tell my
battle cries to; they have their own.
In a way I've lost all senses of
what is going on in the other world. I only call my wife at night. No other
contact
with the other parts of the world outside of the CNC 2005 group. Here we get up, ride,
eat, get ready for the night and
then try it again the next day. Same thing just in a different location. It is
good to get lost in time as I'm doing
this week.
Tomorrow, "The Promised Land."
Pre-Pre Ride, Pre Ride, Day One, Day Two, Day Three, Day Four, Day Five, Day Seven, Post Words