"Made it to Hickory, all in one piece"
Forest City to Hickory
CNC 2005
Mileage - 59.07
Ride Time - 5 hours 1 minute
Average Speed - 11.88
Maximum Speed - 38.6
Accumulative Miles - 122.91
Accumulative Ride Time - 9 Hours 40 Minutes
Maximum Heart Beat - 117
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"Made it to Hickory, all in one piece" |
"The Hills"
I awoke this morning early
knowing that there would be many hills today.
The group would be going through my county of Burke which is where I live. I
reside in the
city of Morganton. Which ended up about 15 miles from the route for today. I was
not
aware of the route until before. But I had been riding this area around South
Mountains
State Park during my training.
The first hill was out of Dunbar
Elementary School, pretty good hill for that early in the
morning. As we rode through Forest City on our way out of town, here comes a
cyclist
with his radio playing loudly from his bike. This was the first bike I have ever
seen that
had a radio. Every man or woman to his own, I guess. But there were all kinds of
bikes on
this trip. Some I had never seen before.
Everything was going well, I was
riding with a large group of riders and we were all making
good pace. Then I heard something fall from my bike, then something else fall. I
pulled to the
side of the road into a private drive to investigate what had happened. I found
that my right
pedal had fallen apart and was somewhere on the pavement. I went back a few feet
and after
several searches I found all the pieces of the pedal except for one screw. (The
Lord smiled
on me) It had two. But, luckily I had found enough parts to put the pedal back
together. So I
was back on the road and on my way to Hickory, but with a very uneasy feeling
about
the pedal not having all the screws in it. Lesson learned, be sure to have a
small tool kit with you.
At the next rest stop I inquired
at the REI tent to see if they had a screw to fit the pedal. They
searched the supply box but could not find a screw to fit. They said that they
may have
one in camp. To check with them then. I tightened the one screw several times
during
the day. Just as a safety precaution that the pedal would not come apart again.
I knew if I
lost the pedal again that my biking for the day would be over.
I learned a lesson here; that
every aspect of the bike should be checked and double
checked over before a long ride like this one. It may determine whether or not
you finish
the ride.
About half-way through the ride
we started having a strong headwind. Even on level ground
I had to put forth some effort to continue at a good pace. We had the headwinds
all the
way to Hickory, as well as the many hills.
When getting to camp in Hickory
everyone was talking about the wind and the hills. I think
they all agreed that this was the toughest ride day of the week, and I agreed. Glad
the hills came
early in the ride. I may have had a problem if they would have came later in the
week.
As we got to the Hickory
campground it was hot and sunny. I picked out a good location
and set up my tent and waiting for a well deserved night's sleep.
The Subway had set up a booth to
sell their sandwiches. I ate one sandwich when arriving
in Hickory and than another before dark. That was my dinner and I was hungry
from burning
all those calories.
After all these Subways I settled in for the night. Hoping tomorrow would be a little easier day.
Pre-Pre Ride, Pre Ride, Day One, Day Three, Day Four, Day Five, Day Six, Day Seven, Post Words