Day 16 Hot and Tired in North Carolina

We have been lucky to find three wonderful bicycle shops and mechanics. Steve Luper is the most recent. His shop is at 401 S. Wesleyan Blvd. (Hwy 301 South) in Rocky Mount, NC.


Debbie the slave driver got us out early at about 5:47 am. We were 10 miles into our day in Halifax when we took our first break. We bought two sticks of cheese and some shredded miniwheats. We also rested.

During this first leg of our ride we saw hawks, a fox, and several deer and heard a bobwhite. The temperature was cool but humid. The wind had not yet come up much.

As we  rode on it got hillier. We stopped again in Enfield at a Hardees but they had no indoor seating. A kid who worked there said that there was a Subway down the road with indoor seating so we went to it for lunch. It was before 10 am. I needed the rest and the food and the liquid. We also looked in the phonebook for motels and bike shops. We found both on route which was nice. We wrote down numbers and addresses. We left Subway hydrated, caffeinated, nourished, and rested and were much stronger than earlier.

We stopped in Battleboro for watermelon and gatorade and information. We had just crossed the Rocky Mount line but the city was still 8 miles away. Not surprisingly, the traffic was a bit worse here. We also called Steve’s bicycle shop and he gave us directions.

We slogged on. We were both getting tired. It was hot and the headwind had been growing all day. About seven or eight miles later we found Steve’s. He trued the rear wheel and adjusted the rear brake. Wonderful, no more rubbing. Steve gave us some advice on motels in the next town. He finished the job and I asked him, “How much?” He said, “No charge.” Wow. He gave us his card and said if were got in a spot and were not too far away he could help. Wow again.

We left Steve’s heading for Sharpsburg. It was about seven miles to this stop. We stopped at a Budget Inn . They did not have Wi-Fi so we did not take it. We hit a Hardees and Debbie talked me into this greasy, caloric, grilled bacon and cheese thick burger. It tasted great but......     We tried the next motel but they did not have a nonsmoking room so off we went. Finally the last one had Wi-Fi and was cheap - but the only took cash. It was about 3:30. It was a long day.

I worked for a couple of  hours. Right now we are blogging after eating at a Chinese Restaurant across the street.

Today’s ride: We rode 48.5 miles at 7.9 mph. We were on the bike for 6:05. We are not 652 miles into the trip.

Debbie’s emotionometer: Mel was crabby about the hills, the head wind, the rear wheel ... until we had our stop at Subway. Better after that. We are both getting very tired.