the journey thus far

So I've learned that animals are at least as fascinated by my riding by on a fully loaded bicycle as everyone else. it's hysterical to me when every cow in the field lifts it's head to look at me though pays no attention to every passing tractor trailer. Also dogs, yesterday i passed a house that had at least 12 dogs unfenced that chose to chase me 200 yards or so. Though i love the reaction from people just as much. yesterday i stopped at a gas station and i was asked "where i was coming from?", this same scenario has played out more than once. to my reply of folly beach i got the response of wow. Then the best part is when they inevitably ask "where are you going?". i usually just say Colorado or maybe Vancouver in-order lessen the blow to this person. if we continue to talk i explain the rest of my trip. I get a range of responses from "i won't feel as good about myself the next time i ride my bike" to "my daughter wants to do the same thing" to "what cause are you riding for", to my favorite "man, only a white guy would do something that crazy". All said in friendly and curious fashion.

I've covered a little over 200 miles. the first three days can be summed up with three titles day 1 "Rain", day 2 "pain", and day 3 "mileage".

The rain started less than two hours after i left at which point i stopped under a Eckards awning for about an hour. about an hour later down the road i stopped in front of an elementary school for about 2 hrs for the second bout of rain. Some one called the police. When they arrived they looked at me and only asked "you taking a break". They barely waited for a response before leaving. Though this was the beginning of the "homeless" feeling that Steve described to me. i got in two hours of riding before i stopped at Gihvans state park to eat lunch. I was there maybe 15 minutes before the rain just poured out of the sky. If you've lived in the south you can appreciate the amount of rain I'm talking about. When there is 3 and 4 or more inches of standing water everywhere because the sandy soil can't absorb it fast enough. So at this point i waited for about 5 hours in a bathroom. I finally got about 3 more hours of riding before dark when i pulled my bike into the woods and made camp. It's unnerving to "stealth camp". every little noise makes catches your ears.

The pain came from changing my seat and didn't have the height properly adjusted. this causes pain in the knees. I had to call my brother first thing in the morning, and have him look up on the Internet which way, up or down, to adjust my seat based on the specific knee pain i was experiencing. I did eventually get it adjusted properly. the pain is much better, but it lingered into today. At a gas station where i stopped to get a mountain dew i also bought some boiled peanuts. this i a taste of home for me. Something that is an acquired taste and i miss about living i Baltimore. While i sat and savored my boiled peanuts and began to read Bill Bryson's "A Walk In The Woods". the irony if you've read it is inexplicable, at least in the beginning since I've only read that part. So he goes into detail about bear attacks and camping in the woods. all I'll say is that i was very diligent with my food stuff that night and had one more thing to imagine the noises were coming from. i experienced a little more rain in the evening. so far my bivy kept me dry though when closed in the summer it's warm enough to make you sweat an equal amount to having just been out in the rain.

The mileage came in an unexpected way. I decided to take the day off, get a hotel, and try to recover from riding hard for two days after having not ridden in two weeks. As i arrived in Monetta 15 miles away, i realized that it was to small to have a hotel. So i asked the person staffing the gas station were the closest town with a motel was i was told Batesburg. I then rode 10 miles there. Now i found out that there was only one hotel here and not what i was looking for. In hind site the woman in Monetta was guessing there was one based on Batesburgs size. So finally i got credible info, and i ended up
riding 45 miles to greenwood. This actually ended up better than you would think i actually rode through the pain and ended up feeling pretty good and managed to get another 70 miles in on i day where i was going to through in the towel. This brings me to here where I'm sitting in my hotel room after having iced my legs, then took a hot bath, and showered.


On a side note, i completely underestimated how the gear would effect every aspect of the bicycle. From how it handles to how to lean it against a wall. This education has come slowly. Today i was finally able to stand-up on the bicycle and pedal uphill without having the rear shake me several feet side to side. now i can even lean my bicycle against a pole without watching it with shock and awe as it slides to the ground after it sat just fine for 10 minutes.