The Big Big Trip Journal! If you want to make the man (or woman) upstairs laugh, just tell him your plans!

[Pat "5mph"]

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[HobbesOnTour]

Day 28 October 10 Kill Devil's Hill - Engelhard 96km

We don't skinny dip we chunky dunk - a sign in my breakfast place

Well, the day didn't start much better than yesterday. The wind was up and the clouds dark, threatening rain. I was up for 7 and packed up quickly, rotating the tent before packing to get it as dry as possible after rain in the night.

Setting off, there were drops of rain as I made my way back to the Atlantic Coast Route. Once back on the road things improved - the wind was now at my back, the road was smooth tarmac, the shoulder was wide, well defined and clear of the sand that filled it 2 days ago.

Things got even better when I spied a breakfast place, so I pulled in and ordered a workman's breakfast sandwich and a big cup of coffee. Heaven! It was so good I ordered up some pancakes after. These were amazing - so soft the syrup soaked into them.
Toby, the co-owner was very friendly and chatty (with everyone who came in) and it was a very pleasant way to start the day. He also confirmed my own idea that I'd have a tailwind for most of the day! Happy news!

Back on the road I was fuelled up and ready for anything. Gizmo was telling me it was 17 C but the wind and the moisture in the air made it feel cooler than that.
I zipped along at a nice steady pace until I met the first of 3 bridges I'd have to cross. Bridges are rapidly becoming my least favourite part of riding in the States. The shoulders are invariably narrow, full of all kinds of debris, there's no protection from the wind and where the bridge surface joins the road surface there is normally some kind of a hole to negotiate.
The roads were big 4 laners and traffic was reasonably heavy until I turned off onto 264 and entered a different world.
A two lane road, perfect surface, hardly any traffic through the Alligator River Park.

I got excited when I saw my first alligator! But it was a tree branch in the water. After about 10 of these false starts I relaxed my search for them.

No alligators at all. In fact there was a serious dearth of wildlife until I stopped. Once the sound of the wind was gone there was loads to hear, but almost nothing to see. I did spy a few turtles but they slipped into the water as soon as they saw me.

Wildlife watching

Occasionally men fished from bridges, more of a social occasion than a real quest for fish, or so it seemed.

I was thinking to myself that the name must be a misnomer until I was informed later at a takeout place that there certainly were alligators out there. There is an alligator season - the summer- when they are out in the sun. And bears too! I heard tales of an 800lb bear that regularly raids people's trash cans. In fact, I was told, bears are becoming more of a problem in the locality because they are migrating in search of new homelands as their own forests are removed. There's even 2 bear hunting weeks in the area where people come from all over to shoot bears.

I really have no idea why I'm starting to obsess about seeing some wildlife - whatever it is is likely to scare me half to death and I won't have a clue what to do!

I rolled into Engelhard in surprisingly good shape I thought, and went looking for the hotel. This is the first town since Kill Devil's Hill / Kitty Hawk and the only accommodation for another good stretch. I was surprised to see signs for a campsite/marina so turned off to find my new home for tonight.

My pitch was right beside the water and putting the tent up was a challenge with the wind. If I messed up the tent was in the water. The "Budweiser" pitch I have christened it - feckin' close to water.

There's not much in this town, internet included, so I grabbed some takeout to eat at the campsite and tried to figure out my route tomorrow. Again, there's a big gap between accommodation options so it's looking like a long one.

Without internet planning a route can be difficult. I harp on about this every chance I get - Osmand allows me to plan a route offline and then create a gpx file of that route. An adapter cable allows me to hook Gizmo up to my phone and transfer the file. All without internet.

One of the things I am realizing is the scale of this place. Everything is big. Not just my coffee this morning - everything!
The roads are 4 lanes. The pick-ups and SUVs are massive - and getting bigger, it seems. Sometimes there's an older pick-up beside a newer and the old one looks like a kid's toy. Today, the road was straight for miles, then a turn and more miles dead straight. Going by the mileposts, I passed only a brewery that might be classified as a service in the last 40 odd miles. Not a single place to get water, a coffee or something to eat. Not even a town to turn off to. That's a big difference to Europe in my experience.

I've read many journals of people doing in excess of 100 miles per day. I can start to understand why better now. There's not many places to stop and with such big distances between places it makes sense to put the head down and hammer out the miles. I like to stop every hour or so. As slow as the bike is, you can still miss things. Today what I was missing was the noise coming from the land around me. And the chats with the fishermen were good, too.

Another thing is navigation. It's quite easy - and for me to be saying that says something! 😃.
I think today consisted of 3 turns, 4 if I include the turnoff to the campsite. The junctions are numbered. Write down the direction at the junction and off you go.

Finally on my thoughts of the day ;-), I've never paid any attention to wind direction when planning a route before. I've always figured that wind is part of the journey and if it's really, really bad I can always zig zag my route. I don't think that's a good plan here. For a start it was very windy. But more importantly there are no other options. There is one road - take it or leave it.

Hopefully, by the end of tomorrow I'll be back on the (inland) Atlantic Coast Route. With this wind the Outer Banks version would have been a breeze!

If you have any questions or comments please fire ahead. For the sake of continuity I've had permission from the mod team to use https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/chat-zone-for-the-big-big-trip-journal.254098/
for comments/questions/discussion

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Day 29 October 11 Engelhard - Goose Creek State Park 118 km

Dawn by the Budweiser pitch


There's no denying today was a toughie.
The day started cool and thankfully, no wind. During the night was the first time I was awoken by the cold. Until now, a silk liner has been enough. Anxious to get on the road because I had a long day ahead, I scoffed some muesli bars and washed them down with a Pepsi leftover from the night before. Today was going to be another day of long distances between supplies.

My destination for the day was vague. I knew there was a campsite marked on maps near Bath, a state forest, but I had no idea what kind of facilities - all I really needed was water. On top of that, some of these govt. sites can be reservation required. However, this was the only campsite within any kind of reach, so that was the target

A cool morning was soon warming up and traffic was light along the highway. Still need to pay lots of attention to the shoulder, though.
The wind was the issue. It was coming from the North East with enough force to hit me hard whenever I was heading north - and today there was a fair whack of North.

The prevailing thought for today was that there was nowhere to stop. Literally. No crash barriers on the side of the road to lean on, just grass, sloping down. The couple of times I stopped, cars made a big deal of swerving out of the way of the bike parked in the shoulder. The one place I could stop & sit was on a (high) bridge over a canal. The combination of low wall and long drop left me preferring to stand. On top of that, the heat when I stopped was oppressive. At least on the bike I had a wind to keep me cool.

No place to stop

My first stop was at about 50 km, a small store - the first since Engelhard. I wolfed down a double cheeseburger, some chocolate & a couple of bananas.

Over the day I passed through a few settlements, rather than towns and at least 2 of them had campsites not marked on any maps. I was sorely tempted to stop for the day about 2;30, but pushed on after a cold drink.

I did get to investigate a couple of the roadside cemeteries. From what I can make out, they are all one family. "Davis Cemetery Estd 1984" finally resonated with me after seeing 4 headstones with "Davis" engraved. In my defense it was hot!
Another, set back in a Grove of trees was very peaceful. It had graves from people born in the 1860's. This one had no nameboard but the majority were Gaskins. Good line that family - a lot lived until their 80's or 90's.

Getting close to Bath I met a roadie out for a recovery ride. It was a nice chat as I tried to keep up with him. Not too far from the campsite I pulled into a store & bought some food for the night.

The campsite is a "primitive" site and has to be one of the finest sites I've ever stayed in.

When I arrived there's a big board with all the rules & a sheet showing vacancies. I saw sites 2,3 & 4 were free (from 14) and cycled past #1. A few minutes later there was no sign of #2. I kept going. Eventually, I saw #2 - reserved. #3 Ditto. #4 occupied. Uh oh.
Thankfully, the Ranger, Doug, was chatting to a couple and came over. A friendlier & more welcoming man hardly exists.
#3 was mine for the night, no problem. Probably the best site he told me. We had a very interesting chat, giving me advice on other campsites. I told him it was my first time staying in a National Park whereby I was gently but firmly corrected that this was a State park. I was amazed at how much space each pitch had. I cannot see another camper from my own spot. It's about the experience, Doug explained, not the money.
For $15 it was a wonderful experience!

I tried taking a few photos, but quite simply, no photo will do it justice.

I set about cooking dinner as the sun disappeared and had a deer wander to within 10 meters of me while I ate. After an hour of darkness the woods came alive with sounds. A natural orchestra, almost. There were no big, bearlike sounds, although I'm pretty sure the deer was back to nosey around, so I slept like a baby.

If you have any questions or comments please fire ahead. For the sake of continuity I've had permission from the mod team to use https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/chat-zone-for-the-big-big-trip-journal.254098/
for comments/questions/discussion

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Day 30 October 12 Goose Creek State Park - New Bern 84 km (some on a ferry)

Every now and then you realise you're in a special place and special places should be treated, well, specially.

In that spirit I changed around my morning routine and let the sun come up and listened to the activity in the forest around me.

Once the chill was out of the air, I got up and prepared a leisurely breakfast of coffee, cous-cous with cinnamon, nuts, chocolate and honey. Food for Kings! Oh, and a banana!

I was in no rush. The place was so quiet I really didn't want to leave. But my space was reserved for that night so instead I took out my maps to see where I was off to now.

Now that I'm back on the official Atlantic Coast Route the ACA maps are relevant again. I had a couple of options to aim for, one further than the other. I already had a gpx route I had copied from RidewithGPS of the route from Richmond to Wilmington so I used Osmand to get me into that route. All should be plain sailing!

Packing up the tent should have been easy after the wind of previous days. Should have been. But a (to me) ginormous spider took up residence in one of the vestibules and did not want to leave! Thank God for my Clickstand, the collapsible stand for my bike. Using that I was able to encourage the critter out and away from the tent. After that I packed up the tent in record time, my head in a constant swivel. I don't like arachnids!

The Ginormous Spider!

It was noon when I was leaving but not a shred of guilt was felt. That spot deserved some time to fully appreciate it.

My first stop was the town of Bath, the oldest community in the state. To get there Osmand brought me on a shortcut. It's a scale thing again. I zoomed out on the map to the largest scale but one and it seemed like a good idea. Even when the gravel turned to sand I thought it was ok. Then there was grass - easier than the sand, I thought. Then something slithered through the grass and I started to feel less sure. Then something started making noise in the bushes beside me and my confidence was starting to evaporate. I was almost glad when I came to a dead end - that was until I realised that the slithery thing and the noisy thing were waiting for me on the way back!

The "Shortcut"

Back on the road I hightailed it to Bath, stopping for a bite to eat and some fresh water. On then to catch a ferry (it's been nearly a week since I was on a boat!).
The ferry was not for another hour but the time passed easily, chatting to the guy in the office and then the owner of a 1960 Studebaker pick-up. This thing is solid!! No crumple zones here! My only knowledge of Studebaker is from the Warren Zevon song and it doesn't paint them in a good light.
It even smelled like an old car.

The ferry ride was fast & pleasant, dropping me beside a phosphorus plant on the road to Aurora. It was hot (35C), dusty and very quiet on the road. With the late start, the wait for the ferry I was under the cosh to make the closest campsite before dark.

At this point I was heading due west, right into the sun and a bit of a headwind. Even though I knew the campsite was miles away, sometimes I'd see a collection of mobile homes, big caravans and an RV or two and get excited. But for nothing. It wasn't a campsite, it was a community.

Literally as the sun was setting I reached the campsite. A closed office, no phone signal, I just rolled in and found the tent area. It's more of a resort type campsite with access to the water. I cycled down to get a sunset shot before it was gone.

Then it was time to set up the tent and have some food - this time my emergency rations - chicken korma. Pour boiling water into a bag, wait a few minutes and eat. Thanks Big Guy!

As I was eating this, one of the guys from a large family party nearby came over with a hotdog, smokey beans and some crisps as well as a miniature bottle of whiskey. When I declined the whiskey he returned with a beer! He even had a disposable knife and fork for me!
I'd spoken to them briefly when they had arrived, but this was a wonderful surprise!
Such an act of kindness and so appreciated!

There were more spiders! Big, brown ones this time. I couldn't really see them in the dark, but their eyes shine a malevolent yellow when my headtorch picked them out. Two of them circled me as I sat and ate.
I had to laugh at myself. The last days watching out for bears & alligators and being terrorised by a pair of stalking spiders!

If you have any questions or comments please fire ahead. For the sake of continuity I've had permission from the mod team to use https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/chat-zone-for-the-big-big-trip-journal.254098/
for comments/questions/discussion

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Day 31 October 13 New Bern to White Oak River Campground (Mayville) 48.5km

I was up late last night writing up the day's journal but slept well and woke with the sun. I popped down to the pier area for the dawn view and set about getting myself packed up. Since I had used the last of my coffee yesterday & since the town of New Bern was just over the bridge and was of a size large enough to have a place serving food, my objective was pack, go, eat.

Dawn

Of course, packing up the tent was no easy matter - there was a pair of spiders to consider. Both were in the vestibules & scurried under the groundsheet when I started to break the tent down. Such shuffling & shaking & twisting of a tent was never seen before as I tried to evict my squatters.

Once packed I headed to the office to pay my bill. I'd no idea it was a "resort" style campsite until I rolled in and was expecting a hefty bill. I toddled in & greeted the two ladies behind the counter & explained my story. I had pitched my tent beside the official tent spots (in case I used the place of a late arrival with a reservation) and since they couldn't put that info into the computer there was no charge! Really! I couldn't believe it & hightailed it out of there before they changed their mind!

New Bern was celebrating "MumFest" a weekend long open air festival of little festivals & hundreds of stalls selling things I had no interest in. Most of the main streets were shut to traffic, but I got directions to breakfast heaven by a traffic volunteer.

After breakfast, outside, there were a group of local older gentlemen who seemed to gather for their regular Sunday chat. I'd had a chat with one of them on the way in so was engaged again on my way out.

It was straight into politics. What effect would Brexit have on Ireland? At first I thought it was a genuine question, but it was really just a mechanism to lecture on how A-rabs (pronounced ay-rabs) had to be kept out and a border in Northern Ireland would help do that.

Of the four or five guys sitting at the table, I'd say that one had a reasonable grasp of the situation.

After I had tried to explain (for the third time) that Ireland (Republic of) was not at war with Northern Ireland and England was not Britain nor the UK (that really caused confusion) I was rescued by a Texan who was giving me advice on where to go. He suggested Gruene Hall and was delighted when I told him it was in my plans, that I've even listened to the local radio station at home over the Internet.
He kept listing places and telling me they were close together…..and I kept pointing to the bike and explaining his "close" and my "close" were literally miles apart. It was fun. Especially when he told me Dallas was only a day's ride from Austin! :-)

Someone else tried to draw me back into a political debate as I tried to leave again. I can't believe bloody Brexit is threatening to spoil my holidays over here!! :-)

Anyway, I hit the road and again there were no services for a little over 30 km. And that was tough because today was hot, hot, hot! It was hitting 35C well before noon, the headwind was definitely warm (I think because I'm a bit away from the water) and the road was straight, flat, wide and with absolutely no cover. At one stage when the sun went behind a little cloud I pulled up just to savour the slightly cooler temperature for as long as possible. Couldn't even get off the bike -nowhere to sit - just straddled the bike and enjoyed feeling cooler for a minute or two.

When I finally got to the filling station I bought a litre of Gatorade and sat in the only shade I could find.

The traffic had been surprisingly busy. I would have expected much less traffic on a Sunday. While the shoulder was wide it was 2 lanes in each direction so some of the autos were zipping close by.

Feeling a little better I headed onwards but soon I was back to square one. Hot, thirsty and now starting to feel a little lightheaded. In Mayville I stopped for another cold drink and contemplated my options; a campsite just outside town or another 45-50 km down the road. The further one was in the middle of nowhere so I decided to have an early day and make use of the town on my doorstep.

I rolled out to the campsite, got myself set up, rode back into town to get the ingredients for dinner and rolled home again.

I've noticed a bit of rust on some of the extremities of the bike so I tackled that and started to clean the chain. I've no lube with me (all flammable materials strictly forbidden on the ship) and haven't been able to see any in any store I've been in. That's when Michael came to my rescue, pulling up on his quad as I had the bike upturned working on it. Michael owns the campsite, having taken it over from his parents. He immediately offered me lube and a bit of history of the site, his life and his return to take care of his dying mother & to take over the business.
He has his own kids, but they won't be taking it over. It's a heavy responsibility he has, but he carries it lightly, very chatty, friendly and helpful. He introduced me to "Disc Golf", basically like golf but with frisbees! I'd never heard of it, but he assured me it's the coming thing!

Since this was a Sunday I noticed the churches more today. Obviously today was their busy day. There are a lot of churches. A lot of different denominations, but all Christian. I'd like to attend a service or two here before I leave, just to see what it is like. Religion is a tangible influence in these parts, at least. Lots of houses have the same "Thank You, Jesus" signs in their gardens or yards.

I also passed a sign today declaring that "a sunset is just Heaven's door ajar". Now, I really like my sunsets, but the idea that when I'm sitting watching the sun go down that I may actually be close to death left me feeling a little cold.

Today in a local (free) paper that I read with my breakfast, there was a full page article from a local Pastor lambasting "so-called" Christians for not publicly proclaiming their religion and drawing sinners to the one, true faith. In fairness, there was some pretty unChristian language used throughout the article.

On another page there was an article about how to deal with global warming. The answers (from a PhD) were that;
-Global warming is natural, not influenced by man
-Warmer weather was good for us - more food grows in heat, more moisture in the air so less drought.
-Rising sea levels were natural too, but if it became a problem the Dutch could help with pumps.
-CO2 was good for plant growth, the more the better.
To make life more comfortable what was needed was more air-conditioning. The "lefty socialists" wanted to take your air-conditioning away! More cheap power is what is needed.
The end - in so many ways.
I don't think I've ever read or heard of anyone advocating more air conditioning!
The most shocking thing for me in the paper was a half page community announcement - of all the people arrested since the last copy of the paper, complete with photos and crimes - not alleged crimes. Nearly all the "crimes" were parole violations, one simple assault, one assault on a minor and one drug bust - opium / heroine, cocaine, marijuana, meth. In that case I don't know if he had them all or just one kind.
One woman, the most middle class looking of them all had an "offence not disclosed" under her picture.
I was left bemused about the idea of "innocent until proven guilty" and then I started to wonder what's the most harmless crime I could be arrested for? Maybe I could get into the paper too?! :-) Funny, maybe, but in a small community a relatively minor transgression could mark someone for a long time.

Since today seemed to be the day of churches and politics, a question formed in my mind - how is it that a a small community can have so many different churches yet only two political parties?
Is politics really so much more black and white than religion?

Just after I'd decided to go to bed I felt a massive drop of water land on my head. In panic mode I grabbed my hanging laundry, closed up the tent and was treated to a thunder & lightning display for about three hours. The water poured down, lightened, then poured down again. The storm moved away & then came back again. I eventually fell asleep but the rain seemed to last most of the night.

If you have any questions or comments please fire ahead. For the sake of continuity I've had permission from the mod team to use https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/chat-zone-for-the-big-big-trip-journal.254098/
for comments/questions/discussion

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Day 32 October 14 White Oak River Campground (Mayville) - Fulcher's Creek 69 km

After the storm last night, today was a bit of a slower start. There had been a lot of rain, so much, in fact, that three separate mobile homes / caravans had people busy on their roofs.

As I was getting my breakfast organised I had a little visitor from a neighbouring caravan. The previous evening it had been Jake, a 9 week old bull terrier puppy. This morning it was a very inquiring 4 year old who didn't introduce himself.
"Whadat?", he asked pointing at a clip on my pannier. Ditto a strap. Again with another clip. And so it went on. And on. Then I introduced the Russian doll of the stove world to the conversation; my Trangia.
I took it out of the bag - "Whadat?"
I removed the strap - "Whadat?"
I took off the lid/frying pan -"Whadat?"
I lifted the kettle - "Whadat?"
I removed the (nested) bowl - "Whadat?"
You see where this is going and I haven't even had my coffee yet!!

Anyways, after moving the tent into the sun to dry it, I got packed & hit the road for 10. It was warm, but the wind was not as hot as yesterday. The ride started wonderfully, quiet 2 lane, minimal traffic, but best of all it was a lot more broken up than before. There were bends! There were hills! There was shade. Still not a lot of places to pull in, except at people's houses, which I was reluctant to do.

I approached the outskirts of Jacksonville and there was a bike lane! Brilliant! But it wasn't to last. Leaving Jacksonville I was hailed by a guy walking on the other side of the road. I saluted him and pulled in, waiting for a break in traffic to cross over to him. I should have realised when he started shouting at me that something wasn't quite right. When I got over he told me he could give me directions. He wanted to know where I was headed but anything I said just produced a blank look. That's when the penny dropped - he was either drunk or high, so I thanked him for his help, turned around and joined a massive highway. No cycle path here! Just a shoulder that slithered from narrow to nothing. Taking my exit was not a pleasant experience - across 4 lanes of traffic. And that was the rest of the day, almost. Highway! More Highway. Highway Feckin' 17, South.

The only good thing I can say is that there were frequent service spots. But fun? Absolutely not. At one point I took out the maps in case the gps file was in error, but no, this was where I was meant to be.

Highway Feckin' 17

Trucks were horrible - the draft they created made me unstable. Junctions were a nightmare as cars pulled in to turn right, there was invariably a load of gravel in the spot where cars didn't drive when they either joined or left the highway and cars joining the highway weren't too bothered about cyclists.

On top of this, the bike had developed a grating squeak that seemed to be from the bottom bracket. There had been a lot of rain last night, so maybe that was the problem. The couple of filling stations I stopped at had loads of products for engines, but no simple lubricating oil.
As I cycled I was wondering about the bottom bracket. Sure, it's new! I only put it in last year. Then I started to estimate the distance it had covered. Maybe 5-6000 km is not quite new anymore.

There were whoops when I finally got off the Highway, heading for Snead's Ferry. Then the squeak really became an issue without the sound of 2 lanes of traffic whizzing by.

Deciding that this needed proper investigation and maybe a new Bottom Bracket I decided to shorten my day and head off course to a campsite.

And what a campsite! It's $35 for me, but I have a rec room with 2 pool tables, fussball, air hockey, arcade games (Pacman, anyone?), a big screen TV and a sheltered patio area to cook & eat. There are 3 sites occupied - I've met them all- and best of all the owner has lent me a tub of grease to investigate the creaks!

I got my wet clothes from last night up to dry in the sun. Tent up to dry out, all my sleeping things in the sun to air and then I tackled the bike. I removed both the pedals and checked the seals on the BB. They seem good. I regreased everything, reattached the pedals and went for a test ride. Creak is gone!
Tomorrow will be the big test. In any case, I'll have time in Nashville so I will probably invest in a new BB there.

Tomorrow I'll be back along the coast for the run to Wilmington. I'm definitely starting to have sympathy for touring cyclists in this part of the world! In Europe we're spoilt for choice & facilities. I've seen a handful of cyclists in the week or so I've been here, all but two in full cycling gear on road or high end MTBs. I've seen one couple out just for a casual ride. No touring cyclists yet.

I had a real rhythm going in the early part of the day, but the Highway flummoxed me. Constantly scanning the mirror then the shoulder for debris. I'm so glad I have the mirror!

I've found out more about the cemeteries! There's one right at the entrance to the campsite! They're family sites, scattered all over the state, often going back to the time the family owned the land. Oftentimes the land has changed ownership, but the graves are respected. Another resident was telling me where locally a restaurant has a few graves on it's land and a mother and her son are buried in a field beside the campsite.

If you have any questions or comments please fire ahead. For the sake of continuity I've had permission from the mod team to use https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/chat-zone-for-the-big-big-trip-journal.254098/
for comments/questions/discussion

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Day 33 October 15 Fulcher's Creek - KOA Wilmington 85 km

One of the great things about this part of my trip is the language - I can talk to people easily. As a result, today got off to a slow start as I chatted with Tim, the park manager, the owner & various other people who all stopped by.

There was general good humour - the five foot rule means that if you're within 5 feet of a car then they can hit you and variations thereof. Then the gradual move into dangerous areas and, of course, politics.

This campsite was hit hard when the ACA had to change the route because after 9/11 there was no more thru passage for a Marine base locally. That means that Michael (I think), the owner, and a local for years has to go to the base 3 days before his kid plays a soccer game so that he can get a pass to drive through on the day of the match. On the other hand, he pointed out how the Marines hit town at the weekend, pick up women & bring them back to the base no questions asked.

There was talk of the Southern border and apparently about 100,000 people attempting to cross daily.
There was also a lot of resentment towards the ones that succeeded and towards the "Sanctuary Cities" that won't send them back.
I can't comment on the veracity of those claims but these guys believed it and spoke passionately, but respectfully, of their views.

At least there was no Brexit talk today!

They also think I'm a bit nuts. Mexico & Central America is pretty scary. I keep telling people that most people are good & kind, no matter where you go - or at least that's been my experience up to now.

I did get one bit of serious advice, though. "In Mexico, if someone walks up to you, you know the first thing you gotta do is?"
I started to answer how a smile is often the best thing to bring with you when I was abruptly cut off.
"Speak", he said. "Speak and let them know you're not an American!".

Tim, the manager was a character. I think I could have stayed for a week and listened to stories. One in particular was about moonshine & its prevalence. There is still a lot of moonshine distilled & consumed, especially in the mountains. I'm intrigued by this, given the fact that hard liquor is only sold from Govt. stores (except in bars & some restaurants). They're funny little places where you stand at a counter and order what you want. Your order is placed on a turntable that swings out to you. They're normally on the edge of town or just on the side of the road. (I only know this because I stopped at one a few days ago looking for water!)

Anyway, I finally got the road with a blue sky and a squeak free bike!
And what a start. Little country roads, bends, hills, pretty houses and then I cycled right past it - my first alligator!

I'll tell you, there was a squeak alright when I processed the image! And it wasn't from the bike!

I turned around, took out my phone and cycled past it a couple of times, Knight like, armed with a camera instead of a lance. It's a good thing there were no damsels in need of my assistance!
Instead I scanned the road looking for a suitable place to park the bike ready for an emergency exit, dismounted and approached as close as I dared (not close at all!) and snapped him. Thankfully he didn't snap back!!

My first alligator!

Hopping back on the bike I really felt alive! I was scanning everywhere, but no more wild animals were spotted. Just before Surf City I had to cross another bridge with a tiny shoulder, but then the shoulder opened up to a proper cycle lane, smooth as silk as I rejoined the Atlantic Ocean.

The whole run through Surf city was very pleasant riding and I stopped several times to have a look at the sea. There's something about water that I can't resist. Throw some boat's in the mix and I'm as happy as Larry.

Typical houses along the shore road.

I could see another bridge ahead so pulled in for a second breakfast. As it turned out, my waitress was from Offenbach, near Frankfurt, in Germany - a place I used to live! Small world!

Continuing on, I took the bridge which had a lovely wide shoulder and a separate path for pedestrians!

And then it all went pear shaped. Rapidly. I was back on Highway Feckin' 17. The noise! The stink of burned fuel. It was back scanning front & rear and everything was just generally unpleasant.
I decided to knuckle down and get through it just before a place called Hampstead. I remember it well because that's where the shoulder ran out. This was no joke. I pulled in countless times when I saw a truck coming. I had all kinds of vehicles whizzing past me at 55 mph as I tried to dance through the debris on the edge of the road. Hampstead is a long town all along the highway it seems, and I struggled along hoping to see the shoulder reappear. If a shoulder reappeared I would forgive the road everything!! I was sorry! It's such a lovely road!

I turned off. I couldn't take it anymore. I pulled in and plotted a route away from the damned highway to get me to a campsite. This road was busy too, only a 2 lane, and I had the pleasure of a red pick-up burping on me. As he went past he changed gears & revved the engine blasting a big cloud of foul smoke behind him - directly in front of me. I've read of this and I'm fairly sure this was deliberate. I had a few close passes and aggressive honks here too, but after a turnoff for an Interstate all was quiet again. Such bliss!

It's ironic in a way because it was one of the questions the guys asked me this morning - had anyone run me off the road yet? To be fair, most of the drivers have been very courteous. There are a lot of traffic lights so traffic tends to come in packs then disappear for a while. If the first car behaves well, the chances are the rest will. If the first car passes close, then the rest tend to follow.

I took a roundabout route, cutting through a few large housing estates. This was definitely a middle class area and quite different to most of the places I have cycled through so far (Kitty Hawk & Surf City excepted). A lot fewer pick-up trucks and far more "Suburban" cars. In reality huge SUVs.

The last little bit was back on a busy road on the edge of Wilmington but I was so relieved to roll in and claim a spot for the night.

Check-in in was interesting. My spot is less than 150 meters from the office but I was given an escort to bring me to my spot. Having navigated to here from Virginia I assured the lady that I could make my own way, but she insisted, pointing out there was a one way traffic flow and I'd have to follow it the whole way around the park. On a bicycle! Thankfully, my escort (in a golf cart) let me take the shortcut.

I grabbed a cold beer at check in as well and as soon as the bike was parked up cracked it open and sucked it down washing the taste of 17 away.

Looks like tomorrow is going to be a wet one!

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Day 34 October 16 Rained off near Wilmington 0km.

There was some unGodly explosions against the tent about 3 am. I woke up with a start until I figured out it was the predicted rain.

It sounded pretty heavy. I read for a while until my heart slowed down & fell back asleep.

Sometime about 6:30 I woke again to a slightly less intense bombardment. I checked the radar on the Windy app and could see the very, very slow progress of a large and angry looking raincloud. At this rate of progress there would be lots of rain until the early afternoon, at least.

Going on the basis that it sounded worse than it was, I threw on some clothes and prepared to test the conditions.
Hah! It was pouring down.
I lay back down and considered my options. There was a fair whack of Kms to ride before I had any accommodation options. There was a ferry, too and depending on my timing I could be waiting a while in the rain. On the other hand, my book was very good and there were easy food options in the neighbourhood.
I undressed again and went back to bed.

Halloween decorations

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Day 35 October 17 near Wilmington to near Grissettown 122km (some on a ferry)

Some eejit was playing his sound system a bit loud last night & kept me awake. Grrrrrrrrr!

I was awake a bit later than usual as a result and wasted no time getting packed up. An older employee came over to me, having heard about my trip & we chatted. He asked permission to take a photo when the bike was packed.

It took a while packing the tent because the pitch was on a sandy gravel. I wanted as much of it out from the tent & footprint as possible. I get why they do it, but grass pitches are so much easier. My usual pegs were no good in the sandy gravel, but I knew this was likely & have a few different pegs.

Once ready, my photographer showed up & I was on my way.
Immediately I could see a difference from the day before. Yesterday the side of the road was one long puddle of indeterminate depth. Today, all was dry. I had to brave a busy 4 laner for a few hundred meters, then my route veered off into the suburbia of Wilmington. Wealthy suburbia with lovely smooth tarmac. I avoided pretty much most of the city, riding through parks, suburbs and some very exclusive estates.

Going through one of the areas I came across emergency phone boxes every few hundred meters. Press a button and you're patched in directly to the Police. These were just in one area. I found it a bit disconcerting and could determine no reason why they were placed and placed so frequently.


When I eventually rerejoined the official route it was along the beaches then on a major highway down to Fort Fisher where I'd catch a ferry across the Cape Fear river. Thankfully, there was a decent shoulder for most of the way.
I fancied stopping off at the site of Fort Fisher, but since it was so close to the ferry I thought it better to check the ferry times first. As I rolled up, the ferry was in & departure was in 5 minutes. No fort today.
The crossing was quick and I chatted to one of the crew (another couple on their way to Florida was on the ferry before mine!) as well as another cyclist out for the day. More photos taken!

Once on the other side, I turned off the official route and started to make my own way on what was a pretty straight, busy road. Again, there was a shoulder that was adequate for most of the way. The traffic was fine, but the noise was very invasive. There was a fairly strong wind that slowed me down anytime I was heading in a westerly direction. I'd estimated that it was 55km to the ferry, then another 40 or so to the campsite. It was a beautiful day, blue skies, sun shining, but noticeably cooler than other days. Other than the wind, a great day for biking.

I pulled into the campsite about 5:30 and something seemed a little off. Thankfully there was a big communications mast in the next field so I had a phone signal. I called the number to be told that this was an RV park - it didn't take tents. In fairness, the lady was quite nice, explaining they didn't have washrooms, toilets etc.

Out with Google Maps to find another one, plot a quick course (not using Google!!) & headed off at full speed. I don't like biking at night and I particularly don't want to be biking here in the dark. There are many imperfections in the road surfaces that will be a nightmare in the dark, even with lights.

I'd tried calling the new campsite, but they closed at 5, although the website did show that they accepted tents.

Even though I was racing the sun, I was also racing into the sun, so made a point of weaving over and back as much as practical to be as visible as possible.

I made the campsite just as the sun was setting, tried to follow the instructions for late arrivals, failed & went off to set up the tent. The pitch is beside a beautiful little river, I'm all alone, have my own stone picnic table. Best of all, there's a covered area with sinks, 2 sets of 4 plates for cooking on and a vending machine for drinks.

I set up the tent, using no light. I did not want to see sets of yellow eyes staring at me out of the darkness - what I don't know can't hurt me! I put on some warm clothes - this is the first cool evening - and cooked up a dinner of noodles, frankfurters in smoked beans washed down with something I always wanted to try - a root beer (vile!).

There was no hanging around outside tonight! The sky is clear & full of stars, but the thermometer on the bike is reading 8 Celsius.

Sometime today, before the ferry I hit the 1000km milestone, based on the bike computer. It's been acting up a bit lately - the contacts are not very good. I think the heavy rain banjaxed them yesterday. I'll see if I can get it going tomorrow.

If you have any questions or comments please fire ahead. For the sake of continuity I've had permission from the mod team to use https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/chat-zone-for-the-big-big-trip-journal.254098/
for comments/questions/discussion

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Day 36 Friday October 18 near Grissettown to Myrtle Beach 80km

I didn't quite realise it last night in the fading light, but the park was well packed with lots of RVs & caravans, but I had the whole tent section to myself.

I was at the office just after it opened at 8 to pay. As is now usual with the more formal campsites the processing of my I.D. was causing issues. At the end we hammered through & I went off to prepare breakfast.

While gathering my gear to pop over to the luxurious kitchen area I noticed the tyre on the trailer was looking a bit flat.

After a sustaining breakfast of freeze dried oats & fruit (quite delicious really) I tackled the flat tyre & found this sticking out of the tyre!

After that, I noticed some holes on the pannier that rides on the inside of the trailer. I'm thinking back to a few days ago and the bridge with the kerb that I had to pull into a few times because the traffic was so close. Not wanting to lose any more time I applied some gaffer tape inside & outside. I have some gorilla tape I'll dig out when I've a bit more time.


A quick repair, I packed up & hit the road. Initially I was on small, relatively quiet roads, then a 2 lane road with barely a shoulder & relatively heavy traffic. Still, it was better than 17!

I crossed into South Carolina and straight away the white line marking the shoulder had a vicious rumble strip. Outside the line was too narrow to cycle in do I had to cycle inside it, taking up more space than was strictly necessary. Anytime I was put under pressure and had to go over the line the rumble strip rattled the hell out of me.

This was plantation country in both States, but most are now golf courses and property developments. There were advertisements for estate agents (as opposed to properties), all with pictures of the agents. Most of the signs mentioned lifestyle over specifics and prices were listed like "from low 200s", or more likely "from 350s to 700s".

There were "model homes" (never houses), "Agents on Duty", and I even saw a sign advertising a "Property Counsellor". Presumably for the 200s houses in case they felt inferior.

I was on the dreaded Highway 17 again - but only for a moment as I was crossing it, then through some countryside and continued through some gated communities. While these had gates, they weren't closed & I saw no signs barring entry to common cyclists. These were fantastic riding - smooth surfaces, practically no traffic and lots to see - mainly how the other half live!

By taking these diversions I was missing the worst of the build up to Myrtle Beach and when I found myself back on the main road I had a cycle path pretty much to myself. For a cycle path it had some flaws; it was mainly made of slabs of concrete that seemed to have been used by a giant playing hopscotch when they were first laid - sometimes there was a ramp to fly off, other times there was a nasty step to negotiate. Also, on the path I had to use pedestrian crossings at junctions - a lot of waiting. Still, much, much better than the 4 lane road with no shoulder.

Temperature wise, it was mid to high 20s for most of the day, reasonable enough for cycling, although the wind was ever present. Since Myrtle Beach is a big resort I decided to try the local State Park for camping, expecting this to be cheaper. Silly me! $49 excluding taxes!! The most expensive so far!! Too add fear to injury, I was made to read a page informing me of the dangers of snakes & what to do if I encounter one - apparently it is not to use my foot to measure it up for a pair of boots!

After that, the warning of Racoons stealing my food was a bit hard to take seriously!

When I told the nice lady checking me in that this was all a bit too much, that a couple of nights ago I was being terrorised by big spiders, she gave me one of those looks that made me feel "special".

The pitch is nice. There are a couple of women in the pitch next door. They have a tent, have decorated a tree with fairy lights, have their picnic table covered with a tablecloth and on it the most magnificent array of camping essentials - not!

On the other side a family arrived late & with a real family effort got their tent up & a fire pit in record time. They had a whole lot of fun doing it too!

Dinner was more noodles & beans and some coffee. After a good feed and with the temperature dropping I knelt down at my tent and was hit with the most vicious cramp in my leg. I could do nothing but drop on my back and suffer in as close to silence as I could. It lasted a good 10 minutes. I don't normally suffer cramp and I've been paying attention to my hydration. Then again, up until a few weeks ago, I'd hardly ridden a bike any kind of distance for the last nine months.

At least a snake didn't pick that moment to pay me a visit!

If you have any questions or comments please fire ahead. For the sake of continuity I've had permission from the mod team to use https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/chat-zone-for-the-big-big-trip-journal.254098/

for comments/questions/discussion

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Day 37, Saturday, October 19, Myrtle Beach to Huntington Beach National Park 37km

It had been my plan to wake up well before dawn & utilising the campsite's wifi listen to the Ireland v New Zealand ¼ final of the Rugby World Cup. The Wifi Gods, however, were cruel (or perhaps kind in the overall sense) denying me access. I tried a few times, but eventually rolled over & went back to sleep. The bad news would be known soon enough.

I was in no big rush this morning. I had the plan to pootle down the coast to another, hopefully cheaper, State Park.

I had a leisurely breakfast, chatted to my neighbour, on a road trip of sorts of her own. Had a whole pot of coffee. I need filters! Only one left. Chatted to a ranger, rain incoming in the afternoon. He was almost right - it started at 11;55 & I was rolling out at 11;58.

Nothing too heavy at first, but it gradually increased. Once out of the park I had to cross the main road (4 lanes) & follow the cycle path until it ran out. Then it was my usual detour through a gated community - except this time it really was gated! And closed! Feck! Back to the road. Thankfully, there were a series of big stores along the road that meant I could ride away from the road, if a bit circuitously. It's something to see how quickly the rain forms puddles all along the side of the roads, and given the debris & cracks and holes I was very happy to avoid the road until the next turn off to try my gated community trick again. Busted again! At least now I just had to struggle on a little bit further & then take a left onto some quiet roads. Easy Peasy! Except it wasn't. I got across the first 2 lanes ok, but the second two must have taken a good 15 minutes to cross. I was wet, starting to get cold, my eyes were going blurry trying to judge distance & speed, but once across, all was good again.

I tried to check something off my to-do list - a visit to Walmart - but when I tried parking my bike in their vestibule (so I could see it from the store) I was told that was forbidden! I didn't fancy leaving it out of sight so continued on. It has not been an issue up to now.

Last night as I ate my noodles & beans I realised I haven't cooked anything yet, so since today was a short one I'd been looking for supplies. I found them in a small fruit & veg store picking up ingredients for dinner as well as getting a taste of a local delicacy - boiled peanuts. They're boiled in the shell and mushy when you open them up. OK,a bit bland but nothing great. There are also Cajun versions - they might be better.

Since I was in no great hurry I stopped for a coffee & continued on. I was back beside a big road again but there was a bike path, of sorts.

Then more quiet roads until the last few kms were a wonderful track to the park.

These parks have a kind of gatehouse where visitors pay their entrance (not campers) so I rolled up, rather wet but happy that my journey was nearing the end.

"I'm here for the spa treatment and the saunas", I said to the man in his office who looked at me like I was an invader - unsure of whether to deal with me himself or call in the National Guard for back-up.

Realising my humour was falling on deaf ears I explained I was hoping to camp for the night. I was told that was very unlikely - they were full up, but to go on up to the Ranger's office anyway.

There was loads of space. I opted for the primitive camping hoping to save some $$. $39,90! At least there were no snake warnings!! But I did get a weather warning - incoming storm tonight. Also, a friendly lady gave me some paper I can use for coffee so I don't have to choose between evening coffee or morning coffee! Yaaaay!

I found my spot, away, away at the back of the site & set up the tent in the rain. Again, it's gravel underneath which is rapidly losing its appeal for me, tonight especially, needing to be securely tied down.

Once up, I put my gear in the vestibules, got some water & settled down for a long evening.

Before it got dark I made my dinner, pasta with my own tomato/garlic/onion sauce and shrimps. Delicious, if I say so myself.

Once dark, the wind started to pick up so some coffee was made & the Kindle taken out.

Reservations are expected in this part of the world. State Parks can fill up very quickly (as I was checking in one of the assistants was trying to confirm an RV reservation for January or February next and there was very little available!). Reservations are anathema to me. I hate them! I find they reduce the spontaneity of the road. I'm finding that most check ins are a little "ruffled" due to not having a reservation. But the fact of the matter is that for a foreigner without an American I.D. an online reservation is difficult, if not impossible or a phone reservation takes ages!

Every time I'm asked for I.D. I submit my Irish Passport Card (a credit card sized "copy" of my old passport - it's two years out of date! :-) But it's still me! They're looking for an address, so I'm often asked for a driving license - no problem - here's my Dutch one. More confusion because that has no address either! Eventually, we settle on an address and then we move on to phone numbers. A Dutch number does not compute! One lady a couple of nights ago was amazed that I had no I.D. without an address. She thought I was on the run! I guess over here,whenever you move you need to get a new driver's license or other I.D.

Oh! Nobody's ever noticed my I.D. is out of date!

If you have any questions or comments please fire ahead. For the sake of continuity I've had permission from the mod team to use https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/chat-zone-for-the-big-big-trip-journal.254098/

for comments/questions/discussion

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Day 38, Sunday, October 20, Huntington Beach State Park to Wild Camp Francis Marion National Forest 80km

Last night was more than a little stormy and the wind made some terrifying sounds whipping through the trees. I know this because it kept waking me up. On top of the wind, there was more very heavy rain.

Thankfully, the worst seemed over as the sun rose. I waited a little while then hopped up, eager to get on the road. My hopes were stymied when the tip of one of my poles stayed in place as I was pushing the pole through the sleeve. At first I thought an entire pole segment was lost in the sleeve. Not an easy or speedy job when dealing with a wet tent. The other thing was that the rain fell with such force that the whole bottom of the tent was covered in sand/grit.

The day started off pleasant enough. It was spitting rain, dark grey clouds overhead drive the humidity up, but I was on a dedicated bike path beside the main road.

The wind was swirly and according to the forecast should change direction during the day.

Eventually, I knew I was going to end back up on Highway 17, but hoped for less traffic since this was a Sunday.

But first I had to pass through Georgetown, the third city eastablished in the Colony. It is pretty with lots of streets covered by arching trees.

When 17 came, it wasn't too bad. As usual now for South Carolina, the white line marking the edge of the road was a rumble strip, but I had just enough space inside it to manage - most of the time.

I was feeling seriously underpowered, so much so that I stopped to check the brakes or the trailer weren't jammed. A breakfast & big coffee didn't help.

The problem was another bridge. Reasonable shoulder with a big step, but the shoulder itself was next night to impossible to cycle through. It was full of sand, mud and all the usual debris. I walked the bike over, me walking on the step, leaning over and pulling the bike along the shoulder. Once past the bridge I had the chance to turn off & took it gratefully, back to quieter roads….until I hit it again!

This time I had to take the lane as there was no space past the rumble strip. Thankfully, the traffic was light and all bar one passed me in the other lane.

Now it was coming up to decision time. I'd cycled 60 odd km and had at least another 70 to go to reach a campsite. The quickest way was to stick on 17, the nicer way was to turn off & take some back roads. I turned off.

I entered a whole other world! I think I rode for a couple of hours and encountered 2 cars! I passed real plantations, not real estate ones. For someone whose ideas of South Carolina were inspired by John Jakes' North & South trilogy, this was the real South Carolina!

I turned off onto a back, back road, made of sand and all hopes of making the campsite evaporated. I really didn't care. I came across an old church with graveyard that I explored. A lot of people live to a good old age in these parts! People born in the 1890's dying in the 1990's.

I've noticed something here I haven't seen before. On headstones, where one partner has died, as well as their information (dates etc.) there is also the name of the (still living!) spouse. I find this a little odd, not to mention the fact that some people will be literally looking at their own tombstone!

Today, there was one more twist - the wife had died, but at the top of the headstone were the husband's name and date of birth, (but no death date) followed by all her details. Even in death, the Husband has top billing!

I continued on down the sandy road, going very slowly. As the sun was sinking and I still had a wet tent, I tried my Osmand app for camping options. It showed a Hunter's site, with water, about 6 km away. Turning back, I headed for it until it became obvious that while I could walk there, I'd never get the bike there.

So, I've pulled in about 50m from the road (3 cars have passed in 3 hours) & set up the tent, discreetly.

I'm low on water so had one of my emergency boil in the bag meals & some trail mix. Other than the mosquitoes it's a nice little spot.

If you have any questions or comments please fire ahead. For the sake of continuity I've had permission from the mod team to use https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/chat-zone-for-the-big-big-trip-journal.254098/

for comments/questions/discussion

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Day 39, Monday October 21, Wild Camp to Mount Pleasant 65km

The night passed peacefully enough, although there were animal sounds that I could not place. I did wake up once, startled, but I heard nothing else & fell back to sleep

I got up not long after the sun had risen enough to wake me (a bit delayed by the height & density of the trees around me), packed up & hit the road. I was hoping that the sand might be a bit firmer, but there was no real change - 8kph was about the max.

After about 5km of this I hit some proper road & began to make up some time. It was glorious cycling and hardly any traffic at all. Soon I had another choice to make & back on to the side roads or stay on the hardtop & run back to 17. I was anxious to get to a campsite as early as possible today to make contact with home - a young man's birthday - so that was playing on my mind.

The side road was seductive, she seemed firm and curvy, if not a little mysterious, so not for the first time in my life, my head was overruled.

This road charmed me, led me astray, kept me to herself (I met one auto in about 3 hours!), and almost swept me off my feet!
This was, to my gentle sensibility, adventure cycling! In the middle of nowhere, bouncy roads, woods all around me, swamps on either side of the road. With a small bit of imagination it's easy to believe that I'm exploring somewhere new& exciting - well, it's new & exciting to me! A little make-believe can't be a bad thing.
After a couple of hours I stopped for some breakfast - jerky & trail mix. My only concern was water, but while I might get a bit uncomfortable, it wasn't going to be dangerous.

I was so happy I was taking this route. There was no comparison to Highway 17 and its noise & traffic.

I went on and on, stopping regularly just to soak up the feeling.

Eventually, I was back on a road that quickly started to be occupied by heavy trucks. This was a wood harvesting area and the trucks moved fast! I joined 17 to get over a river & promptly pulled off it again to try my luck through another gated community - no chance! This one was manned at the gate. A few hundred meters down the road, I turned onto another side road and was rewarded with a cycle path through the buildup to Mount Pleasant. Again, there were communities on both sides of the road - wealthy ones. Very wealthy. Truth be told, I think my bike path was more for golf carts than for bikes.

Golf carts are big business here. They're used in the big RV sites for people to get around; they can be rented in any of the beach areas I've passed through and they are as common as cars in most of the gated communities I've seen. I've actually seen one or two on golf courses!!

Before I knew it, I was at my campsite for the day. Doing some research at check in, I've booked for two nights. Charleston, my first intermediate destination is only 9 miles away with a bike path the whole way so I can base myself here.

When I couldn't get the WiFi to work, he generously brought me to the office & let me hook into the boss's internet do I could make my call.

Then, I had loads to do! The tent was quite wet this morning (condensation), I had some laundry to do & desperately needed a shower. Once all that was done, it was off to Walmart for a shopping trip. I really needed some lubricating oil for the chain on the bike. It's been pished on twice within a few days and the chain is looking very dry & unloved.

If you have any questions or comments please fire ahead. For the sake of continuity I've had permission from the mod team to use https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/chat-zone-for-the-big-big-trip-journal.254098/
for comments/questions/discussion

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Day 40 Tuesday October 22 Touristy day in Charleston 80km

Wow, was it humid last night! Hot and sticky & difficult to sleep.

I was awake well before dawn having slept fitfully and would have done one of my favourite tricks - visit a city as it wakes up - but I'd been having trouble with my front light powered from my dynohub.

Thinking that this might be as good an opportunity as any I had a quick scan of Google and decided to check out a bike shop for a possible repair.

Having being told that there was a "brilliant" bike path I set off the 13 miles I was told it was to Charleston. Let's just say my idea of a brilliant bike path and the other guy's differ about as widely as the bridge into Charleston - although, in fairness, the bridge was great.

Once in the city proper, I headed to the bike shop where they were a bit hesitant - I wanted the light & charger rewired with soldering and shrink-wrap. They reckoned only one guy in the city could do it, so I gave him a call.

There are times when you talk to someone and you know they are a bullshooter. This was not one of those times. Jeff, or old Jeff, to give him his proper moniker, knew his stuff so I headed out the other side of Charleston.

Let's just say the Charleston Bike Company is the place for workmanship and knowledge. A very happy biker, I set off back into Charleston to explore.

Now, Charleston to me is a total flight of fancy. There is no substantial or sensible reason for me to be here - other than the fact that I wanted to visit. In fact, it's added approximately 1000 km to my route to Nashville, denying me the chance to see Jason Isbell perform in the Ryman theatre (formerly the Grand Ole Opry). It has also proven to be a more difficult ride than I had anticipated. What I know of the city is from the novels of John Jakes and my impression has been coloured by a girl from more than 25 years ago who was never more than a colleague!

But, the old town of Charleston is pretty. The edges may be touristy, but the centre is not much changed. People still live in these houses, some spectacular, almost beyond belief. I circled, I wandered up and down streets. I looked at the market area but left as it was full of tat and tourists. I explored more streets. Chatted to a few locals, who were, to a one, charming & hospitable.

While it had been threatening rain as I first came into the city, now it was bright & sunny. Really, it could not have been nicer. While I was standing on a street just soaking in the views in each direction a cat came over to me to make friends. I dislike cats intensely. I'm of the opinion that they are intent on world domination, if they haven't already succeeded. But they will not leave me alone! A sign that it was time to move on!

I had no real interest in exploring the modern side to Charleston - my interest was solely in the historical and the romantic. Due to the bike repair detour, I had missed my chance to catch a ferry out to Port Sumter which was the site of the start of the Civil War. (The Confederates fired on the Union fort, forcing the Union soldiers to surrender. They then occupied the fort and were swiftly blockaded from the sea by the Union navy). Truth be told, I didn't fancy being in a big group of tourists (there were a lot in the city) on a boat, then the confined spaces of the fort. Wandering around on the bike was enough for me.

Leaving the city behind and heading to the bridge again, I had a huge sense of satisfaction for doing something that was no more than a flight of fantasy, a figary with no rational explanation other than I wanted to do it.

I returned to the campsite by a different route, just to keep things interesting & stopped of for a Mexican, just to finish off the special day.

While I struggled to make a food choice, the beer (it was a beer day!) choice flummoxed me, so I asked the waitress to pick one. A guy at another table told her what to bring me and that started an interesting conversation between myself, himself and his eating buddy. The conversation flowed from beer to music to fishing - the fisherman of the pair agreed with my observationd that it was less about the catching and more the social occasion or time away from normal life. Good food, beer & conversation. A great way to end a great day.


If you have any questions or comments please fire ahead. For the sake of continuity I've had permission from the mod team to use https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/chat-zone-for-the-big-big-trip-journal.254098/
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[HobbesOnTour]

Day 41 Wednesday October 23, Mount Pleasant to Wild Camp after Cross 108km

Last night was cooler so I slept better.
Today was a bit of a psychological leap since I was now turning west and making my own way to Nashville. No more ACA routes for me! I had a number of options to choose from. I had been leaning towards a southern route via Augusta & Atlanta that would have me miss the worst of the Appalachians. Or, I could take a more northerly route, but more hilly. Since I was in a good mood I chose the hilly one!

I got up, made breakfast of porridge & honey, washed down with coffee and did a reorganisation of my bags as well as repairing the damaged pannier properly. I also checked over the bike and noticed that a bolt on the trailer had worked itself loose. As well as the rack for the two panniers, there's an extra rack attached at the front. When the bolt becomes loose, the whole trailer will wobble.

Satisfied, I started to pack up, break down the tent & get ready to hit the road. There was a cleanup crew busy in the campsite, tidying up all the leaves that were falling down. They had petrol driven leaf blowers, as well as big powerful fans on wheels that would clear entire roads.
The Campsite

Leaving the Campsite

I knew I had a bit of a longish day ahead of me, and there were times when I had to force myself to slow down and savour the moment.

Setting off, the trailer immediately had a bad wobble. I stopped, adjusted some things to make sure it was evenly balanced. A little better, but not much. Since I was going to be on a highway in a few minutes I stopped for a fuller investigation. I pumped up the tyre, although it was ok pressure wise & then I saw it - the bolt had worked it's way loose already! The only option now was some kind of a locknut to hold it in place. The only problem is that it is in an almost inaccessible place. For about half an hour I was contorting myself & the trailer to get the nut on. Finally, success! I packed up again & gingerly set off. The bolt held, the wobble was minimalised, but not fully solved. Maybe my bag reorganisation was not such a good idea!

Now, finally, ready to hit the road I said my goodbyes to Highway 17 as I crossed it for the last time and followed pretty much the same route as I had coming in until about 15 km down the road. Then I was on a quiet 2 lane, but with big, fast trucks. I continued on, back through the forest I had been in a couple of days ago, but this time on proper roads. As I went deeper the roads got quieter and for an hour or so I met one car.

I was heading for Monck's Corner where it got quite busy, but I was soon onto a smaller 2 lane that was busy enough, but had a reasonable shoulder outside the rumble strip.

Cycling along here I saw my second alligator! Beside the shoulder was a grass verge about 2 or 3 meters wide, after that a wide ditch filled with water. The alligator was lying on the bank opposite to me and lunged into the water as I rode by, making a huge splash. For a second I had no idea what I had just seen - it was all so fast! Then it hit me & the adrenaline kicked in. I powered the pedals not knowing if he was coming after me. I became acutely conscious of my bare legs spinning & how tasty they must look. I chanced a quick look behind but nothing was in pursuit. Then I thought about turning around for another pass! It's funny how the mind works sometimes - from "must flee" to "oh, let's have another look" in 5 seconds flat.

There's no way that experience would have been half as much fun in a car!

Sometimes, along the side of the road there are "historical information" signs. Sometimes, not even a place to stop to read them! It's hard enough on a bike, but impossible from a moving vehicle. Some of them are interesting such as one about Lafayette who stayed here on his first night in the Colonies, then goes on to explain what he did to help defeat the English. Others are very tenous - this is the site of the first post office in the state, and here's some info on the postmaster.

I had done my usual trick of marking off campsites on Google Maps & then saving the map. Just as well, because I have no phone signal. The first was an RV site, the second was closed, the third was another RV site & the fourth was an hour away - and it was getting dark.
I did stop at a church, but no-one was around, then I saw a Sheriff's office - but that was closed. I was afraid #4 was not going to work either so I was looking for options along the way. Still no phone signal. Then I spotted the Sheriff doing a speed trap, so I rolled over & asked his advice. He told me of a slipway a few miles down the road that should be ok. He said a few people might come along, but they'd be friendly enough. So I set off down a little road in the dark. When I got here it's quite a big spot. One car was already parked on the slipway do I have them a wide berth. Another joined them for a while, then both headed off. I ate some jerky & trail mix - don't fancy cooking. I'm alone now except for the sounds of something big swimming in the lake and something big rustling through the trees at the back!
Never a dull moment!

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