Mood:  a-ok

There were several items for consideration before I left the Pierce's home.  First of all, the area in which they live has only one traffic outlet, so all people commuting to work will be on a narrow road that has no shoulder.  I would need to leave late enough for the road to clear itself of most commuters.  We decided that 8 AM would work.  Secondly, I sure hope that I-85 is not backed up like it was yesterday.  The new road that we discovered last night will bypass the Interstate, but it was a twisty turny road with no shoulder--not a very safe road for a bicycler if there is much traffic.  Thirdly, the later start and the location of the Pierce house made it questionable as to how close I could get to Raleigh tonight.  My brother, Jim, was planning on leaving work early and bicycling out to meet me, then leading me to his house.  Staying with the Pierces took me a little out of the way of Raleigh, but I am glad that I took the opportunity to stay there and get to know them.

We had a magnificent breakfast that set the stage for a good ride. The weather was going to be mostly clear. 
When I pulled out onto the main road, the traffic was sparce compared to when I came in yesterday afternoon.  On a whim, I kept count of the vehicles that needed to pass me over the seven miles to the main road.  There were only 35, including 5 commercial trucks.  A pretty small number considering the distance.  Before reaching the main highway I crossed over I-85, and it seemed to be clear of yesterday's congestion.  Good!  That meant that the small bypass road shouldn't have much traffic.  I turned right onto the main road.  

Several miles down the road I passed a textile mill that was being torn down.  Neil Pierce had been in the textile industry before retiring, and shared how the companies were going offshore in order to keep costs down.  This, of course, created great pain in the local communities whose workers were laid off.  It must be quite a challenge for a worker to re-acquire a job in this area when there are so few around.

My memory was that the bypass road was immediately to the left after crossing the bridge over the Yadkin River.  To go straight was to get onto I-85.  Since there was a bit of traffic, I was going to cross the bridge on the shoulder, stop until traffic cleared, then cut across to the bypass.  As I started across the bridge, 5 cars all passed me in the left hand lane, slowed and turned onto my little bypass road.  Oh no!  This was not going to be the little peaceful ride that I'd hoped for.  Looking ahead, I saw traffic backed up on I-85.  Once on the bypass, I was hopeful that traffic would diminish, but that would not be the case.  The bypass was fairly short, not much more than a mile or two, and after a while it did straighten out which made it safer for me, but the first half mile was fraught with peril as lots of cars and semi trucks tried to get past me without having to slow down.  Nonetheless, soon I was back onto a main road where visibility was good.  In the first hour I had ridden 12 miles.  I was happy with that.  

The second town I passed through had a nice convenience store/cafe, and I went in to have breakfast #2.  When leaving, I asked how far I was from Highway 64, and what followed brought up much contemplation on my part as I pedalled on.  Two employees, both women took it upon themselves to advise me as to how to get to Raleigh, and it certainly wasn't Hwy 64.  "Take 85" they insisted.  When it dawned on me that the 85 they were referring to was the Interstate, I explained that bicycles weren't allowed there, they still insisted that it was better.  And 64 was narrow, had fast traffic and was very hilly.  I thanked them for their help.  It is so difficult to be fully accepting of any advice for directions from a person that doesn't bicycle.  Non-bicyclers have little concept of grade (steepness) because the car has no problem with grades.  People have described big, steep hills as little ones.  They have inaccurately estimated distances, normally thinking that things are much closer than they really are.  They put themselves, in their minds, on a bicycle and advise based upon how they would feel on a given road, not allowing for their inexperience.  I learned to be highly skeptical of advice, but I still had need, on occasion to ask. And sometimes the advice was spot on.

Several miles down the road was the entrance to Hwy 64.  It was a two lane road, but it had a 4-5' shoulder for me to ride on.  This was great!  I wondered how long this would last.  Mile after mile passed by.  Eventually I was approaching Asheboro.  I was getting low on water, as I was consuming alot.  Sue Pierce had made the comment that Bojangles had the best sweet tea, so when I came across one, I pulled in for lunch.  Yes, the tea was good and I drank a number a large glasses of it.  It seemed I had been hydrating more of late than before.  I found out later that the temperature had gotten to 95 degrees, but it was that hot, and hotter, in Kansas and Missouri, plus humidity, but my body was telling me to drink more.

Jim had left a message that he would like to meet on the outskirts of Raleigh at 1 PM tomorrow, so I would need to get reasonably close in order to ensure my timeliness.  There were two towns that seemed to fit the bill:  Siler City and Pittsboro.  Pittsboro was 15 miles closer towards Raleigh, so that was my goal.  

Unfortunately, I was starting to wear down.   There were a number of long hills before Asheboro that were taxing in the heat, and I was not sure that I would be able to make it to Pittsboro.  What if there were no motels in Pittsboro?  I didn't want to go there to find myself homeless again.  I'd have to check.

After Asheboro, Hwy 64 widened to five lanes, and still maintained the wide shoulder.  Uh oh.  There was a Doberman Pinscher on the other side of the road that wanted a piece of me.   It was tracking me along the opposite side of the road.  The problem for the dog was that it couldn't get over to my side of the road without getting hit by a car or truck.  Ha!  The dog was smart enough, at least, to stay over there.  That reminds me that several weeks earlier, there were 3 consecutive days where dogs were chasing me.  Then that stopped except for one other occurance, and then today.

Finally, Siler City.  I was approaching 70 miles for the day, and was beginning to drag a bit.  A motel appeared on the right that looked appealing.  I stopped at a nearby convenience store to guzzle more Gatorade, and asked some of the patrons about the motel.  Two things stand out among their replies:  First of all, there are several more motels up a mile, with lots of restaurants to choose from.  Secondly, Pittsboro had no motels. So I rode a mile further and checked into a motel in Siler City.

Oddly, no one seemed to have a consistent answer as to how many miles it was to Raleigh.   Numbers ranged from 40-60.  The maps were okay until nearing Cary (just west of Raleigh).   In talking to Jim, he decided to meet me at 2 PM instead of 1 PM, so I had an extra hour of riding tomorrow to get there ahead of him..  I think I'll start riding early, before 7 AM.

Tomorrow was going to be the last day of my journey.  Over 4,000 miles.  All types of terrain.  All types of weather.  Day after day of pedalling.  It was going to end tomorrow.

Will McMahan