I rested easily last night and awoke to the sound of rain and pine needles hitting the fly. Nearby the din of heavy trucks on 411 carried through the pines. A freight train passed in a thundering roar behind me every 45 minutes, something I had strangely grown accustomed to sleeping through. My plan was to wait out the remains of the hurricane which was now dumping rain on the southeast. I lay in the hammock through the morning being tossed about by the wind and swaying pine trees, writing in my journal and reading to pass the time. By afternoon it was finally clearing and some prodding by my sister urged me to finish the last 45 miles. To my surprise the rear tire was holding air and I was soon on my way biking each mile closer to a warm home...a known destination. For someone always on the road there's a known comfort in these places of rest and reapect. Just after crossing through Cartersville, I noticed my rear tire was low and checked to find it nearly flat. Another flat! grrr. Reinflated with the pump it held enough air to get me up to a gas station where I discovered the leak in the tube only after rising off and up the road hearing the 95 psi hiss through the tire with each revolution. Patched, it seemed to be holding air and I figured I should make good speed south on 61. The rain began in earnest along with gusts from the east which nearly blew me off the road. The shoulder was often lacking and never more than a foot wide as I climbed the steep hills and bombed down the hills at 35 and up. As long as the tire held air, I could make it there the last few miles...15...10...5. I started seeing familiar businesses and landmarks and then found my way to my sister's quiet rural street and turned up the long gravel driveway and soon arrived in the haven of my sister's home and shelter from the storm. I was soaking wet and she gave me a towel and pointed me to the shower. Seeing my nephew again is a blast and he's grown so much since last spring. Chicken fried steak , potatoes and green beans for dinner was just the home cooking I needed after these last few days of riding. Time to rest a bit ...
Mike SaundersFollowing 16 months spent riding a Honda Ruckus around America, I've decided to slow things down with a bicycle trip aboard my trusty and twice-wrecked 1980 Panasonic DX3000. Stealth camping should be easier now! Archives |