Dogs and detours

Day 16
From Warsaw NC
To Whiteville NC
Mileage estimated 73
Mileage actual 72
Top speed 24 mph
Riding time 4hrs 46 mins

At breakfast this morning at a ridiculously early 6.30am, nearly everyone was quiet and one rider, Scott, remarked how dismal most people looked. I don't think that was exactly the case, more that the long mileage day yesterday had a greater impact on us all than we probably thought it had at the time. I think we were all quite tired from the exertions and the heat in which we rode.

If you think I was exaggerating about the heat, the picture at the top shows the temperature and clock outside Walgreens' Pharmacy when we arrived here in Whiteville today. Now I know there are suggestions that these devices are always wrong, but even if it was a few degrees out, it was still HOT!

We had pulled out of the hotel just after 7.30am with the promise of fine sunny weather and a tailwind increasing as the day went on, ending at about 12 mph, and while that doesn't sound to be much, I'd rather ride with it than have to ride into it, and again we made good time eventually covering the ground at an average speed of 15 mph. Of course, no discernible hills helps enormously with that statistic, but we still did very well.

The town of Warsaw was soon behind us and we were then again into our familiar landscape. The cue sheet had quite a few remarks on it, but mostly they were to tell us to go straight. We did start out with a few miles of 'Da-Dum' roads which just reminded us of how one night's sleep does not cure the aches and pains of the day before. For a few miles we rode along Tomahawk Highway and between 17 and 18 miles, we could have done with a few of them on the crossbar of the bikes because that was when we met more than our fair share of dogs - and they were big! One of the ladies, Carol had been the first through and she had had to get off her bike, the advice given when the dog is 'winning' and stand between the dog and the bike while she walked away from the animal. There were four houses within a distance of about 1/2 mile and they all had dogs that came out onto the road and barked ferociously. Luckily, our tactic of 'Go Home' continued to work, but there was one particular house where there were four dogs, the biggest looking like some kind of attack beast that was kept inside an electrified fence. Again, luckily, the dog didn't have the nous to jump over the fence because if it had we would have been in trouble. There is apparently, no law in North Carolina whereby owners have to keep their dogs on leads so we have had to be very aware wherever we are riding.

We pushed on and after the first SAG we got to Elizabethtown at 47 miles where we decided to stop and have some lunch. There was a pleasant little cafe on the street corner and Shane (Leader) and Al (roommate) were already there and they recommended the food. It was a busy little spot with many locals having lunch there so we had a quick sandwich. Whilst there, Shane got a message from Mike the Bike who was driving one of the vans today, that there was a bridge out further along the route and that to get round would involve a 7 mile detour. Not what you want to hear when you are on a 'recovery' day of 73 miles, but what might be a road closed to everyone else is not the case to Mike of AbB.

He 'recced' the bridge and decided that with assistance, we could all get across what there was and carry on along the right route. When we, the last group, arrived, everyone else had got safely across and Mike saw us on our way then went round the detour to joins us. I think we were almost at the hotel when he got back on track!

We were in the hotel at a very early 2pm and the room was just about ready for occupation, but Al and I wandered out to a drive-in and had a some drinks before I wandered over to Walgreens and did some necessity shopping.

Route Rap discussed the day and tomorrow - that is by far the shortest riding day of the tour at 55 miles and we are heading into North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It would appear that Hurricane Hanna, the next weather front is also going there for a few days so all sorts of things could happen.

We went for dinner to an Italian Family Buffet restaurant. It wasn't the best place I have been to, I must admit. Especially when it serves local southern delicacies (Yes, I know, what else is it going to serve?) that includes Hamburger meat steak (Minced meat) Fried Chicken, fried shrimps that were smaller than Morecambe Bay ones, macaroni cheese that had stood for a long time, but not the test of time, and the piece de resistance was 'Pig Back' or fried pork scratchings as we would know them at home. Add to that limp salad, weary fruit and tinned vegetables, and it was agreed that it was probably the worst place we had eaten so far. Quite a few went to MacDonald's to get a burger after leaving, that was how bad it was!

Just a final, quick mention to Rick Olafson, my room mate from the ride last year who very kindly sent a donation to the charity and I guess he is following along with this. Just to thank you for your kindness and wish you all the best on 'Ride the West', Rick and let me know what it's like.

You never know, one day...........

Very finally, sorry about the lack of pictures today. 1) I didn't take many but 2) those I did take wouldn't download and move to where I wanted to put them for some reason. Will try again tomorrow.