Cycling Across America #16
Part 16 of the Cycle-Across-America series relayed day by day, exactly ten years after it happened. (Read from the start in Boston)
Ten years ago today I was in a Motel 6 in Goldsboro, in Wayne County, North Carolina, watching HBO and drinking a can of 7-Up –the “Un-cola”, which I noticed is a registered trademark:
Saturday Night. 17th of August.There was a mounted Bobcat at last night’s B&B, which I’d presumed was shot. It came here looking for pigs, and it got one, one night, a small one, and went off with it. The next night it came back, got another one, but there’s an electric fence and it hit it with its paw, dropped the pig, and bit the fence as an act of revenge. And there it stayed, stuck to the fence until it was found, when they realised the fence wasn’t on because it had been grounded.
They’ve also got 3 stags in the freezer. I’m not sure how they were killed. And the woman of the house wants them mounted for Christmas. She seems to love animals and hates the fact that they kill cows even though they rear them for that purpose.
–Do you like Cantaloupe?
–I’ve no idea what Cantaloupe is.So she started to describe it to me in terms of watermelon. Then I realised what I was doing.
–It doesn’t matter. I like everything.
–Well what an easy going young man you are
Breakfast at the B&B was impressive. Cheese-eggs, Gritz for the first time, bacon, some Country Ham – some fried - lots of tomatoes, gravy, tenderloin pork, cantaloupe, biscuits, and preserves. Fruit juice, several cups of hot tea, and a glass of milk. As much as I could eat really.As I was leaving, I was asked would I like some fresh country water for my bottles? So I got water in one and ice tea in the other one.
There wasn’t much traffic all the way to Greenville so it wasn’t too bad, but you do get a lot of of sports cars, most of them red, and some black. Beeping, and not moving over. They’re kind of scary.
Went through Goldpoint, a nice pleasant little village. and on to Robertsonville, which is quite small. An awful lot of brick in the town. South Maryland was a bit like that. Red brick and a crossroads.
When the shoulder disappeared –there’s a cement shore which runs into the kerb. It’s maybe 2 foot wide, but it’s hollowed out for water so it’s got rubbish in there but I cycled in there a lot and I kept kind of looking sideways so that they’d see me.
And I was up out of the saddle a lot. Did an awful lot of that all day, which means the sole of my feet, particularly my right foot, is rough and sore. My right foot because my left leg is banjaxed anyway, and my right leg is taking all the hassle to compensate.
Coming out of Greenville I went in to a garage food stop. I got a litre of ice tea for the bike. I got a litre of Pepsi for me there and then. I got sausage and egg in a bap. And I got a ham and cheese (probably), with loads of mayonnaise –why do they do that? – A sandwich. And I also had the biscuits I’d taken from the B&B, with rashers and the tenderloin pork.
And I ate all that in the car park. People came up to me and asked me where I was going, where I’d been, etc. I was chatting to a man, a white man –I think the other people had all been black –this white man who knew his way all around the States. He reckoned he’d helped build Holiday Inns in thirty-seven different States. He’s a local from there and I told him I was going to Goldsboro. He told me how to get there, and he drew a little map for me.
I told him I was nervous of traffic since I was knocked down. He told me he had a stroke. So he told me the route would avoid the traffic anyway. And he was right. About 6 miles away there was Ballard’s Crossroad and his turn off. And the road did what he said. North Carolina would be fabulous on just those roads.
I did a lot of looking backwards today. And I got scared sometimes. This was quite uncomfortable. They drive on the shoulder. It might be only 8 inches wide. It would’ve been worse on a busier day, but it was Saturday.
Crossed a bridge earlier in the day over a tributary of the Noose River, and looked down to see fish about a foot long, fish six inches long, fish one inch long, millions of them. And the river was only about a foot deep. It was good fun.
On a back road I stopped at this little petrol station. There was a few of these in here. This place was actually littered with little villages, which were all shacks, or mobile homes actually. But these garages are tiny places with a pump outside, and I went into this one and it was just so, so dark on the inside.
In the darkness I could barely see two benches or couches in there. I saw about 4 guys sitting in there as well as the fella sitting in behind the desk, which was also in the dark. They were all drinking beer. I think people said things to me but I didn’t understand them. I just got my coke said thanks and went outside, drank it, took a photograph, went back inside, put it in the bin, and off I went again.
Finally got into Goldsboro and black chap gave me directions to a Motel 6 with a pool, keeping me off expressways. Passed a bicycle shop so I bought a rear view mirror, which plugs into the handlebar ends.
On my way to the pool of course it’s raining and it wasn’t that warm. I went “oh”, but I was determined so I jumped in. And I spent a good hour in the pool. I was on my own for about 20 minutes and then this little black kid from New Jersey who goes to school down here, asked me to play “Batty-Ball” with him. Just batting a big beach ball backwards and forwards.
I must have been there for an hour and a half. Me leg was sore but it was good to move it, and good exercise I think. And his parents came along as well. At the end when I got out –of course I was wearing my swimming togs, not swimming shorts –there was all these kids, all of them black, and they were all taunting me,
–Hey white dude, white dude! Why are you wearing your wife’s bikini? Have you got a husband?
And this kind of stuff over and over again. It was funny.I came back got me stuff, dried off, applied foot cream because my feet were sore. That’s from standing up on the pedals a lot today, resting my bum. I applied hand cream, because I just thought while I was putting creams on I might as well. I applied the insect cream I bought recently. I applied anti-sceptic cream underneath for the blisters, which are yuk. And I didn’t put any sun tan on, and no Vaseline. Vaseline tomorrow for going off.
Got myself a 12-inch pizza. With a large Pepsi, and a bucket as they call it, which is a great big deep tray of Spaghetti. Oh and some garlic bread. I need a big input of carbs.
I was walking a bit funny with my hip and sore legs. That muscle at the right leg, under the knee, I certainly felt that cycling today. And if I push it I’m sure it’ll just go boom. The saddle soreness is coming from sitting at an angle to try to lessen the pain in the hip.
I wanted to ring Fayetteville but I didn’t. So hopefully tomorrow I’ll do that. If I don’t it’s not the end of the world. I’ll find a motel. Fayetteville’s big enough.
Yeah there’s no point in talking about dead snakes or terrapins and tortoise that I’ve seen crossing the road, loads of other creatures. Good Night.
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