Cycling Across America #20
Part 20 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 watching television in South Carolina:
Wednesday morning 21st August, The Fairfield Inn, Columbia, South CarolinaI’ve been thinking about the man this morning impressing upon me not to make Yellowstone Park one of my near misses. He said I’d remember it forever, and I thought back to cycling through the Alps and the spiritual quality of the land. Isn’t that what I crave the most? It’s never really been the people for me. It’s the landscapes, the feeling of being reduced to a basic unsophisticated almost primitive being - subject to the land, belonging to the land.
Just had breakfast (bagels, cream cheese, tea, branflakes, apple juice, pastries) and met a family driving up from Florida to Pittsburgh to drop their daughter at school. Kind and very nice they told me about the lie of the land and the types of towns I’ll experience in the next few days. They gave me their card in case I ever needed any help. It means I’ll be late leaving this morning but you have to talk to people.
Rang Ireland last night for about ten minutes. It was one of several treats I gave myself after the tough ninety eight mile cycle in the nineties yesterday.
Last night watched Henry Louis Gates, Jr and Cornel West on the Charlie Rose show. Discussing African American scholarship and how it relates to the solution of racism in the States. Last week I watched that show while recuperating in Virginia. Harry Belafonte was on it doing the rounds because of his role in Altman’s new film Kansas City. Earlier over dinner at Denny’s I was watching one of those baseball live action (three and a half seconds) holograph cards I bought.
Packing will be trickier today as I have an extra jug given to me by a woman when I was looking for a secondary road in towards here. They sent me onto Wildwood Lane which was perfect. The man was reluctant to because he thought I’d get lost but the woman tuned in instantly to my needs and likes.
21 August, Wednesday 7.30 p.m. Aiken, South Carolina-I’m a firm believer that the American Dream is a journey not an accomplishment and that retiring when you’re forty is selling the dream house before it’s finished, said the presenter on channel 34 before the programme finished.
And now a programme on the big Cezanne retrospective on at Philadelphia at the moment. It’s the one I saw at the Tate in London back in March. It’s good to have an American perspective. It closes in Philly on September 1st and is sold out ’til the end of its run. Had I spent the extra day in Philadelphia as originally intended I would’ve seen it again.
I’m seventeen miles short of Augusta. I hit the centre of Aiken and like its suburbs it was lovely. The Holley Inn (an expensive looking hotel ) and Holley House (its sister motel out the back) just beckoned to me. It means no dusk cycling and tomorrow I can cycle on a small road through the villages rather than on US Route 1. It means Augusta, Georgia is perfect for breakfast too.
I keep thinking of musical moments of the trip, and the highlights are mostly from Hip-Hop. Perhaps the strangest musical moment for me though was after getting collected from the hospital in Virgina Beach and going for tea in McDonalds. With my right cheek on hard plastic, gritting my teeth and bracing myself against the pain in my left hip, very quietly in the background I could hear A Woman’s Heart.
Looking at the Weather Channel I see the next few days will still be in the nineties like today and yesterday but perhaps then will dip into the mid-80’s, which is lower than average for this time of year. The heat doesn’t bother me. I drink a lot, especially in the morning to keep me cool and I’ve had no problem pacing my water with shop or fast food bought refills.
Over the last three days I have experienced nausea at various times. Typically in the evening but today I got it on the bike. I’m wondering if this is a symptom of heat sickness - after all I’m out there all day from typically 8.30 am to 6.30 p.m. Two nights ago I wouldn’t go into a convenience store for fifteen minutes until I was sure I wasn’t going to throw up. Instead I stayed outside and looked down at the ground where I noticed every manner of insect that you would never want anywhere near your bed. The two-inch roaches were the biggest.
Easily found the 602 out to Springdale for a drink-stop (consume two pints and stock up for the day). A couple of miles up the road I stopped at a Taco Bell for a couple of Bean Burritos and a refillable drink. It was still built up and it felt very hot. It was a small and busy road but the traffic in this part of South Carolina is fabulous. It either gives you tons of room or it waits until there’s a chance to go through/past. That includes dumpster trucks and monster trucks. It was so comforting.
Took no photos at all today. Almost all trees all day. Roly-poly though not as extreme as Connecticut. Occasionally I’d get a view of five or maybe ten miles in the haze. I would only ever see more and more hills covered in trees. A few times today there was grass - in a field. Whole fields of grass. I can’t remember the last time. The odd pond. A few small rivers. I stopped at a tiny bridge and looked down at a terrapin on a log.
A single Cardinal again today. They are the most common bird on people’s mail-boxes, as well as being frequently an emblem for schools etc. Saw a dead three foot snake on the road. Chased by a few dogs but nothing I couldn’t outrun or out-talk.
At a country store where I drank for my thirst I saw a wooden box of crickets for sale. A fine mesh wire on top I looked inside. They were making a lot of noise but it seemed dulled. Perhaps that was caused by the egg cartons in there. I think it was fifty crickets for one dollar fifty.
The back of my left hand is sore. From the crash I think. As sore as I am underneath I seem to have saddle soreness under some sort of control, or at least stable.
Now that I’m fresh and all the sand is washed out of my legs, arms and face, I think I’ll sleep with the television on - tuned into a local radio station and displaying text.
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