I was able to get the bike loaded and pointed in the right direction by a decent time, and left the Wilson/Havlen households by just before 10:30 this morning. I had less than 5 hours to
ride, so I wasn't worried about an early start. I was more concerned about being over dressed for the weather, because it didn't seem that chilly when I was standing out there.Once I got going, however, I noticed the 59 degree day in my hands, and eventually under my jacket, where I just had on a long sleeved shirt. About 15 mil
es north of Greensboro, on I-29, I pulled over under a bridge to reassess. I added a windproof fleece vest under the jacket, and put on my rain covers for my gloves, as well as putting the hood up on my jacket that goes under my helmet. Thus fortified, I continued. I'm not sure why Frogg Togg pants are as short as they are, but they were about like knickerbockers when I rode. Barely came down past the top of my boot covers.The rain never became a downpour, thankfully, but was steady drizzle to regular rain for the next four hours of riding, and the thermometer mostly sat at 59. Once I was all suited up, I didn't want to stop unless it was worthwhile, so I kept on riding and riding. Most towns I went past (going east on Highway 58) were small burgs, with not much going on. Around the 150 mile mark, I came up on South Hill, and thought about stopping there, but then saw a sign for Emporia (a real town!), and opted to ride there before stopping for fuel and food.
My fuel light usually starts to flash when I near 200 miles on the tank, and I was at 192 miles when I finally topped off at the Shell station. Right across the street was a Cracker Barrel, and I decided to take a long lunch break there. It was perfect...I parked out front, and then used one of their benches to sit down and delayer, shaking all my rain gear out before going inside. The food was a little lame, and the service matched, but it was handy, upon leaving, to have the same benches out front for me to re-layer. Some of the most annoying part of having to put on all that gear inside is that you get overheated by the time you're ready to leave. Sitting outside to put it all on was nice, and when I left there, at 3 p.m., I was eager to get back on the road and finish the last 80 miles of the day.
Heading into Norfolk on 264E, there was one tunnel to go through, with lanes that looked slimy-slickery in the lights of the tunnel, and on the far side, there was a grated drawbridge section to ride over that was especially dicey, since it curved to the right, and the bike wanted to get a little squirrelly in the turn. Interstate 64 itself was a washboard ride in the rain until I got to the exit I needed to take to get to my friend's house. At 4:45, I arrived, much to the intense observation of three young girls in the entry way to the house on Newell Avenue. The fourth was in her mom's arms, being shy, while I had help from Naomi, Eliana and Charity to get some of my rain soaked layers off. Luggage held up ok, though some stuff did get damp. The downstairs bathroom was shortly overrun with wet gear dripping off everywhere, and I was shortly warm, dry and comfortable. Good trade.
Supper was a tasty Indian stew, and afterwards, to help blow off some stink, Carolina (Spanish pronunciation: Caroleena) let the girls outside with their galoshes and sweaters on to go splash in the puddles in the back yard. Twenty minutes later, three thoroughly soaked young girls came inside to get out of their wet clothes and into a warm bath. Afterwards was a devotional time before they went to bed, and shortly after that, Carolina's husband
, Ryan, came home. Good conversation followed (well, some of it good, some of it corny...don't you carrot all?), and I finally meandered up to the guest room around 10:30. Tomorrow will be a good day of rest and worship, and I'm looking forward to getting to ride in a minivan...moving forward in an enclosed space, dry, warm and relaxing :)
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