Tuesday, June 28, 2011

The Eve of the Finish

I got up at the Matthew's and had a great breakfast. Nathalie gave me a short ride to the other side of the interstate so I didn't have to deal with the Columbia traffic. I got to riding. The day as a whole was really uneventful. I had the mind to try and bike all 140 in one day. This could have happened if I hadn't made a wrong turn. I was pretty mad at myself. I found the intersection where I was supposed to turn. I pulled into an old abandoned gas station parking lot for lunch on the left side of the road. From where I was standing, there were no other signs except for the 419 highway across the street. Looking at that from where I was, I didn't see that 419 also continued left as well. So I headed North instead of South. It took me about an hour, and 14 miles out of the way. I was livid.

South Carolina is still one of my favorite states to ride through. It is super pretty. Once I hit that line right out side of Columbia, it was the flattest part of my trip. It was straight. After that line, I think I may have hit two small hills all the way to Charleston.

Around 5 o'clock I hit some thunderstorms. I stopped for some dinner, then rode for another 30 minutes. I found an abandoned field in the woods, so I set up camp for the night.

I fell asleep, but my boy Stephen Powell ended up getting in touch with me. Steve came down for the night to camp out with me, then we were going to ride towards the ocean together in the morning. He got there, and came into the tent. That tent is meant for two people in size. And that is about it. It is not meant for two people when it is 80 degrees outside with a hundred percent humidity. At that point, I don't think it is even meant for one person. It becomes unbearable. It doesn't help that I haven't been able to clean it for a month either. So the smell and heat that was contained inside that tent was enough to kill an above average sized elephant. It was bad enough that Steve dropped out and went to sleep in the car. I just gutted it out since it was my last night in there.

I slept incredibly, but I did not enjoy it at all.

It smelled so bad. So so bad.

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