Lots of these photos from the CNC 2000 Web page at www.CycleNorthCarolina.org
Drove from Huntsville up to Boone NC.
Henry got a warning for speeding. We got lost once but only went about 2 miles out of our way. Arrived about 4:30 Watauga High School. Found Mike in the Gym in the NE corner, as planned. He had already signed up for me and had all my stuff. Went to the hotel. Ann and Henry wanted to watch a football game and were not hungry. Mike and I went back to Boone to attend the mandatory kick off meeting and to eat dinner at the SS cafeteria. As it turned out the meeting was delayed so we ate then went to the meeting. This would have really messed up joining back up with our parents to eat. So it was fortunate that they were not hungry. Mike biked down the hall at the hotel to test out his petals!
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? Breakfast - Meal Plan: Sausage breakfast strata casserole, pancakes, muffins, fruit, à
All suited up and ready? to go. |  |
| ~7:50
Rode out. - 1st Rest stop.  |  Along the road. |
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The beginning of a beautiful downhill on day 1... |  The top of a medium hill (seemed large at the time, we just didn't know... |
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10:40 AM 2nd Rest Stop, Church of Frescos. Actually there were two churches with Frescos but I am not sure where/when we stopped at the second one. They are St. Mary's and Church of the Holy Trinity. Frescos involves brushing natural pigments directly into wet or «fresh» plaster. As the plaster dries the pigments become permanent. | The first of the 2 Chruches, |
 Along the road heading toward the second church | |
 Bob changing shoes at the entrance to the second church. | |
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- Blue Ridge Parkway: Fabulous. We stop a lot and take pictures. |  Roadside view on the Blue ridge Parkway |
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-After all to short a trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway, we exit and start down 'The Big Hill'. We did have some concern about brakes and stopped halfway of so check things out |
Going down 'the big hill' (after leaving the Blue ridge Parkway) |
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More " big hill" (note smile on rolling rider's face)** |
11:15 AM Lunch at Burger King. Shared our table with Bob Ingram, also on the ride. He is retired.
Left at 11:40.
- 3rd Rest Stop.
3:30 PM Arrived Wilkes Community College
Avg. Speed: 13.1 MPH, Max Speed: 39.0, Ride Time: 4:48, Distance: 63.26 Miles
- Dinner - Meal Plan. Grilled chicken breast, grilled veggies, parisenne potatoes, salad, rolls, assorted deserts. Food is good but was served in mostly open enclosure and it is very cold!!!
Both of us are quite happy with how we did going over the hills. I had done very few hills before. Could have used a lower gear or three but the ones I had were OK. Just drop to the lowest gear and slowly crawl up the hill at about 6 to 7 MPH. Could not go much slower without falling over but it would be nice to pedal a little faster. Mike wants to camp out for some strange reason. The forecast is 30 tonight. We set up the tent in an open field bounded by tennis courts, volleyball courts and a baseball field. Got a shower. Hung up the dirty clothes for a while but only until evening. Feels quite humid. Mike is having trouble with his helmet. The elastic is warn out but he is managing.
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- There is frost on the outside of the tent. 24deg according to my tiny thermometer but there is no wind and it is sunny. - Breakfast - Meal Plan: Quiche, fruit, bacon, sausage, grits, biscuits, croissants, muffins, à Dang it is cold. Breakfast is served in the same open building as was dinner last night. Mikes orange juice is warm. Apparently the juice containers were frozen and they heated them to thaw them out. Along with my juice I got coffee just to hold it in my hands and feel the steam. The food is good but some hot chocolate would have been wonderful. The quiche turns out to be little bite size manufactured things. - Water bottles are partially frozen. Squeeze slightly and you can feel the layer of ice break on the inside. 8:50 AM Rode out. |
 Bob all dressed (for 24deg ride) Dinner and last nights entertainment as well as breakfast was in the open shelter in the background. |
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~9:20 Stopped to take off a layer of clothes. Very thirsty today.
10:20 1st Rest stop. - Windy Gap. Very steep assent. Not that windy though. |
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12:15 Lunch at Subway.
Left at 12:50
4:35 PM Arrived Rowan County Fairgrounds
Avg. Speed: 13.9 MPH, Max Speed: 34.5, Ride Time: 5:31, Distance: 76.7 Miles
- Did not get to go by the Transportation Museum. Mike had been telling me very good things about it. Apparently it was only available if you arrived quite early. Mike thinks it closed at 5:00PM.
-This stop was a surprise for the indoor campers. The indoor camping facility for this night is indeed indoors, but that does not mean heated. Indeed it is well vented to the outside. We camp outside as usual.
- Put up tent to let it dry out. Inside I find a chunk of loosely packed ice. About 2inches in diameter and ¾ of an inch thick. Shower. Catch a shuttle to town for Dinner and Laundry. While waiting for the shuttle we meet a woman who says she is going to a hotel because she has to find a TV or radio to find out what is going on in the world. She obviously has not got the hang of this vacation thing. Also while waiting Robert and Wanda ride in. Mike knows them via Gilbert.
6:45 Dinner at Lone Star. Mike and I split an order of Ribs with our own sweet potato and salads. Very good ribs. Not cheap though.
- Laundromat: It's in walking distance from the Lone Star. We put all our stuff together and do one load of laundry. I brought enough biking clothes for more than two days but not enough long underwear for this cold weather. I run over and buy another disposable camera while the washer works. We meet Jeff and Ingram, also on the ride and doing laundry. All four of us push the time limit for the last tram. The driver is very nice she comes in and checks on us and agrees to make one more pass as she is headed back. We have to be ready and standing outside waiting as she comes by. As the clothes come out I add a layer of long underwear so I can wait outside for the tram. As it turns out I put on Mikes long underwear top. It takes a while back at the tent to figure out where it went. There is much discussion about when the tram was supposed to come and if it has already gone by and so forth while we wait out in the cold. The tram eventually comes and we cheer since we are all very relieved to see it. Jeff, Ingram and I have to stand on the little porch in the back of the tram because the inside was full!!
- Breakfast - Meal Plan: Pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage,
grits
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8:20 AM Rode out 8:45 Rowan Museum. Old Stone House. Completed Oct 1766 by Michael Brown 1758-1766. Michael Brown was a very prominent businessman in the area. |
 Interior of the Old Stone House (Kitchen) |
Outside the old stone house(anything warm tasted wonderful)
Around the back
The Old Stone House
Left at 9:30
9:45 Took off lots of clothes.
10:55 1st Rest Stop. 5 minutes
11:25 2nd Rest Stop. 5minutes
1:10 3rd Rest Stop. Dennis Vineyard Winery. I tried a sample. Tasted just like wine. Bad.
25minutes.
2:12 PM Arrived Stanly County Family YMCA
Avg. Speed: 13.5 MPH, Max Speed: 36.0, Ride Time: 3:34, Distance: 48.11 Miles
- Dinner - Meal Plan: Marinated chicken breast, pasta salad, baked potato, roasted corn, tossed salad, green beans, dessert bar, à Definitely the best meal yet. A local church put it on and it was very nicely done. Huge temperature controlled room, nice table settings, flowers, and great food!
- Called home and heard that Ann had fallen, hit her forehead on a brick which required 13 external stitches and 5 internal stitches! Good grief. She missed the step going onto the back porch and fell forward onto a brick! The cut is above and to the left of her left eye. She is home now and doing OK.
- Downtown Street Party. Was nice. It featured Marry Deal and the Galaxies. They played Oldies, Beach, R&B, Country and Pop. Unfortunately no east cost swing. Some of the music would work for swing but I could not find anyone who knew how to do it. I did dance with a woman who tried it and did a little. Then with another who was looking for someone who could do «Shag» whatever that is. She tried to show it to me. I tried to show her swing. Then we danced a slow two step together. What really surprised me. I felt real tired. When I thought about dancing I figured there was no way. But when I heard the music I got passed all that and was ready to go. Probably would not have lasted very long.
6:20 Sound of people packing woke me up.
6:55 Getting up.
7:40 Rode out. Temperature is 43deg.
Didn't go very far enough to even count. Stopped at Joe's Do-nut Dinette for breakfast. Can you believe they ran out of pancake batter. We both ordered eggs, grits bread etc.
8:35 Riding out for real this time.
9:50 1st Rest Stop. 17minutes.
- Sandhills of N.C. Very sandy but not very hilly. Thank goodness. Fields growing potatoes and ???? are on both sides. And it is not hard to see that the land is very very sandy.
10:30 Pee Dee River. Took pictures.
11:11 2nd Rest Stop. Town Creek Indian
Mound State Historic Site. 
They
do not know what tribe used the mound.
Left 12:10
12:45 Lunch: «The Angus Grill and Store»
Shared a table with Denise alias «De Foot». She rides a recumbent bike and has a rat on the back to represent Gov. Bush and a fake foot hanging down so that people coming up behind her will think she is handicapped, riding with one foot, and will give her a push. She is very much a sanguine. She and her husbands go on rides together. When we asked where her husband was for this trip, she replied: «Well someone has to work».
2:20 2nd Rest Stop. 4 minutes.
3:53 Came upon a bike car accident. We are at the Country Club of North Carolina». The cyclist is a woman. She says she is OK. Only her bike is damaged in the front wheel. Mike bends the broken spokes back into line so she can get to the end of the ride only one or two miles ahead. As we are leaving she is talking to the paramedics who have arrived. She is still claiming that she is OK.
Later I met her again, next day I think. This time she is wearing a splint on her left arm. Apparently she was hurt but had not realized it yet. She explained how the accident occurred. The car was crossing the street and saw one cyclist but did not see the next one. She crossed right in front of the cyclist. Cyclist braked as hard as possible but could not stop. She then turned right to be going the same direction as the car but she could not quite do that either. Eventually the cyclists left side collided with the right side of the car. Sounded like the best of all possible crashes. But not quite good enough. Apparently she has a break in her wrist and something wrong with the shoulder(not as bad as the wrist). She did get the accident written up so the car drivers insurance should be paying for the medical and bike repair.
- Mike is not able to use his 3 lowest gears on the back cluster. He stopped to fix that. He did not tell me exactly what was wrong but apparently it was minor.
4:15 PM Arrived Optimist Park and National Guard Complex
Avg. Speed: 13.6 MPH, Max Speed: 40.0, Ride Time: 5:02, Distance: 68.81 Miles
- Caught the tram to town. Got of at Vitos Restaurant and Pizzeria. Mike finds a phone and calls home but no answer. Ordered a large pepperoni Calzone to split between us. You cannot imagine how big this thing was. It was huge, 9 or 10 inches across and about 3 inches deep. I am thinking there is going to be a lot of uneaten Calzone. But we dig into it and we are both hungry. It is very good but is more cheese than I like for any one meal. I come close to eating all of mine and Mikes eats all of his and the rest of mine!! Wow. Mike calls home again but with the same result.
- We walk around and find some people from the ride who are having difficulty finding a tram to ride back. We wait for them for a few minutes then head on to another tram stop down the road. We do a little window shopping and even find a bike shop. It is getting cool and both of us are in short sleeves. We are considering walking to where the band is supposed to play tonight to find a tram when we see one go by. We manage to catch it as it makes a stop to drop someone off.
- Mike is not happy that he was unable to reach anyone at home so just before we turn in for the night we catch a tram about three blocks to a hotel where we can find a phone. Someone is home this time.
6:30 Finally it was not cold and wet this morning. Got up about 6:30.
- Breakfast - Meal Plan. Fairly good. At least it was served in a warmed area.
7:30 Loaded baggage onto the luggage truck.
7:48 Rode out.
- Video truck/guy got Mike, I and one other rider.
9:10 1st rest stop. 7 minutes.
- I noticed that Mikes back wheel is out of round.
11:00 2nd rest stop. The repair guy is here so Mike gets in line with his back wheel. It's a short line but it turns out that the problem with the bike he is currently working on is a bad. Mike winds up helping him fix it. It's a patch not a fix but it gets her back on the road. It takes him a while to do the tire as well. It is very old and some of the spokes are frozen and cannot be adjusted. There are little packets that look like wet wipes here. Cool it will be so nice to clean my hands before I eat. Opps they are sun block towelets. Too late I put it on my hands and lips. Takes forever to get it off and it tastes terrible. They tell us there are lots of fast food places to eat about five miles up the road.
Left at 12:35
~1:00 McDonalds. Lots of other cyclists are here. The lady behind the counter is very unusual. She is just too polite and helpful to be normal. She asks Mike about all the cyclists, commenting that there are so many of them. Then before he can answer she adds that she meant it in a nice way.
Left 1:23
2:00 3rd Rest stop. 9 minutes.
2:56 PM Arrived Bill Sapp Recreation Complex
Avg. Speed: 14.9 MPH, Max Speed: 33.0, Ride Time: 4:20, Distance: 64.4 Miles
- Dinner at Fullers. ????
- Called home. But with bad news Henry B. is experiencing double vision. Apparently for a few days now he has been seeing two of everything. He said he drove Ann to the emergency room with one eye closed.
6:30 Woke up.
- Not too cold but a very heavy dew.
- Breakfast - Meal Plan.
7:30 Packed up the tent.
8:00 Rode out.
- I decide to find a tree for a bathroom stop. Mike goes on but slowly. Shortly after I get back on the road a pace line passes me. They are going at a reasonable speed so I join in. Speed is between 21 and 24 MPH. It does not take long to overtake Mike. I yell at him to join up as we go by.
9:25 1st rest stop.
10:02 Heritage Hall Plantation. Built in 1760.
Harmony Hall is the site of a pine tree plantation. Originally
the plantation was 12,000 acres . A man in period costume explains
how they harvested and processed first the sap of the trees then
the trees themselves.
General
store at Harmony Hall Plantation
Left at ~11:00
12:00 2nd rest stop. Lake.
I ask the traffic guard about restaurants in the upcoming town.
Left at 12:30.
12:55 Lunch. We are in Elizabethtown. We stop at the Front Porch Restaurant. I had selected this one because it has a buffet with vegetables on it. Mike is looking at the menu while I was gone to the bathroom. The waitress walks up puts her hand over the menu that Mike is looking at and says: «Were awfully busy today»! He tells me as soon as we get back. We interpret this as meaning we should get the buffet. Lunch is good. Much better than fast food.
Left at 1:40
1:41 Bike repair helpers. Across from the restaurant, three women are working on a bike. We go over to see if they need any assistance. One woman is working on the bike while the other two are providing moral support and commentary from the nearby steps. The lady working on her bike says she has everything she needs except the muscles to inflate the tire after its fixed. I point out that anyone who can bike 60 miles in a day should be able to do that. But I do offer my help. She does need some help on a few things but knows most of it. One interesting thing was that she forgot to partially inflate it and bounce it to remove any wrinkles. I explain and demonstrate how to do this. One of the two ladies in the peanut gallery asks «if you bounce me will it remove all my wrinkles»!!
Left ~2:00
2:42 3rd rest stop.
3:52 PM Arrived
Edgewood Elementary School 
Avg. Speed: 15.0 MPH, Max Speed: 26.0, Ride Time: 4:19, Distance: 64.79 Miles
- Put up the tent. Shower. Hang up line and clothes.
- Diner - Meal plan. Chicken provided by «The Todd House Eatery». Its good. We meet Steve Mokicle. He also works for IBM. We are eating in a school cafeteria. They have a noise sensor that goes off if you are too loud. Apparently we are all in a lot of trouble. It went off twice.
- Walked into town. They had thrown a party with tricycle races, food and music. We have already missed the food, since we had a meal ticket, and the tricycle races. But the dancing has not started.
- We walk around downtown and find a phone. Mike calls home. Sounds like Ann and Henry want to move up the trip back to Birmingham. Henry's eye is no better and they are becoming concerned. But they insist that we finish our trip.
- As we head back the dancing is in full swing. But unfortunately no east cost swinging is going on. By that I mean none of the dancing I know. I join in for the electric slide and a Macarena. But do not know the others they are doing. We head on back.
- Both our flashlights are going dim this evening. Though at first I do not think mine is.
6:50 Got up. The Battleship party starts at 2:00 and only goes to 5:00 today. So we want to move out quickly and get there early.
8:10 Ride out.
9:00 1st rest stop.
- Take off layers and apply sun block. We stopped in a little town and the firemen are next door washing the emergency vehicles or something. They offer water and a rest room. Very nice of them.
10:35 2nd rest stop.
At
lake Waccamaw These trees may well have been planted by Cathy's
grandfather's Company which operated at lake Waccamaw.
11:52 3rd rest stop. Mores Creek.
This
is a national park preserving the site of a Revolutionary War
battle. We decide that we are running ahead of schedule and should
take our time here. We watch a short movie about the battle fought
here between loyalists and patriots of North Carolina.
Left at 12:43
1:52 PM Arrived Battleship North Carolina Park.
Avg. Speed: 15.9 MPH, Max Speed: 27.5, Ride Time: 4:02, Distance: 64.3 Miles
- There is a small group of mostly women cheering on each rider as they come in. And the party is just about to begin. We find a spot to put our stuff. Get our bags off the truck. Shower. Head for the barbeque line. Lunch is very good. We watch the water flowing and the boats going by.
- We find the message board and leave a message for Ann and Henry. Then head off for a tour of the ship.
- Takes much longer than I expected. There is a lot to see. It is hard to believe that the many offices and stations are not somewhat redundant. The cooking pots in the mess are incredible.
- As we are walking away from the boat I see Ann. They had not found the message board. It was not very well placed. Henry takes our picture in front of the USS North Carolina Battleship sign. Load up our stuff and the bikes. At the last minute I run over and sign up for a video. Then we head off for Raleigh. Looking forward to relaxing baths, warm comfortable beds and relaxation. That does not come for me until I get back to Huntsville but that is another story.
