In Winston Salem!

After four days of pedaling I'm about 270 miles in, and I've landed in Winston Salem.

So far, so good.  The first day's mileage wound up  being much higher than expected (about 68) but some of the roads were pretty rough - dirt and sand that I had to push the bike through!  Some of the land is really beautiful, but it's hard to stop and take pictures with such a heavy cycle!  That first day I started realizing how much dogs dislike bikers.  I don't know what it is, but they can hear me coming from miles off and they'll chase me as far as they can!  So far I've fended them off with a combination of outrunning them and barking, but I'm always ready to kick 'em.

After asking (unsuccessfully) to stay on a berry farm, I found my way down a little dirt road called Moore's Swamp Road near Ivanoe, NC.  Thunderstorms boomed in the distance, getting closer as I set up camp, but never quite got to me - I was hoping for a free shower!  I went to sleep very hot, no sleeping bag, right on the pad.  We did get a bit of a drizzle overnight.

Waking up the second morning wasn't nearly as bad as expected - I was sore, but not too sore.  Naturally, the rain started in as I was packing up the next morning, right when I had my rain flies down and everything was vulnerable.  The weather looked like it would be wet all day and I wasn't going to be drying anything out, so I decided to head on and look to dry out the next day.  I was right about the weather - the rain varied between "light rain" and "downpour" all day.  By the evening everything was soaked so thoroughly that I decided to look for a police station instead of camping again.

Pulling into Dunn, NC I asked around and discovered that their police department (in the words of an officer) "doesn't do cells."   OK.  A friendly lady directed me down the street to Beacon Rescue Mission, where I hoped to use a dryer.  Even though I arrived after there after their normal operating hours, they welcomed me in and made me feel at home.  Pete, one of the residents, showed me around and got me settled in, I cooked some dinner, and then I was able to do some minor repair work on the kids' bicycles.

The rescue mission (http://www.beaconmission.com/) seems to be a great operation, with grateful residents working hard to get their lives together.  Pete in particular impressed me - he's been out of prison only a short time, and after finding Christ while in jail has kicked dope, and is now working hard to find a job.  He's thinking of moving back to Raleigh, where he has more contacts and knowledge of the area, but temptation may be worse for him.  Please pray for his continued strength and good cheer, and that he might find steady work!

After a great night's sleep in a real bed, I met with Mr. Gene Love, the Executive Director of Beacon.  He shared with me about his life experiences, the goals of the shelter, and how to share the Gospel with no fear, and we discussed some topics like original sin and the age of the earth.  He's a very knowledgeable man with a great outlook on life!

Since I didn't get started 'til the afternoon, the ride was a bit shorter that day - only 53 miles, many of them on 421.  The wind was strong and in my face, and makes a surprisingly big difference - it can knock 3-4 mph off my speed, sometimes it'll even slow me while I'm on a downhill!  After stopping for a late lunch/early dinner in Sanford, I determined I could make it onto Goldston, where I'd get on Old 421.  As I coasted into Goldston, a terrific little town of about 300 people, I heard some terrific jazzy music coming from a small building.  When I went in to check it out, it was a small church, where Minister Marsh and Dale were practicing for the service!  I told them how much I'd enjoyed their music (and imposed to sit and listen for a few minutes) and then they offered to have me stay and hear some of the choir practice!

This is Tyrell who was very encouraging, and informed me that he's going to be praying for me!  Thanks, Tyrell!

There's some video from choir practice as well, but I'm having trouble uploading it, and I can't hear the audio anyhow... hopefully I can get that working soon.

I had to tear myself away from choir practice so I could set up camp just before dark.  I pulled into the Goldston city park and found a quiet little strip of woods between fields, and set camp as dark fell.   Only light rain was predicted, so I was pretty lacksadaisical about rain prep.  After dark, though, I decided it would at least be a good idea to fold the edges of my ground cloth under the tent (this prevents rain from falling on the ground cloth and being funneled under the tent, where it wicks through).

As I was finishing my personal journal and getting ready to do it, I started hearing LOUD snorts/huffing from the woods right next to my tent.  It sounded like it was ~5-8 feet off the ground, maybe 15 feet off, clearly investigating me - I'm guessing a buck.  I let him go for a couple minutes, but needed to get out so I shined my light out - and he went silent.  Well, I hopped out of my tent (armed with pepper spray, flash light, and buck knife!) and went to fold the ground cloth (QUICKLY!)... jumped back in the tent and went quiet and dark to listen...  Sure enough, two or three minutes later, I started hearing the snorts circlng my camp, getting loser.  It was a tense few minutes as I crouched in my tent, knife drawn, ready to fight anything from cougar to bear, if it attacked, but fortunately it got bored with me and left!  Hallelujah!

I was glad I put up the rain fly later, when about 2 am there was a trememndous downpour.  I rolled over and went back to sleep, but in the morning water had beaten its way THROUGH the rain fly (the roof of the tent was dripping through) and come in from the sides as well.  

Here's my stuff drying out the next morning.

I determined to stop in with family in Winston Salem that night, to do repair work on the tent and recuperate.  That meant a long, 80+ mile day over heavy terrain, but here I am!  Had a great dinner last night, courtesy of Aunt Ginger, and my cousin Peyton is shwoing me the town today.  Thanks also to Uncle Lou, who's letting me use a computer!

Favorite Things so far:

-Smells: you have no idea how good it smells out in the country!  Honeysuckle is blooming, fresh air is blowing in from fields, and I've learned to tell the difference between what kind of animal is in the truck ahead of me by manure odor.

-The many nice folks I've met along the way!