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Nutbush State Park, NC to Durham, NC

Waking up in the state park, where I knew no one was going to kick me out and bears seemed less likely, was really nice.  I was the only one in the "non-electric" section of the campground, so I had the whole place to myself, including the bathrooms--nice and quiet!  ...Except for the chainsaw across the lake.  And the boats.  And the birds were pretty loud, but I don't mind them much.

I was worried that my late start (almost 8:30 A.M.) would put me riding many of my miles in the middle of the day, when it's the hottest.  It had been so hot.  The first bit of this day was ridden on shady roads, so that helped.  I think I acclimated to the heat a bit, too, because when I was riding in the sun, it didn't feel unbearable.  As I headed southwest, I noticed a headwind, but it wasn't consistent.

At one point, I stopped at a gas station to fill up with free water and use the rest room.  A little further on, I noticed that my hydration pack on my back was awfully full.  It turns out that the gas station uses carbonated water as their plain water from the machine.  That just does not work for me.  I tried it for several miles, and kept thinking that I could overcome the challenge, but in the end, I just dumped it out, and actually broke down and bought water.

As the day went along, I was feeling pretty good, and clouds moved in earlier than usual, keeping the heat in check (relatively speaking).  I tried to push for an average speed of 13 miles per hour, but I think that was a poor decision, as about that time the headwind became a stiff and consistent factor slowing me down.  I did finally make it to Durham, NC by way of back roads and Routes 158 and 15, plus another couple roads into Durham.  I did not make it to 13 miles per hour, and I was pretty tired, even though I arrived in Durham by 1:30 or even earlier.

Once in Durham, I stopped at another gas station to ask for directions to a bike shop.  The lady behind the counter had no idea, and suggested I check the yellow pages.  I told her I'd be happy to do that and asked if she had a phone book.  The fairly large and quite busy store/gas station, with at least three active employees, had no phone book.  Their bathroom also left a few items to be desired (soap? paper towels?).

I tried again at a auto repair shop.  Here I had better results!  Crystal and Kishia were very kind and helpful.  They were impressed with my journey, and 
Crystal insisted on looking up bike shops and calling them for me.  She found one in Durham, and then she gave me excellent directions to it from where I was.

I found the bike shop, and brought the bike in.  They were very friendly there, and made time for me right away.  When the mechanic looked in detail at the rear wheel, though, he realized that all the spokes on one side were damaged.  When I had my mishap on <lStage XV<>, my chain had damaged all the spokes, not just the one that did break.  So, basically, I decided to do nothing rather than spend a good deal of money to have the mechanic replace half the spokes on my wheel.  Am I crazy?  Definitely.  Will it work out okay?  I think so, but we'll have to see what happens on Friday and Saturday.

On the recommendation of the mechanic, I found a really neat little mexican-style joint.  I ordered up a "Old School Chicken" burrito, and enjoyed it by the open window, despite my temptation to fall into a pit of despair over my dying bicycle.  After a couple mis-estimations, I also found the home of David, who took me in for the night.  Despite not being fully recovered from a stomach bug, he drove me to a Scrabble group that meets at a nice Middle East food place.  It was a different experience, playing Scrabble in a noisy cafeteria atmosphere, but I was very excited to play for the first time in weeks!  For those of you back in the Northeast, I played like I was rusty, but I did manage to beat one out of three of my opponents.

I'm so close now, but the closer I get, the harder it is to stay emotionally level.  One minute I'm up on a cloud realizing I've ridden so many miles.  The next mile I'm totally bummed about my bike, or getting really tired of biking alone and I'm ready to be done.  I'll definitely finish, but it's harder emotionally now.  Thanks for all the support I've received--I could use a little more these last few days.  I'm almost there!

Total Stage XIII Distance: 56

Stage Time On Bike: 4.5 hours

Total Stage time: 7 hours

Total Trip Distance: over 900 miles

Net Elevation Change: +???

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