Thursday, November 9, 2023

Day 4: 11/9/23: Heiskell TN to Duffield VA

Rolled out of camp about 4:30 a.m., so that means about 2 hours of riding in the dark.  First stop was a truck stop about a half a mile away from where I camped.  Not knowing if I would pass another place to eat today, I bought a biscuit at the truck stop and had it, some banana/oatmeal pancakes I have been carrying since I left home, and some nuts for breakfast.  

About an hour and a half into my ride, it was still dark, I pulled into a church parking lot to look for an outside water faucet,  but there were none there.  While I was there, a neighbor's dog started barking and the dog's owner saw me leave the church parking lot.  As I was passing his house he hollered for me to stop, which I did, and he asked what I was doing at the church.  I'm sure it was pretty suspicious looking because my bicycle headlight probably looks like a flashlight.  I explained what I was doing there and he topped off my water bottles for me.

Fortunately, there was a small market about 40 miles into my ride that has a grill.  I ordered 3 eggs and another biscuit and ate them for "second breakfast." I also ordered an egg sandwich to go which I ate for lunch.  The rest of the day, I did not pass any type of market.  I didn't pass through any city or town and didn't see a single traffic light.  It was a full day of rural riding bliss.

However, about the last 15-20 miles today were on rough mainly loose gravel dusty roads. That did tend to damper the blissfulness of the rest of day's ride.  It's all part of the adventure.

Even the campground I'm staying at is very rustic.  There are no security lights so it's very dark.  It is located on a gravel road just inside Virginia. It's a very scenic campground on the Clinch River. Pic of my campsite below.
Total miles today: 89.3

2 comments:

  1. I bet you did look sketchy in the dark “borrowing” water from the church. No one realizes how car centric the world is until they take a bicycle trip.

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    1. I'm sure from the guys perspective it looked like a person snooping around with a flashlight

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