No Plans to Mile Zero, Day 4

Change of Venue

Mon, Apr 16, 2012

The alarm sounds at 6:30 AM and I think “Why?”  What, Solo Guy has an important appointment this evening?  Someone waiting?  Someone who might care where or what time he stops riding?  Some designated place to be?

No, not one of these qualify.  I turn off the alarm fall into a deep sleep until after 8:00 AM.  Having ridden nearly 1,800 miles and having spent more than 27 hours in the saddle during the last three days, I feel a delicious laziness and move slowly through my breakfast and packing routine.  I even take time to find a pen and do the crossword puzzle in the USA Today magazine that was hanging on my doorknob.  I leave the newspaper for a couple at the table next to me.

“Any good news?” the man asks.

“Well, it’s tax day and IRS can’t answer its phones because of budget cuts,” I say, pointing to the front-page lead story.

I am wearing my second-favorite shirt today.  It’s a bright orange color with bold black lettering that proclaims “I have CDO / It’s like OCD except the letters are in order, as they should be.”  Another gift from Kitty.  She knows me so well.  In this, Solo Guy and I are not so different at all.

Striking out northward on US 301 through north-central Florida, I ride through miles of horse and cattle country.  While there are some large cattle ranches, the open expanses are dominated by miles of horse ranches with meticulously maintained wooden fences and well-manicured lanes leading to the large houses and buildings set far off the highway.  301 is a four lane highway with some small towns but it’s a nice ride, once again reminiscent of Texas except that in Texas, the speed limit would be 70 or 75 instead of 65.

I’m roughly planning to ride two-lane roads through Georgia and eventually make my way to Virginia, route undetermined.  For no particular reason, Solo Guy, without anything to prove and ridden quite a few of those Georgia two-lane roads, decides to route a faster way home.  The GPS takes me toward Jacksonville and a 230-mile stretch of I-95, after which I catch I-26 west near Savannah, Georgia.  I know this will eventually lead me to I-77 and I-81 as it traverses the western border of Virginia.  It’s several hundred miles farther, about 1,000 miles from here, and while I almost always avoid Interstate travel unless required for speedy travel, for some reason it fits the moment.  I am Solo Guy.  Sometimes I break my own rules.

I contemplate riding all the way home non-stop.  The GPS tells me I’d be home around midnight.  For now, it doesn’t matter – I’ll ride until I feel like stopping.  It’s rather warm today, with the temperature hovering near 88F the entire day.

I hit I-77 near Columbia, South Carolina and, while still contemplating whether to ride home.  But after a late start and another 500 mile-plus day, I decide on the spur of the moment to stop at about 7:00 PM near Lake Norman just north of Charlotte, North Carolina.

The next-door restaurant I’d seen on the GPS is closed, so the desk clerk helps me with the only other restaurant within walking distance.  It’s a Greek-Italian restaurant called Acropolis, so I walk up the hill and across the intersection.  I find my way to the bar where I can order a rack of lamb (which is amazing - seasoned and grilled to perfection!) and strike up a conversation with the bartender, Andrey.  He’s Ukrainian, having grown up in Odessa on the Black Sea.  He’s lived in countries and climates all over the world, from Ukraine to Russia to Morocco to South Africa to Australia to the mid-East and now, North Carolina.

“Why here?” I ask.

“I like it here,” is his simple response to why he has chosen Cornelius, North Carolina as his home.  He offers no further explanation.  None is needed.  I can identify with that.  He sounds a lot like Solo Guy.

GPS Statistics:

Overall speed 57.7 mph; Moving speed 66.4 mph
Overall time 8:47; Moving time 7:38
Distance 507 miles

GPS Track, Day 4