You one of them Yankee boys?

Tonight somebody asked me if I was a Yankee boy? I didn't get the chace to see what he looked like because ether his mother or his girlfriend hushed him up and they walked into the grocery store. Maybe he didn't know that the war was over and he was wondering if he should use his musket on me? It's a little silly down here sometimes. On Wednesday I went to a bike shop in New Bern, NC and the guy there told me that I didn't want to stay in Maysville because it was a black town. I thought the town was perfectly fine. The ni e campsite in Belgrade that I talked about before, they warned me not to stay there because of roamers. When I did check in to the site I was surrounded by a family from MI who's son was soon leaving for Iraq, a fisherman who stays for the week and a few other people who were preparing for the Memorial Day weekend. It seems as though we create our own fear. As I told Jennifer today, black or white, some of the people I've met are just so worried about how tough they are that they act like idiots.

Dr. John Hall is the man from Alaska who is biking around the US and raising money for Breast Cancer. Visit his site, and donate, at www.bikeridearoundamerica.org . Yesterday I met Kim Diorio too. You can read about Kim's trip at www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/springtime2008 . Today I also came across a couple guys from Holland who are headed to Bar Harbor, ME. I believe they started in AZ. Jan and Frans were their names.

At the Carolina Beach campground last night Iet a couple who gave homemade mango salsa, flank steak, and boiled peanuts. What a great treat. That salsa was amazing. I hope to stay in touch with these guys because I think the recipes they have must be amazing.

It seems as though people got a little worried when I said I thought about throwing I the towel. Thinking and doing are two very different things. I don't think there is anyway you could not think about going home once or twice during the trip, there is plenty of time to think. Right now I'm about 240 miles from GA. I got a really late start today but with a good push I was still able to put in 85 miles. It was a good day because I'm figuring out how to maintain 18-21 mph on the flats. Without a headwind I'm really able to fly. The trick to maintaining the speed is keeping your cadence at 95-107 rpm. 100-103 is optimal for me. The other good part about that rythym is that it minimizes crapping, joint acts, and sore muscles.

So far I've had my rear wheel trued up twice, my bottom bracket has a clicking that let's me know when my right foot is at bottom dead center, the drivetrain looks like it went through a coal conveyor, my front deraileur pivot pin needs to be pushed back into place twice a day, and I'm on my second set of bike gloves.

Tonight I ate a small pizza, 10 wings, a banana, a powerbar and a 20 oz soda. I think I go through about 60-100 oz of Gatorade each day and probably 6-8 bottles of h2o (24 oz each). I'll need to cut back on these eating habits when I'm back home.

Time for bed so I can get an early start in the am. Until next time, may you find your inspiration to push through and don't let anything stand between you and a perfect sunset.