Ride Day 63

The ride today was terrible. I did just over a hundred miles on roads with absolutely no room for a bike and the traffic was very heavy almost all day long. I was terrified that I would be hit by a drunk or inattentive driver. I took only three pics all day because I had to focus on riding in a straight line as close to the edge of the roadway as possible without running off the side of the blacktop or veering out into the traffic. The drivers were mostly great at giving me as much room as they could but it was just too tight sometimes especially when the logging trucks went by. Needless to say I did not enjoy the ride very much. I did enjoy some of my stops though. I stopped at one store to get a cold drink and there were a half dozen guys sitting around solving all the world's problems. We had a little talk about bike riding and about my trip, then threw in some fishing stories...I enjoyed their conversations. They took cards with my blog on and told me they would look it up. I planned on riding from Andrews to Myrtle Beach but the road I started on was so tight and filled with traffic that I turned around and went back to the ACA route which was longer but claimed to be on quiet country roads. Well some of them were quiet at times that is true but most of the day there was just way too much traffic on the narrow roads with no room for me and my bike. I was nervous all day long and that is just not my style. I got very little site seeing in because I had to focus on riding in a straight line all day long. The scenery was mostly long leaf pine tree lined roads with fields of tobacco and corn or peanuts mixed in here and there. The towns were all very little burgs, some did not even have a small store. I stopped at a lot of the stores just to get a break and rest my eyes from the intense riding. When I got to Conway I almost got a hotel but then decided to push on because it was only 11 in the morning. AS I got closer to Little River and the state line I started to cramp up. At first it was just small cramps in one leg but within a few minutes both legs were cramping. I stopped at a store and walked them off and drank a high potassium drink and ate a banana then made sure I was hydrated by drinking a large gatoraide. I felt better and hit the road but within a few miles I was again cramping up. I just rode through the cramps because there was no point in stopping in the middle of nowhere. As I was riding along two large deer came running out of the trees right at me. I kind of froze up and one ran in front of my bike and the other ran behind me. I thought sure they were going to ram into me but I was lucky because they could have seriously injured me. I got to Little River and called the campground. They told me there was room but that it was still another 6 miles to the site. I pushed on sometimes just pedaling with one leg or the other to rest one leg. I made it to the campsite and immediately took a long hot shower and sat down to rest. A half hour later I decided to ride back to a bar I had seen on my way to have a cold beer or three. I enjoyed hanging out at the bar even though there were only three other guys in the bar. They quizzed me about my bike ride and we talked about all the world problems, solving most of them. Then I went back to my tent and was out cold by 8:15 in the evening. A long hard mixed day with some good and some bad. I was just happy I am still here to talk about it. More later.