A recap of Day 4 and Day 5, Part 2

Today, Day 5, I had 82 miles to go make up the 459 that are symbolic of the $459 million dollar cut to the state education budget. The final number had been revised since I did my research and found $476 million, as an intrepid Daily Tarheel reporter discovered, so I happily revised my bike ride to match. I think it's important to be accurate about the numbers. As it was, I hit Emerald Isle, spying the ocean, at 63 miles, and still had to bike another 19 by looping up the beach roads and then back down the main highway. Being "done" - eg, hitting the coast, crossing NC - but still picking up those last few miles was a little anticlimactic. I was focused, focused, focused today. My average speed picked up on the flats. I told myself I could stop every ten miles if I needed to - just make it ten more miles - but 15 and 20 miles would slide by before I stopped to sit for a moment and eat an energy bar. By now the countryside was flat, with lots of cotton fields, and the houses I passed often seemed poor and in disrepair. Parts of Eastern North Carolina have a kind of ramshackle beauty that is sad and peaceful all at once. But I didn't notice the landscape as much as usual today. I was counting down every mile.

On Emerald Isle, for the last 19 miles, I flew at first. I felt invincible. Then I changed direction, biking back from the bridge where I'd started, for the last few miles. That meant I was biking into the wind. Everything fell apart at once. Suddenly sitting on the bike hurt worse than it had the whole trip, and my speed slowed dramatically. I was fighting the wind for every last mile. It's like my mind and body knew I was done - or close enough - and just let down. As soon as I hit mile 82, I turned my bike toward a beach access road, stopped my watch, and wheeled my bike up the wood ramp over the dunes to the sand. Irrationally, I thought that my bike deserved to see the ocean after working so hard. I called my mom to come meet me for a celebratory splash in the surf, called my husband to tell him I was done, and just flopped down on the sand, exhausted. It was cool today - I wore a light sweatshirt all day for the first time - and the sand was cool and damp. But the sun was warm. I didn't feel ecstatic or proud or anything, just glad to be done. But there was a sense of completeness, deep in my bones, along with the relief.

I'll be saying thank yous for awhile, but everyone who cheered for me on Facebook, and my family, my mom there every second and others rooting for me and supporting me from a distance: You have been wonderful! Small but meaningful contributions from people along the way were amazing too. The donated brownies, and a hotel clerk who gave us the government rate since I was riding for education. The Islander hotel on Emerald Isle let us use a hotel room for the afternoon for less than half the nightly rate so I could shower before driving home. Strangers who asked me about my bike and how far I was riding heard about BIKE NC and told me what a great thing it was. It means so much to know people believed in me, or in the cause of bringing attention and needed funds to education, or maybe both. THANK YOU.

Stay tuned for pictures in the next few days. I'll be doing a few brief blog posts and perhaps making some follow up plans to the bike ride. Thank you notes for those who have donated will be sent. And it's back to law school and a lot of make up work for me. But I will be thinking about those 459 miles for a long time.

I am keeping the donation link open through the end of the month. I'll share education news, and ask that people continue to help spread the word and consider donating. We've done a great job raising almost $4,000 for three amazing nonprofits, but we can do more.

For now, good night and thanks for following along!

A recap of Day 4 and Day 5, Part 1

So glad to be home safe!

Day 4, Saturday, broke clear and downright chilly after a cold front brought a smattering of rain the night before. I biked from Angier, south of the Triangle, to Kinston, North Carolina. The route was very circuitous and I often would not pass even a small store for twenty mile stretches. The route took me near Goldsboro, but not into it. At around the 40 mile mark, badly needing a break but not seeing anywhere to stop for miles, I finally found the Mill Creek General Store, near the town of Four Oaks but not really near anything at all. They had a small restaurant of country cooking in the back and aisles well stocked with snacks and groceries. I sat in the store for a few minutes, warming up and chatting with the store clerk. I bought a brownie cooked by an older lady who ran the store restaurant, and it was delicious. When the store clerk found out how far I was biking, he gave me two more brownies free for the road! Those little exchanges with people (North Carolina has the nicest people) buoy my spirit so much and help the miles go faster.

And I needed that on Saturday. The roads I was biking on were often rough, either badly cracked or newly paved with rough, unfinished asphalt with sprays of loose gravel. This caused the bike to jar and vibrate badly, sending countless tiny shocks up into my arms, tailbone and spine. Probably not so bad normally, but my body was breaking down a little by this point. Saturday, by any counts, was the perfect day for biking. Blue skies, brisk breeze, countryside with just enough undulations to be interesting. I was so lucky. But after over 300 miles on the road by that point, what I was noticing were the roads where every jolt sent spasming pain up my back, the few remaining hills that I struggled up and resented, and the wind that was at times strong. Don't get me wrong, it was beautiful out there, and a bend in the road and fresh vista would have me picking up the pace, happy. But I stopped at mile 60 to rest and call my husband for a morale boost, and had a small breakdown on the last few miles into Kinston. Well, ok, I started sobbing hysterically, a mix of being in pain and just emotionally overwhelmed. I crashed in bed Saturday night, too.

What's funny is that I always felt strong. Tired, but pedaling steadily all day. I trained for the endurance and strength challenges of the ride, but I think what I was missing was "saddle hours" - just cumulative experience, weeks and months and years, breaking my body in to the bike. So Day 4 was the hardest. But I knew, as I finally reached Kinston at dusk, that I was in striking distance of the coast. One more day to go.

At the beach! Did it.

So happy! More to come.

Day 4

98.4 miles today. Safe in Kinston. 82 to go. Today was not easy. At times it felt impossible. If you have been thinking about supporting BIKE NC, please know that now is the time. You will carry me through tomorrow in addition to supporting the important work of education.

Look for details on Day 4 when I am home and a bit rested. Thanks a million for your support and for following along!

Day 3: Archdale to Angier

Today, I biked 100.8 miles from south of Greensboro to Angier, way south of Raleigh. The route snaked around a lot and dropped as much South as East. This fact played head games with me all day. I was on familiar turf from my training rides. Alamance and Chattham Counties, then swooping across Jordan Lake and the Sharron Harris nuclear plant. You'd think that home turf would be a confidence boost, but it actually made me feel like I still had a very long way to go (which I do). And the land around Pittsboro and the Haw River folds up on itself into one short, steep valley after another.
And the land would flatten out for awhile today - look after mile 60 on the elevation chart - but never completely. Even here in Angier, the soil is sandy and every few miles I would see a view that looked like Eastern North Carolina - sandy soil on the edge of the road, then fields stretching flat to the horizon. But then another dip into a hollow would bring another steep climb up, making my legs burn.

I'm not sure what to say, except that the riding is going well, even though it's getting harder and my hands and seat and feet are in a lot of pain by the end of the day. I set out to do something that would challenge me like never before to show how much I believe in providing a quality, equal education to every child in North Carolina. And it looks like I'll be able to do it, which feels wonderful.

Today, one of the roads I took was called Major Hill Road. I thought, "I hope that's named after an army officer names Mr. Hill, and not because the road has a MAJOR HILL." That is the kind of lame joke that pops into my tired, wandering mind and strikes me as hilariously funny, even though it's probably not at all. Hey, eight hours on a bike is a long time.

Technical details

One of the things that helps the time go by when I'm on the bike for 6, 7, 8, 9 hours is the GPS watch that measures the time and distance of my ride using GPS tracking. It chirps at me every mile, and the time of the last mile pops up on the screen. I can tell if I've been flying or if the hills have slowed me down a lot. Today, though, the watch wasn't charged all the way and died at mile 92. So the last 16 mile, I felt a little lost. The watch's mileage tracking also tells me when to turn. So when my que sheet might say to turn left on Trinity Road at mile 98, I have to be extra alert not to miss Trinity Road. And by mile 98, I'm not mentally at my best! But I made it to my stopping place without getting lost. I'm a little sad though. 108.8 is the furthest I've ever biked and I don't have the data for it. But here are the first 92 miles:

The map, tracked before the battery death, shows all but my last 16 or so miles, but those 16 miles were perhaps the longest! I love data. I like this tangible evidence of how far I rode, how much the hills took out of my system, how big the hills were. My watch is a tool. It helps me succeed, to know how far I've gone and what's ahead. We all need those kinds of tools.

And, as I thought about on my ride, too many kids don't have those tools for their learning. Good people - like the nonprofits I'm fundraising for - step in to provide them. Now, my watch is a silly thing; I can make do without it. But that's not true when it comes to education. Please support BIKE NC.

108.8 miles for education!

Good bye mountains! At mile 6.

A bit sunburnt but happy at mile 22

Munching during a brief rest at mile 44

After mile 50 or so I get too focused and determined to take pictures! Today was a good day. Hard, but good. I biked 108.8 miles from Wilkesboro to Archdale, NC, south of Greensboro. There were quite a few climbs that still had me at the bottom of my gears and still pushing almost painfully, but those stints were briefer. And this morning, a road called Old NC 60 wound down out of the foothills through some of the most beautiful rural North Carolina I've seen. Nicely tended little houses, slopings fields, barns, thickets of trees around gently flowing streams.

I do notice the landscape. But I was focused today. I stopped three times to sit down and munch on a snack, twice for about ten minutes and once for half an hour. I hit mile 61, a planned stopping point for the day assuming the mountains were grueling, in Tanglewood Park. And from there, I never stopped moving until the end. One run into a store to reload on Gatorade. By the time I stopped, around 6 pm in the middle of a country road, I was feeling shaky. But I made sure to eat, a lot, today, and it helped. I try to get some fruits and veggies, and protein. Energy and protein bars are the easiest things for me to carry and digest. And a few treats for dinner. Its not perfect, but it's working well for me.

Fuel for the ride:

• Bowl of raisin bran w/ lowfat milk, coffee for breakfast
• During ride:
• 100 oz. of Gatorade
• Water
• Small green apple
• Quaker oatmeal raisin breakfast cookie
• Lara bar, coconut
• Lara bar, chocolate chip
• .5 oz honey roasted peanuts
• Peanut butter Powerbar
• Nature Valley fruit and nut chewy bar
• 10 oz. Diet Mountain Dew (needed caffeine!)
• After ride: Vanilla protein shake (170 cal, 15 g protein)
• Dinner:
• 1 Stella Artois beer
• Chips, salsa, and guacomole
• Cup corn soup
• Small potato with cheese and broccoli
• Mint chocolate Clif builder bar

Thanks so much to everyone who has donated. I will be putting your name on the donor wall and mailing you a thank you. And I cannot say thank you enough. But please be patient with me this week! I'm lucky to get cleaned up, eat, get the blog up, and crash!

Why 108.8 miles today? Because it means less than 300 to go!

177.8 miles so far. 298.2 to go.

Ah yes! Read all about it! Press coverage of BIKE NC continues.


Carrboro Citizen
Daily Tarheel 
News of Orange County


So grateful for the support and the attention this will bring to education and the wonderful work of EDCI, Smart Start, and Advocates for Children's Services. Thank you for reading.

PS: A few technical glitches, so ride data and maps to come.