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.