DAY 13
March 27, 1999
It was a tough morning to get out of bed since I still
felt fatigued from yesterday. Moving around slowly, I finally gathered my things and
hit the road at 8:45 AM. I was forcing myself to ride today with a very sore butt
and sore legs. And, to make things a bit more challenging for me, I had headwinds
all day. The only tailwind I had was the wind coming from my own tail :)
Hee...Hee...Hee... Just kidding
I don't ever do those things ;)
The temp was 58 degrees and boy was I cold! Just when I was getting used to those
very warm days it has to go and get cold on me. There was a shoulder for most of Highway 19, up until Inglis. After riding 18 miles to Inglis, I stopped at a convenience store where I was welcomed by frowns and stares. As I made my way to the bathroom I smiled at a policeman, but he ignored my gesture and headed for the coffee machine. While in the bathroom I noticed several redneck comments on the wall, like this one: "We got plenty of rope." Looking around the store I was unable to find a Granola Bar, which I was craving. I got a PowerAde and then asked for a cinnamon roll from behind the glass at the counter. Not feeling very comfortable here, I decided to try and talk to the cashier and see if I could get a positive response. Well, she was actually a very nice lady and was a bit excited about my ride. She exclaimed to a co-worker, "he's ridin' a two wheeler to Alaska!" Initially she was requesting a post card from Alaska, but when she found out about the website, she said she'd try to find internet access to follow my trip. Leaving the store I was in much better spirits that when I entered. I continued north on 19 and this is where the shoulder ended. Now I'm becoming accustomed to riding the white line and immune to the traffic zipping by inches from me. A car gets beside me and blasts their horn. Ahhhh!!!... That drives me crazy! I feel a bit of rage building up each time a car does that. Continuing my ride north, I was thinking about how quickly my emotions have changed. Only a few miles back, I was in a good mood leaving that store. It seems crazy that I could let another person control my emotions and make me so negative. The rest of the ride was difficult with headwinds and not feeling 100 percent today. I stopped several times to stretch and take breaks along the way. Arriving at Manatee Springs State Park at 3:45 PM, I paid $11.77 and set up camp. I fixed black beans and rice, wrote in my journal, then went to sleep. Today - 63.52 miles |