Day Nine - Sunday, November 7th

The sun is shining, the wind is calm, and yes, it's about 30 degrees F again. We just can't seem to get warm. According to the weather reports, there is snow just behind us. They had 2" just 150 miles North of us last night. Guess we shouldn't complain.

Leaving the motel at 8:15h, we go 1 block, turn left, go 3 miles (5k), and join onto Business 321 South. We follow this all day, and for a couple of days.

However, when we get just North of Linconton, NC, 321 becomes a divided multi-lane. There are no bicycle restrictions posted, so away we go.

After about 2 miles (3k) we can't take anymore. The traffic is cruising by at 65 mph+ and there is no shoulder. We are sharing the roadway with the vehicles. This isn't working.

With Dale's help, we carry all 4 bikes up an embankment to the road above, ride down to a corner and call Becky to give her our co-ordinates. Using the gps she finds us in no time. After talking to locals, and checking the maps, 321 is really our only option. We can't ride there, even if we're permitted to do so.

We load the bikes onto the van and drive about 10m (16k) to just North of Gastonia. We unload the bikes and carry on.

The day did slowly warm up, but never made it to 55F.

The ride was fairly smooth for the rest of the day, the roads were good, and the traffic was light. We entered South Carolina as well.

We arrived in Chester SC before 16h (4 o'clock). The next location of a motel we know is 28m (48k) away. The clocks also went back an hour last night and it gets dark now at 5 instead of 6. We decide to take the motel here, the Executive Inn.

After doing some laundry, and our usual clean-up, we head to Pizza Hut for our dinner. I will not recommend this in the future, but we still managed to get fed. We called it an early night.

Today I rode 111k in 5h 19m for an average of 20.9k/h.

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