Riding through small towns and the countryside, this region is gorgeous. Hills, fields, beautiful old buildings, it's a real treat, and the people are so friendly.
Now in South Hill, Virginia, a really lovely town. Going to head east, over to the coast, if I can get the bike in good enough condition. :)

By the way, recently went through Soul City, a utopian idea for a place...
I recently got a tube of Crest Be Adventurous Mint Chocolate Trek Flavor Toothpaste (on discount, not at the listed price). Oh my goodness!!! It tastes like ice cream. I want to keep on brushing and brushing my teeth. I will have the cleanest teeth in the world, although maybe not the healthiest insides after all that toothpaste...

Rock & Roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Whew! :)
Made it across the state border today... Had a bunch more mechanical issues, including a flat tire (good chance to change the old wrong size tube held together by a rubber band), and a broken seat (still have to fix that one)...

Rock & Roll!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Watch this awesome new trailer for LifeSTORY!!! :)

Avril drew the amazing images.
We'll have more soon! :)
Rock & Roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

A beautiful town, with extremely friendly folks!!!!!!!!!! :)
Seems like lots of North Carolina towns have friendly people. Also a beautiful and historical area, with lots of American Revolution stuff, and tons of tobacco fields.

Rock & Roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

More tough going! :)
After Wake Forest, rode on a little while, before encountering some more bicycle issues… went hitchhiking, to Louisburg, North Carolina…
...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH FREQUENT DEADLY LIGHTNING AND TORRENTIAL RAINFALL...
Now sitting inside, thankfully! :)

Rock & Roll!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Beautiful sunshiny riding!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Rock & Roll!!!!!!! :)

Here's the newest travel map, all the way up to here in beautiful Durham, North Carolina!!! :)

Made it! :)
A long and arduous ride... went through the night... lots of broken parts, including chain, tubes, and patches... also, far enough away from the coast to have some terrain again... at times without gears or brakes... struggling up hills, screaming down hills, at one point I had to slow the bike down quickly by foot... pavement burned through my footwear and into my foot... ouch!... amazing sunsets... and sunrises... extremely happy to have made it!!! :)

Next: up to Virginia! :)
Rock & Roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

WOW! :)
Keep on makin' it, somehow! :)
Riding through North Carolina, got a flat front tire! To put that in perspective, I've had like twenty rear flats since the last front flat. While taking out the wheel, which was jammed in tight, oops! The metal pin that holds the wheel in the bike snapped. All my patches and tubes weren't holding. Finally, after lots of efforts, I got an old thing in. Wrong size tube, with a gaping hole in the valve stem held together by a rubber band. My bike is now literally held together by duct tape, zip ties, and old bike tubes with a rubber band! :)
Walked a few miles to a highway exit with a gas station that had a few hardware parts, mostly for trucks. Found a couple of parts (not meant for a bike) to hold the wheel in place. Camped out for the night. Then, this morning, rode on, and the thing amazingly held together. Now in Zebulon, North Carolina!!! :)
This place advertises itself as "The Town of Friendly People", and they really are!!! :)

Gonna go get some spare bike parts, and make a big push for the cities...
Rock & Roll!!!!!!!! :)

WOW! :)
Continuing to ride, through lots of miles and adventures...
Rode a bit yesterday morning, before my bike chain broke! While fixing it, my chain repair tool broke! I fixed the tool using another tool that I recently got. Now I'm fixing my own tools! When I started this trip, I couldn't even change a flat tire for myself! :)
Speaking of flats, later in the day I got the seemingly inevitable flat. I'd been getting sore anyways, and the heat has been intense, so I somewhat welcomed the chance to sit in the shade and work on the flat. However, the self-sealing material failed to patch the hole, and my two remaining patches didn't work either. I found out in the nearby gas station that the very small town had no bike shop or hardware store, and the nearest one was quite a distance away. I kept on struggling for a while, eventually getting to the point of using duct tape and a rubber band to hold an old tube together! :)
After working on several creative approaches for a little while longer, a vehicle pulled up. A neighbor had seen me struggling, and drove me back to the house to do some repairs.
Together we worked on the bike for a while, with loud rock blasting on the radio. Thanks to my generous host, we finally got a new setup going, with a different rim, tire, and tube. It's kind of a temporary fix, but at least it got me beyond that town, and to the aforementioned town with a hardware store!!! :)
The next day, today, I woke up and went to the hardware store. They had a tube of the right size and type for my bike. Now I'm in Tarboro, NC, rolling again for who knows how long?! :)
Along the way, taking in lots of scenery, doing some thinking, meeting plenty of folks, eating, drinking, and making merry…

Rock & Roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

Continuing to ride on, through sunny North Carolina!!! :)
Made it to the highly historical town of Edenton, which goes all the way back to the year 1670 and played important roles in American independence, and later history.

More bicycle issues, and more bicycle resolutions. Part of the give 'n' take of the road! :)
Lots of gorgeous riding, through hilly countryside, through fields, down by the water, and so forth. Last night I went over an extremely scenic bridge, with a brilliantly glowing sunset over the charming town. Recently the riding's been gently downhill, feels like I could ride and glide easily… smooth as a sweet cream butter dream! :)
I've noticed recently that I crossed above the "corn line" (by analogy with the tree line). Here, I've stopped seeing palm trees, and instead see lots of corn and soy farms. Different kinds of beauty. (Personally I way prefer the farther southern tropical beauty!!! But variety's the spice of life…)
Having a bit of a chance to refresh while riding through this fairly quiet area. I guess things'll get busier again soon… in Virginia! :)
Rock & Roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)