The Last State

Day 32: South Hill, NC to Murfreesboro, NC (76 miles and 1600 feet of climbing)

We didn’t sleep well last night. Maude spent the majority of the night walking to various corners of the bed. She eventually decided at 1 am that she wanted to do a lap around the hotel and then ended up falling asleep around 3. So after a bad night’s sleep we set off on the 3rd to last day of the ride.

I went first with a plan to meet Mom and Maude at a gas station in Gaston, NC. A town where I had volunteered at a high school during my college spring break. We started off riding on a bike path which was nice. There were trees on both sides which provided nice shade as it was hot even when we first started. The path was called the tobacco heritage trail and supposedly went from Maine to Florida. Although it suspiciously ended after about 6 miles- a very long way from both Maine or Florida.

Then we rode through mostly deserted roads. We got chased by another dog, this time it was a Rottweiler, and then we crossed into North Carolina. The welcome sign was so nondescript dad missed it and we had to go back to take a picture with it. We biked through what looked like a nice lake town and ultimately met Mom and Maude after 38 miles. It was a much harder day for me than yesterday for some reason despite being both shorter and less hilly.

Mom and Dad took off in the heat and rode along some more mostly deserted roads surrounded by soy beans and tobacco plants. They stopped to rest once in a closed down cafe/grain elevator parking lot. Then continued on to Murfreesboro, where we’re staying tonight. This might be the least nice hotel we’ve stayed in all trip, but it has hot water and AC so can’t really complain.