Before leaving Lebanon, I succeeded in getting my QR sticker printed thanks to the folks at The Sign Shop of West Virginia; thank you guys.
Wed 31 July – We planned to ride to Belfast, NC with an overnight stop in Lexington, NC. We passed through Virginia and into a corner of Tennessee, and then into N Carolina. A stop in Boone, NC allowed us to warm up a bit as it had been quite chilly coming over the mountains separating the three states. I donned my liner, expecting the chill to continue, but this proved to be a big mistake, at it got much warmer, very quickly and I took the earliest opportunity to take it off again.
Our Bunk-a-Biker host for the night let us down by not supplying an address as we got close, so we decided to head on down to Terry’s sister’s house in Raeford. (She did get back to us eventually but by then it was too late to change our new plan). This made the day’s ride 454 km, taking us some 8 hours.
Terry’s sister lives outside the town and the final stretch of road to her house is sandy! Yep, sand, some of it deep, at the end of a long day leads to the inevitable. This time however, it wasn’t me, but Terry who hit the dirt. Fortunately, no serious damage was done to either Terry or the bike. Still it involved a major recovery operation as I had stopped farther along the road as the sand seemed to be getting worse up ahead. Terry’s nephew borrowed a trailer and my bike was moved to a neighbour’s – also called Terry – yard for the night while Terry chose to have his taken to his sister’s.
The excitement over we retired to the air-conditioned comfort of the house and were royally fed with enchiladas, melon cocktail and apple pie. Terry’s brother-in-law, Junior, is a Cherokee, has a prodigious memory and entertained us with many stories of his colourful life. I have to admit that I had difficulty following some of the tales and I wasn’t attuned to the southern accent, but they were nevertheless, entertaining.
Thur 01 Aug 2024 – Belfast, Wayne County, NC
Terry had in fact hurt his knee when he fell and this, along with the extreme heat and humidity, made him decide not to accompany me further; I headed on alone.
The 138 km to Belfast, NC were uneventful. There was a very noticeable change in the scenery, however. Gone were the hills and deep forests of PA and VA; gone were the winding roads and collections of houses. Instead, the landscape was flat and the roads were straight, The forests were now replanted and mostly conifers. The corn still looked withered.
I arrived at the Google designated reference point and found nothing. Maybe it was the translation from one coordinate system to another that caused the problem, but the Belfast I wanted to be at was about 2 km away. By taking the wrong turn at an intersection I found myself on a highway going in the wrong direction and it was 20 kms later that I arrived at Belfast Pentecostal Holiness Church, which was opposite Belfast Head Start and Early Head Start Centre. The centre is essentially a pre-school for disadvantaged children and those with a disability. I got a little of its history from Jacqueline McDowell-Hendricks, a teacher there, but learned nothing more about Belfast.
That there is anything here at all is fortuitous, because in 1961, two 3.8 megaton hydrogen bombs were dropped accidentally on the nearby village of Faro, 12 miles (19 km) north of Goldsboro, after a a B-52 aircraft broke up in mis-air. Both bombs went through several steps in the arming sequence, but neither detonated. One bomb was recovered., and although much of the second bomb was also recovered, a missing piece containing uranium was believed to have sunk deep into the swampy earth and could not be recovered. In 2013, it was revealed that three safety mechanisms on one bomb had failed, leaving just one low-voltage switch preventing detonation. (Wikipedia)
After a somewhat delayed coffee I headed down the remaining 140 km to. Lake Leamon, where I was camping for the night. This proved to be a very pleasant spot, as its name suggests, by a lake. The water was like a warmish bath, but still refreshing, given the temperature at 2100 was 29º C and the humidity 77%. This latter was something I would have to get used to. Unfortunately, the site was home to some tiny biting insects, the effects of which I was to notice later.
Friday 02 Aug 2024
I was up before dawn and took advantage of the lake to cool down before setting off – it was already above 20º C by this time.
Five minutes after leaving, the first raindrops of the day fell. I stopped and put my wet kit on, just in time. Almost immediately the rain increased and got to the point where I couldn’t see my front wheel. Luckily a side road allowed me to turn off and I found a church hall which a small porch to shelter under. The rain was to continue on and off for most of the morning, but thankfully not as heavy as the first time.
I was heading for Charleston and had decided to ride down the coast, through Myrtle Beach; big mistake! Myrtle Beach is a 50km long strip mall. My abiding memories will be heavy traffic, heavy rain, and hundreds of f***ing traffic lights – every 100 metres! The going was slow and hot but I eventually found my way to the coast. When I think of a coast road, I think of a road that literally follows the coast and from which you can see the waves hitting the beach. Not so here; the “coast” road is a major road from which you might catch a glimpse of the sea if you happen to be looking in the right direction at the right time.
Although it was now 1230, it was time for breakfast. Another thing I’ve discovered is that all the places serving breakfast close at 1400. I suppose that’s not unreasonable, but I’m used to cafés staying open all day. The one I chose closed at 1300, so I was just in time to sit on the main street just off Myrtle Beach and watch the sea through a gap in the apartment tower blocks. This is a major tourist destination and not an upmarket one; give it a miss.
I set off with 160km to go, and very soon was warily eying the dark approaching clouds. As the threatened rain arrived I pulled into a very smart Chrysler/Nissan showroom where I was made to feel welcome and offered some water and a seat to wait out the weather.
I finally arrived at my hosts, Chris and Cami, at 1800; it had taken me 11 hours to do some 400kms! I was tired. Chris is a photographer and was going out to a shoot, but Cami provided me a delicious meal and entertained me until fatigue set in and I went to bed.
Sat 03 Aug 2024
Next morning with Chris we go to see the Magnolia Plamtation and Gardens. This is one of the oldest plantations in the South, dating from 1679, and has some impressive oak (and other) trees, nearly all draped in hanging Spanish Moss. A longer stop would have been good, but I wanted to get on my way, so it was a quick tour in and out.
Chris had given me a few places to visit on route to Savannah, and the first was the Carolina Cider Company and Clockwise Coffee Shop. Here I had an excellent breakfast croissant and amusing interaction with the ladies, Blue and Fran.
I continue towards Beaufort, also recommended, and here the trouble starts. The bike starts missing on one cylinder, but after a short stop runs well again. Beaufort is another tourist town; a bit more upmarket than Myrtle Beach, but not by much. Also across the river from Parris Island. Ice cream and cake parlour is a bit of a disappointment.
Carrying on the bike runs well until just before the bridge across the Savannah River into city. The same cannot be said for my GPS. Although I am less than 30 km from my destination, it consistently refuses to re-route and indicates 210km to go. Only as I enter Savannah, does it wake up and start giving proper directions.
When I arrive at Mike’s house I am immediately told we have to leave promptly at 5 pm for dinner with his family – Mum, Dad, brother and sister-in-law – at an old Savannah bar. They are obviously close and this is clearly a weekly get-together, but as always to date, I am made to feel very welcome.
After dinner, Mike gives me a quick tour of downtown Savannah. The old part of the city has numerous small parks, and is populated by ancient oak trees, draped in the same Spanish Moss mentioned above. Then it’s home to watch an old movie – The Cult of the Cobra!
Belfast, GA – Sun 04 Aug 2024
There is a hurricane (Debbie) warning in place for Atlanta; it is expected to arrive on Monday from Florida and to bring high winds, but especially lots of rain. It is slow moving and will be in effect for a couple of days, so I decided to hit Belfast early and then leave for SC, trying to avoid it.
Belfast, GA does not amount to much; there are a couple of roads and a real estate development company with “Belfast” in the name and that’s about it.
As I set out, the bike was running well, but this did not last long and shortly after leaving Belfast, the bike started acting up again. Given that the problem started shortly after refuelling, my diagnosis is a fuel problem, so as a “try it and see” effort, I throw some Seafoam into the tank to see it helps. It doesn’t!
Back at Mike’s, I empty tank, carb bowls and fuel petcock. All fuel is clean and there are no foreign bodies in it. I clean the jets while I’m at it. Since fuel looks OK, I check spark plugs. One is wet and there are two different plugs. I replaced them all and the bike seemed to run OK.
As I finally depart at 1430, considerably later than I had hoped, heading towards Newberry, the weather looks as if it’s holding – just.
Belfast-2-Belfast-By-Bike 