No room at the inn… oh, wait, yes there is! A day of lessons.

It’s been a long, but satisfying day. Forty miles pedaled, though three of them didn’t x”count” because I did the worst thing… I overshot and had to go back. I had my first flat while actually on the trip and also my first successful flat repair! Only took me hours… well, that’s how it felt. Especially galling because I caused the flat – valve blew out while I was trying to pump the tire up a bit. This was preceded by the bike doing that fork turning rolling escape maneuver straight into a brick wall, breaking one of my headlights. I was able to put it back together, though, just like I could fix the flat. Eventually. At one point there I wondered “Is this (touring) something I can actually succeed at? Should I even be doing this?”, but the day was gorgeous and the road was good, so I kept riding. That’s what we do, right? We keep pedaling. I had to ride a mile on US 17, which has four lanes, mucho traffic and zero shoulder. One guy just laid on the horn to let me know I shouldn’t be there. When he passed, I saw his gray and big SUV. And ok saw the proudly displayed Christian bumper stickers and fish emblem. He must attend, what? the church of the Belligerent Christ? Sigh. I’m working on my charitability. Not totally successful, yet. Ok, I’m pooped. Enough. Ok, a bit of sleep was had and now I’ll finish up here. Finally (finally!) got into Conway and found the fire department, but no joy – they now only take folks who have contacted them in advance, which sadly was not me. There was, however, an econolodge literally across the street. I was way too tired to think twice about that and that’s where I spent the night. I got close to 8 hours sleep, though I desperately wanted ten. Still do, for that matter, but I fear sleep has escaped me for the night. I have a short – 16 mile – ride to a wildlife refuge where I’ll be staying with a couple who are warmshowers hosts. If tomorrow is still t-storm-y I’ll take a zero day and start back up on Saturday. Belatedly, kudos to the Calabash FD, Chief Randall Bork and Lt. McLamb – they all took good care of me and their help was invaluable. Quite the contrast to Conway, although the firefighters I dealt with were good folks, even though I was a busted mess.