Day 22: Soaking To Sebree

77.96 miles (Total: 1040.02) Avg Speed: 12.2mph Max Speed: 37.5mph

The morning started with eggs and bacon on the stove, superb. Once we got rolling it was obvious the huge black clouds were about to dump their load on us. Within about 4 miles of riding thunder crashed down and lightning struck the floor by the side of the road. We took shelter under a small pavillion at a tourist information office. The rain came hard in bursts then calmed, there was no hurry but we decided to get back on the road an try again.

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The thunder still rumbled around in the distance but then up ahead in the road we saw a black cloud spiralling sideways extremely low over the road, none of us had ever seen anything like it. After pulling into a gas station the storm returned just as powerful before finally retreating. Rain continued in bursts during the first half of the ride so we eventually decided to take an early lunch and stopped at a cafe. Entering a place that has the AC on full in wet clothes is not fun, but we soon dried out. The waitress told me how she was obsessed with English bands like Zepplin and the Rolling Stones.

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I would soon be reaching 1000 miles for the trip so kept a close eye on my cyclometer as the digits crept up. I have two different settings, one which I put to zero at the start of each ride to get the daily mileage and a second which clocks up all the miles. So as it goes 999.98, 999.98, 999.99 I soon realised there wasn’t even space to go to 6 digits with the decimal places so wondered if it would reset, Cooper said it might. Sure enough as I rolled over the threshold my overall distance went back to 0.00. No big deal, I will now just have to calculate and add on my daily mileage after the rides. It felt great knowing how far I had come, almost 25% of the trip complete!

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Insert coin to continue

The ACA group caught up with us as we approached the town of Utica where they were staying at the Volunteer Fire Department. We still had another 25 miles to go for our destination of Sebree, the First Baptist Church there is a well known TransAm paradise. The immense heat and humidity is interspersed with flashes of refreshing rainfall, the weather is completely unpredictable at the minute. We all felt tired and Terry took a rest in some shade under a tree and told us he would catch up, Joe says “nothing to it but to do it!”.

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We trudged through the last few miles towards Sebree and finally found our way to the church. Violet greeted us round the back, she and her husband were just about to head out for date night but quickly showed us around the building. The church is huge with so many different levels and rooms, we are given access to the kitchen and told to help ourselves to food then showed the laundry room and showers. We had to place a pin on the map of where we were from, England only had 2 previous pins from down south. Downstairs had a pool table, sofas and a huge TV. Did I mention this place was free? I used the wifi briefly before crashing out on the comfiest sofa I could find.

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Eggs and bacon started the morning off right, and it was obvious before we’d gone far that the black clouds massing overhead meant business. Four miles in, thunder cracked and lightning hit the ground close enough to the road to make the point, so we ducked under a small pavilion at a tourist information office and waited it out — no rush, the rain coming in hard bursts and easing, hard and easing, until we decided to just get back out there and try our luck.

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Thunder kept grumbling somewhere off to the side, and then ahead of us a black cloud started spiralling sideways, low over the road, a shape none of us had ever seen and hoped not to see again. A gas station gave us cover while the storm made one more pass at full strength before finally giving up. Rain kept interrupting the morning in bursts until we called an early lunch at a cafe — walking into full-blast air conditioning soaked to the skin is its own kind of misery, but we dried out eventually, and the waitress kept us entertained with how much she loved English bands, Zeppelin and the Stones especially.

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I’d been watching the cyclometer creep toward a thousand miles all morning, torn between my daily counter and the trip total. Nine hundred ninety-nine point nine eight, then nine eight again, then nine nine — and I realised there wasn’t room on the display for a sixth digit. Cooper reckoned it might just reset itself, and sure enough, the second I crossed the line, the total dropped straight back to zero. No matter — I’d just add the daily mileage up by hand from here on. It felt good all the same, knowing how far behind me the start of this thing already was. Almost a quarter of the trip, done.

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Insert coin to continue

The ACA group caught us again near Utica, where they were bunking down at the volunteer fire department, but we still had twenty-five miles left for Sebree and the First Baptist Church there, a name spoken with real reverence on this route. The heat and the humidity kept trading places with sudden, welcome bursts of rain, the weather unable to make its mind up about anything. Tiredness caught up with all of us eventually — Terry peeled off to rest in the shade of a tree and told us he’d catch up, while Joe just shrugged: nothing to it but to do it.

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We dragged the last miles into Sebree and found the church, where Violet met us round the back — she and her husband were halfway out the door for date night but still gave us the full tour before leaving. The place was enormous, level after level of rooms, the kitchen ours to raid, a laundry room and showers waiting, and a map on the wall where we pinned our home town, England’s third pin on that map and its first from anywhere north of the south coast. Downstairs held a pool table, sofas, and a television the size of a wall. All of it free. I got a few minutes on the wifi in before the softest sofa in the building claimed me for the night.

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5 comments from 2010

Ben16 June 2010

Looks like a good place to crash! "the huge black clouds were about to dump their load on us."

Amy Anderson16 June 2010

That doesnt look like any church ive ever seen! Amazing!

mum16 June 2010

Hi Rye, great that you,ve put pin on map from the north of england, the churches are brill free food and drink and a comfy sofa,thinking about you luv mum xxx

Chris Douglass22 June 2010

As if that's free! Sweeeeet!

EVFD27 June 2010

How many drinks did you spill on that pool table then randle ? keep on trucking pard

73 days, one line across the country

5 comments from 2010