I have (sort of) embraced the ethos of the tour.  Yesterday we rode about 70 miles again, and it took me ALL DAY.  Now that I’m in the Bubba Zone, I feel no pressure to go racing to camp to get my tent set up so that it can dry out.  Bubba and his minions do that for me.  So yesterday I just took my time, and a fabulous time it was.  Our route took us from Tanglewood Park in Clemmons down to Burlington, and the towns along the route pulled out all the stops to make us feel welcome.  Thomasville, in particular, was amazing.  Apparently, the town has long relied on the furniture industry, which in the recent past has moved to other parts of the world.  So now Thomasville is working hard to make a name for themselves in other ways, and they really outdid themselves for us yesterday.

The town council welcomed us in on the streets, the mayor was shaking hands and giving out lapel pins, an 80-year-old grandma was giving hugs, and several other people were doing massages.  There was delicious soup, lots of soda and snacks, and even a giant chair for us to take pictures of.   So I dawdled and hung out and generally soaked up the good will in the wonderful little town.

And that was early on in the day.  We also went through Pleasant Garden, where all the corners were marked with friendly folks welcoming us to town, and a creamery north of Burlington, where we all got scoops of fabulous fresh ice cream.  It was a long and very yummy day.

But today was a bit different.  My daughter’s class took a field trip today, to our 50-mile rest stop.  I had to be there to meet them for a picnic lunch at 11:30, so I had to get up early and get moving in a hurry.  I left camp at 8:15 and rode as hard as I could all morning.  I found lots of friendly folks to draft off of (several folks, when I explained why I was pushing myself so hard, actually volunteered to pull me–thanks, everyone), and really whittled down my rest stop to the bare minimum:  refill the water bottle, stuff a snack in a pocket, and eat while rolling.  At 30 miles I ran into my fabulous friends from Moore County, and they knocked themselves out to get me, literally, to the church on time!  Extra big thanks to Patrick, Ken, and Rick.  You guys rock.

And we got there just as the carpool caravan pulled up.  I was so thrilled to see them.  They brought me lunch, and we hung out for about an hour, touring the rest stop and talking to cyclists and cheering people on as they got back on the road.  Thank you, Heartwood Upper Elementary, for being so well-behaved and so encouraging to all of us cyclists.  I was so happy to see you!

Anyway, after they left I headed back out, and got into camp in pretty good time, even after that long stop.  All in all, it was a fantastic day.

Now I’m actually at my house.  My crew came and got me and took me to dinner, and now we’re headed back to camp to hear tonight’s band and let them soak up the atmosphere a little bit before bed.  I’m going to stay in my Bubba tent tonight–if I sleep in my own bed, I’ll never get going tomorrow!