and then we rested...

for 3 days. Lee woke up on our 6th day and said he felt sick but I saw little evidence of it during the 80 miles of riding into Asheville. However, the following day he showed up at my graduation wearing a fleece while the rest of the world was sweating. He later said, "I must be dying." Needless to say, he went to the doc and got some antibiotics. We've been waiting out his sickness for 3 days and are going to try to ride to Johnson City, TN tomorrow morning.

So day 6...
The EMS station treated us well. We were able to get a full night's rest without any disturbance. Lee got a second flat as we approached Morganton. At this, he was fully convinced that Angelo, the guy he bought the wheel from, obviously does not know how to install rimtape. While Lee changed his tire across from a used car lot, I saw a red karmann ghia. It was then that I realized that if Lee would ever own a car and operate a motor vehicle, it would have to be a car with as much character as that purdy red karmann ghia. He agreed.

As we approached Morganton, we stopped to inspect Lee's bike because something was clicking on each pedal stroke. We found that it was a loose crank arm. If you know anything about bikes, you'll confirm that crankarms are pretty important. They are those things that the pedals are attached to. Fortunately, a nice guy named Rusty who previously operated a local bike shop stopped to help us. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to do anything for us. We continued to pedal, loose crankarm and all. It was refreshing to pedal through all these little towns that I always see from the interstate. Morganton had a pleasant downtown with a cute coffee shop on the corner that had sweet treats calling my name. We caught our first glimpse of the mountains from downtown Morganton. Funny story... you can we passed a young boy, no more than 10 who clearly should've been in school who was digging in the dirt on the side of the road next to a junkyard. I asked him, "what are you digging for?" He responded, "metal" while lifting a large metal bolt to prove his success. I just couldn't help but wonder why one would waste time digging for metal while there was a hole junkyard full of old metal cars. This was a stunning cultural moment. Another good one was when Lee looked over his shoulder at me in disbelief at the sight of a man carrying a toddler on his lap on a riding mower. I shouted to Lee, "free child care!"

Back to the crank arm. Apparently, Rusty foresaw doom in our future. He caught us on the other side of Morganton after having made a phone call to his girlfriend inquiring whether or not she had seen some cyclists ride by on 70. He brought a bag full of crank bolts and directed across the street to a bike shop that could help us with the rest. At this point, Lee had removed his crank arm and decided to pedal the last 200 meters to the shop with only one pedal. He did an impressive job until he hit a steep uphill section. While waiting for the shop to open, I was able to get the crankarm back on with the new bolt but was unable to tighten it because I didn't have the right size hex tool. We asked a man who was leaving from breakfast who directed just down the street to a man who would tighten those crankarms up and send us on our way.

Climbing old 70 was a treat. No cars, smooth road, well shaded. Just crank and go. My roommates and another friend were having a party at a park to celebrate graduation and they were all expecting us at 4pm. Sure enough, we arrived just at 4pm. Lee yelled, "RIDE BIKES!!!" which seems to be the motto of the UNCA cycling club. It was the warmest reception we could have possibly gotten. Many friends were there to cheer us in from the 6th day of riding and arrival in Asheville from the coast. Then, we ate good food.

Saturday...
I graduated from UNC Asheville. College, did it. I was well adorned in a golden bike chain that draped over my shoulders compliments on UNCA cycling club President, Lateef Cannon. This is hopefully the start of a longstanding tradition. Thanks to all friends and family who supported me not only at graduation but for all of my years. There is no doubt that my life would not be what it is without all of you. Thank you.
We also went back to Biowheels and got Lee a bombproof wheel that should hold strong as well as some new rear brakes. I now have 5 water bottle cages, very exciting! Hydration is everything.

I have posted some pictures of our travels so far on facebook. You should be able to look at them even if you don't have facebook...
Coast2Coast photos

Day 5: 87 miles
Day 6: 78 miles