After about 50 miles (80 km) Jonathan said that his right knee hurt too much to continue, so I called Connie, who was just leaving the motel, and asked her to pick Jonathan up at nearby exit 312 of Interstate 40. The knee problem appears to be caused by the heavy duty mountain riding a few days ago when he joined the trip. Robby had a similar knee problem a couple of days ago. Raising the seat some appears to have solved the problem for Robby. Jonathan tried changing his seat too, but it didn't help. Photo 1 shows us saying goodbye to Jonathan.

Steve, Robby and I continued on and stopped at Hardees fast food in Benson, NC about 1:30 pm to have lunch (photo 2).

Later we came upon a large pumpkin patch with big pumpkins and couldn't resist taking pictures of each other in with the pumpkins (photo 3).

Dogs

I really haven't had a problem with dogs. There have been some encounters, but I was able to out run them most of the time. There were no dog problems west of the Mississippi. I suppose that's because there are no houses really close to the road.

Since I entered my home state of Kentucky, I have been carrying a pepper spray, and I have never used it on a dog. We have all commented on how many dogs are locked in cages, chained up or are behind fences. This appears to be the rule rather than the exception. There have really not been many loose dogs anywhere I have ridden, which includes a lot in Kentucky and North Carolina -- traditional dog country.

Yesterday we had a strange dog encounter. Steve was riding a couple of hundred feet (60 m) in front of Robby and me when a dog raced raced out after him with a terrific intensity. When I saw it, I immediately reached in my shirt pocket for the pepper spray, because rarely have I seen a dog with such a single-minded objective. Steve speeded up and easily out distanced him. The dog dropped back and stood slightly back from the edge of the road as Robby and I approached. I braced for the attack, but the dog just sat and looked at us. Since I really wanted to use the pepper spray, I tried to entice him to chase us by calling "Here doggie. here doggie." No luck. The dog wouldn't chase us. As we passed it looked like the dog had pooped out chasing Steve, and just didn't have any energy left. We decided that from now on Steve should go first to wear the dogs down.

We got into Clinton about 5:30 and found Jonathan and Connie at the motel. I'll let Connie speak for herself about her experiences.

It was a long, hot (87F, 31C) day, and we were pooped. Tomorrow is not as far and the roads are completely flat now in the coastal plain, so we expect easier riding. It will also be hot again.

Tomorrow is also the last day of the trip. I plan to add an additional entry to wrap up the trip after tomorrow's log, giving some statistics and observations.

[Connie] Today was a 73 mile, 3 hour, badly wrenched ankle, truck- stuck-in-a-ditch day. That was just the first part trying to get from Chapel Hill to Jonathan whose knee was giving him problems.

Ray called me just as I was getting ready to leave the motel to say that Jonathan was waiting at Exit 312 on I40 for a pickup. I got off, not in the totally proper direction, and later pulled over on the grassy roadside in a subdivision to read the map. The right front wheel found a hidden ditch and fell in. In attempting to find out what the problem was that was preventing the truck from moving forward, I put my left foot in the same ditch. My momentum kept me going forward, the foot was firmly in the ditch and I had the experience of feeling something go pop in my ankle.

Then I was trying to figure out how to get the truck out of the ditch. The pole I could use for winching the truck out was too far away and I don't know how to use the winch by myself. A lady kindly stopped and offered to take me to a garage for towing help. Just then a pickup with two men going into the subdivision for some roofing work (based in the signs on the truck) stopped to see if I needed help. Angels of mercy were they. They hooked up our tow chain to their truck and pulled me right out. Their truck had a "How's My Driving? -- Call1-800-763-0378" sign on it. With all the happenings of today, I've not had a chance to call and report the good driving and help from these men, but will and hope that they will be commended for the help they gave me today.

After the pull out of the ditch, I drove fast aiming for Jonathan, who had already waited for an hour and a half. By 3 pm, I got to the exit, found Jonathan and turned the driving chores over to him. By the time we got to Clinton, my ankle was quite a lot larger than it should be. The plan for tomorrow is that Jonathan will drive me to Wilmington, get stuff into the motel, ride his bicycle back to meet the guys and come in with them. As we all come together, we will toss Ray into the ocean, celebrating this colossal epic adventure.