“Hey, I See Your Back” – Ken

Yes, I know it is supposed to be “you’re back”, but I have been waiting decades to use that joke, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. If you don’t like it, sue me! 😊

Yes, we are back on the road. We left Calgary very early on April 24. Fortunately, our friend Bruce volunteered to be up at an ungodly time to get us to the airport.

Fortunately, the flights went well, although we were twice delayed getting out of Montreal as Air Canada had “problems” with a plane. However, I would prefer they delay the flight rather than send us on a plane with known issues!

After getting the requisite groceries, we setup camp outside of Durham, NC near a town called Mebane, which allowed us to cycle the American Tobacco Trail. The ATT is an old rail line converted to a cycling trail. The whole trail, out and back, is almost 73 km. Not wanting to push ourselves to hard on our first trip in over a month we did a brisk 37 km jaunt, at about 18 km/hr. It did feel great to be back on the bikes.

North Carolina loves to separate every little new neighborhood with trees and the trail is surrounded by treed areas for the most part. The ATT was beautiful. There were a lot of level crossings, but there were also some short, old train bridges. This time of year, it wasn’t all that busy.

Phyllis was accused of cheating by one fellow she passed. She agreed, and then I followed up on the topic when I passed the guy. I hadn’t heard the first conversation. Phyllis said she told the guy she really had the “cheating” bike so that I could draft her for a change.

We have also bought ourselves a “convenience”. Since we purchased the trailer, we have each used a 3-cup percolator for our morning coffee. However, dealing with the coffee grounds everyday had become an “unfun” activity. Since we have been camping in RV parks with electricity, we spent a whopping $10 and bought a 6-cup electric coffee maker. Two cups of coffee each in the morning and heating water for dishes tonight, I say it too feels like cheating!

Is this really cheating? Let us know!

Tomorrow, we head to Asheville, NC for a mess of sightseeing!