Riding in the South

 “Are y’all with those bike riders I saw on the road tonight?”

 

Thus began a conversation that I thought might never end.  Jeff Mudrakoff and I were at Km 650 on the Shenandoah 1200, heading south into the night towards Mt. Airy NC, home of Andy Griffiths and where a bed awaited us. We were standing outside a burger joint in Floyd VA, dressed up in our night riding finest-reflective vests, ankle bands and headlamps.

 

Yes, I replied we were with the riders she had seen earlier

 

“Well, y’all should be more careful. I came upon some riders earlier and they didn’t get off the road.”

 

Sorry, m’am (always best in the south to refer to people older then yourself as sir or m’am), when you say get off the road, what do you mean?  The “shoulder” along this section of road consisted of the fog line and then 4 inches of road before becoming dirt and grass

 

“Well, I came up behind some bike riders earlier and when I did, they didn’t pull over and stop when I got behind them.”

 

M’am, we are not obliged to get off our bikes when you come up behind. According to Virginia state law, I have as much right to the road as you do.

 

“But that’s not right! Y’all should get off the road when a car approaches. After all, what am I to do?” (Hit the brake pedal in the middle of the floor enters my mind, but I refuse to add this to the conversation)

 

Our conversation with the southerly matriarch continued for a few more minutes, she informed us that she had told her son to call the police to “do something about this” before she got back into her car and continued along home, hopefully without encountering any more disturbances/cyclists.  Jeff and I got back on our bikes after this shaking our heads at the southern “hospitality”. We got no further then 200m when, at the next stop light, a sheriff car, going in the opposite direction stopped, turned on his lights and rolled down his window-

 

“Y’all with the bike rider’s folks been seeing tonight?”

Yes sir.

“Where y’all coming from?”

From Leesburg VA sir (second note about the south: always talk to law officers with yes sir/no sir)

“Where are you heading?”

To Mt. Airy NC sir.

“In one day son???”

No sir. (it was day 2)

“Where are you sleeping tonight?”

Mt. Airy sir.

“Do you know how far that is?”

Yes sir. (God, I hope he doesn’t ask how far, ‘cause I only have the route sheet in Kilometers)

“Y’all be careful out there. I’ve been getting calls all night about bikes on the road (it’s around 9pm by now). It’s not that the folks here are trying to hit you, it’s just that accidents can happen.”

 

Wow, thanks for the thought that even if I get hit, dressed like a Christmas tree, in Southern Virginia, one can’t expect the driver to slow down.  Jeff and I had noted that the further south we traveled, the more things changed. At the start of the ride in Leesburg in Northern Virginia and as we traveled north to Gettysburg PA, the drivers were all very polite when passing us, the roads had nice shoulders and all seemed very good for driver/rider relations. Once we turned south and got south of Leesburg, we noticed that things changed. Roads got narrower and drivers got closer.  The good news as we traveled south as that as day turned into dusk, the number of cars on the road got less. Bad news was that as we started to use the little back roads south of Floyd, it became apparent that leash laws were below cyclists rights on the local sheriff’s list of things to be aware of. We became more attuned to the noise of paws and claws striking pavement in the dark as we worked our way through the back roads of VA.

 

Other notes about riding in the south (area defined as south of the Mason Dixon line

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason_dixon_line ):

 

The further south one rides, the less Prius’s you see. Percentage of pickup trucks goes up.

 

Tea is a cold drink, served unsweetened (except at McDonald’s). Despite the title of the Commonwealth of Virginia, tea drinkers go without or bring their own.

 

Drivers in the south are the same as drivers in the north- when asked for directions to a specific place/street name; no one knows where it is. They all work off of landmarks.

 

Afternoon/evening thundershowers are more common the further south you go. Jeff and I experienced one such storm that left us racing downhill to get away from lightening strikes close by.

 

Pork products are the most popular form of meat in the south. Pulled pork sandwiches were on all the menus and all the controls that had food seemed to have bacon or pork on the menu.

 

Expect hot and humid, especially compared to the BC coast. Jeff got here four days before the event and I was here a week and a half prior and we both got hammered by the first day’s 95% humidity and highs in the high 20’s.

 

Note to self- wool jersey is nice, but in 95% humidity it adds 2 pounds to the weight of the bike by holding onto my sweat.

 

And finally, you never know how much you miss Canada until you ride along, begging for a Tim Horton’s so you can get a cup of tea, a doughnut and nap for a little bit. No such equivalent exists in the south and it is poorer for it.