48: late start, larry, metro, into the arms of jesus, alive, the amazing tiny, the lane less traveled, solar farm, state #5, no shooting or stopping, painted trees

May 4, 2025

Henderson to Bracey

The thunderstorm that came through last night was supposed to continue until noon so I was in no hurry to leave. I asked for a late checkout, rolled down to the lobby at 11:45, then hung out working on the journal for another 45 minutes since it was still raining a little.

While I was there Larry came over and asked me about my trip. He started with the Usual Questions and, like many people, started squealing with disbelief that anyone could ride that far. You've heard it: that high-pitched "Whaaaat????" that always makes me smile.

During our conversation he let me know that he drives a truck for a living. When he first started, he was unsure that driving was something he wanted to do for the rest of his life. His instructor told him that he didn't have to decide about the rest of his life, just whether or not he wanted to drive today. That was more than thirty years ago.

Every time I meet a trucker I always point out how respectful they all are of cyclists. When I told Larry, he said, "Tha's right. Every time I see a biker I treat'em like they was my grandma or my daughter on the side of the road."

He talked about the evils of social media, and how everything tells us to be afraid, but he isn't because of his trust in the lord. "And the rich people are gettin' us to fight with each other, but we gotta unite."

He needed to start driving, but walking past my bike to his truck he stopped to admire it. After giving it the once over, he looked back over at me and, with raised eyebrows, he said, "Hoooo wheee.... thassa expensive bike. I bet that thing cost a thousand dollars."

By the time I left it had stopped raining. The roads were barely wet, and not slick.

and left the smell of fresh air after a rain, as well as the smells of honeysuckle and bridal wreath

another cool car, this one in good shape

I hope that: (1) the "drove" part is metaphorical and not actual, and (2) it's not bad grammar for "driven."

Middleburg, North Carolina.... population 103

Today I slipped over to Middleburg, just a tiny bit out of the way. I say "tiny" because that's where Tiny Broadwick was born. Georgia Ann Thompson, born in 1893, received the nickname "Tiny" because she was just under 5 feet tall and only weighed about 85 pounds. She got married at 12, became a mother later that year, then a widow shortly thereafter.

In order to support herself and her child, she joined The Broadwicks and Their Famous French Aeronauts, a traveling balloon and parachute show run by Charles Broadwick. She took his last name, though they were never married.

Her performances were daring, and she was one of the first performers to show that parachute jumping was a viable aerial technique instead of just a just a stunt by jumping out of hot air balloons with a parachute packed in a rucksack.

In 1913, Glenn Martin invited her to demonstrate parachute jumps from an airplane, which was at that time was unheard of, and she became the first woman to jump from a plane. The U.S. military became interested once they realized parachutes could save pilots in emergency situations.

What she's most famous for is the invention of the ripcord. While performing for the U.S. Army Air Service her static line got tangled in the airplane's tail assembly. Instead of dying, which is what most of us would have done, she had the presence of mind to cut the line, then manually deploy the chute. This inspired her to modify the parachute so it could be released by a ripcord, changing parachuting permanently by allowing skydivers to control the timing of their chute deployment.

As I was reading about Tiny, my thoughts went to "How did she die?" Happily, not from an accident. She died from natural causes at the age of 85 after being honored with multiple awards, including a display in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

Although you can't tell in the picture, this solar farm is massive and extended as far as I could see.

Curious, I looked at Google Maps and found it's even bigger than I thought.

At first glance, I thought it said "Virginia is for losers." I'm hoping not, and that it's better than North Carolina.

Interesting combination, and I really couldn't help myself.... I had to stop.

Here are a few mailboxes for you. As you can see, the themes change with the region.

I'm really curious about what all the different colors sprayed onto the tree trunks mean.

then, when I saw it on a telephone pole, it changed to "Don't Cut This Tree"

then it changed to "Some Kid With A Can Of Spray Paint Is Trolling Me."

Today was such a pleasant day, which makes for great riding but boring reading. Tailwinds, not-too-difficult hills, cool weather.

The only issue with today is that I forgot to eat, which I tend to do on occasion. The hotel's breakfast ended at 9:00, so I set an alarm for 8:30 and was done a few minutes after they closed it down. I usually finish riding around lunchtime, but today my ride started at 1:00. It lasted three hours, so by the time I was done I had pedaled 35 miles with just an orange and a protein bar under my belt. When I got to Bracey there was a Mexican food restaurant next door so I hoovered up some shrimp enchiladas and a margarita, then tried to stay awake until bedtime because that's what alcohol does to me.

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Today's ride: 35 miles (56 km)
Total: 1,300 miles (2,092 km)

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Jo HaileyWhat a perfect day for riding.
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