The official Dancing Deer Baking Company Blog

Late night so my hope was for a bit of a sleep in but woke up early. Decided to hit the road and get a jump on the weather. Yesterday the highest temp we recorded was 104 on the highway. Windy too – every day right on the nose but this morning felt quiet and cool. Was going to be on my own but we got a call from a biker out of Columbia who was going to ride with me. Needed to wait for him though. No problem – it was well worth it. When he arrived I took one look at George and thought, “Wow, if that guy can pedal then I have it made”. And George took one look at me and said, “This will be like a Mac truck and a Fiat. I love George. He’s an EMT from Richland County, (just were named the top EMS unit in SC). He pulled me for a good 20 miles and we had a great time.

I encouraged him to not worry about losing me on the down hills. I love pushing them hard. He made a crack about getting stuck behind a fat man. Instead of correcting him and pointing out his size was only indicative of his great big heart, I just laughed and said I was fine with that. Moments later my ear phone holder flew off my helmet. Happily the technology stayed tethered to me and I just lost the stuff that makes it comfortable. No problem. But I pulled up to George and told him that was the universe scolding me for letting him make a crack about his weight. On parting George asked if he could say a prayer for me. Why not? I love that idea. So we put our heads together and he poured out the most beautiful set of thoughts. I asked, that is, once I pulled myself together and stopped crying, if he’d try to remember what he said and send it to me. Hope he does!


Then I was off on my own in what I began to think of as the part of SC where there isn’t a name it’s just wild and rural and wonderful. I had also gotten word from the crew that the sag wagon had a flat so they’d be well behind me. Darn. I had not stocked up on food or really eaten breakfast because I was planning to do that when they caught up with me maybe around mile 20. In a last minute equipment change I’d also left my spare GPS tracker battery in the other belt pack and was low. And we were already having trouble with my blackberry battery and the new one had arrived the night before but it came inside a phone and we mindlessly thought we could get it set up the next day. Rule of road: never leave anything till the next day if it involves provisions or contingency plans. But here I am, sitting in the RV 52 miles in to today’s route so it all worked out fine.


That long stretch of Route 21 where there is really not much of anything but woods was beautiful and great riding. NO cars!. And I didn’t mind being alone. But I was aware of the possibilities. I noticed a hawk circling around – seemed like he was watching me. And then I saw the Doe on the roadside. Beautiful reddish brown rich looking coat. Might have been hit this morning. And then a few yards beyond her a much smaller animal that I couldn’t make out until I realized it was her fawn. I looked up the next hill and saw something that looked like a fox cross the road. And within moments I was passing another road kill only this one was sort of scary looking. Maybe a big wild dog – my thought was jackal from the look of its snout. Are there jackals in SC? Then the fox/dog reappeared. But now I could see it was a muscular country dog more interested in the road kill than me. Yay!! While still thinking about the road kill I was flying down a hill and saw a turtle crossing the road. I will forever wonder whether it made it to the other side (there were occasional cars) and if it didn’t, will forever feel bad about not stopping! This was balanced out by my coming up so fast on something on the road I couldn’t swerve to avoid it and I ran over an already dead snake. May it please have been a poisonous one? It had black and white markings that looked ominous.


Screaming down another hill thinking that my best plan was to keep making good time till I got to a town where I could get some food and water and I see four bikers on the roadside at the bottom. Hated losing that momentum but I slammed on my brakes and stopped to chat. Alas they were headed the other way but they shared their water with me (still only in the 80’s at this point but heating up) and we told some stories. They belong to an organization that is translating the bible in to every language on earth. I assumed that had already been done! Sweet guys. They were on a 140 mile training ride for a 600 mile trip down to the headquarters of their organization in Orlando. I think that’s what they said. Disney and bible translations certainly could be neighbors. Why not? One of them was having trouble and they were waiting for one of their wives to come along. She pulled up in a red truck and when she heard what I was doing she made everyone get together and take a group shot. Hope she sends it. I was very happy to see them. Felt like a four way intersection morning with the wilds of nature, the good natured craziness of this journey, the word of god and the hand of fate all stopping to shake hands.


OK I’ve had breakfast, iced my knee (unrelated injury that only hurts when I walk . . . .) and recharged the phones a bit, but now the RV has a generator problem so we couldn’t get much charge. Never a dull moment. Poor Beth and Amy will spend the rest of the afternoon trying to fix the vehicle. So I’m stocking up on everything I need for the next 50 miles. Feels like nothing even if it does get back up to 100. I’ve had such a great morning. Looking forward to what the afternoon on the road to Charlotte will bring.