Myrtle Beach to Wilmington

We loaded up on another hearty breakfast at the highly recommended Serendipity Inn before heading out northbound.  The roads were not ideal nor was the traffic, but it was not so bad as it could have been, say, at rush hour or if there had only been one lane.  I was just starting to settle in to the day's ride when, distracted by something and having taken my eyes off the road, I heard a loud smash/bang/pop/hiss.  I had managed to ride over some small glass object, maybe a tiny bottle or something, and my rear tire was not pleased.

Walking up a little ways, I then settled into flat-fixing mode which, for me, entails being even slower than usual and having a snack while pondering life.  Unfortunately the glass had really cut through the tire itself and, while the tube was certainly irreparable, my beautiful Schwalbe Marathon Supreme was not looking so hot either.  I had heard that a temporary fix involves putting a $1 bill as a patch, but I only had 20's and the amount of weird unidentifiable slime that has appeared inside the tire made me hesitant.  So, I cleaned things up a bit, popped in a new tube, and decided to hope for the best.  I had a feeling that it was not going to last the day seeing as the tube was pushing out of the slash in the tire, but figured I would get as far as I could and then likely wind up sticking out my thumb by the highway.  

In what might not have been logical to anyone but me, I went by the air stop at the gas station and put an obscene amount of pressure in both my front and rear tires.  The logic: if I was only going to last for a bit on the tire anyhow, I may as well enjoy excellent rolling speed.  Go big or go home, I suppose.  

Long story short, I make it to the North Carolina border and, beyond that, all the way to Wilmington!  I found Sam at the house of Phyllis and Paul, our Warmshowers host, and after quickly cleaning up and explaining the situation I gladly supported a trip to the local bike shop.  The guys at Two Wheeler Dealer were great.  They listened to my convoluted story, helped me in my stubborn desire to try and fix the mutilated tire, offered some alternatives for replacement tires, and did it all with a smile.  While they may understandably have been a wee bit smug when I finally wound up accepting that a new tire would have to be bought (their original diagnosis of the situation), I appreciated their help and allowing me to come to my own decision.  I got a narrower replacement (28" Continental, if anyone cares) and figured I would hang on to the old Schwalbe in case of problems as it would probably hold up for a few days in a pinch.  

The evening and supper with Paul and Phyllis was filled with laughter, good fun, and tasty pasta with accompaniments.  Sam and I had a tough time doing any route planning as we were both pretty tired, but we found a last minute warmshowers host about 50 miles away that would set us up well to head to the Outer Banks.