BACK IN THE DAY

Back in the early days of my introduction into cycling I was doing university educating in South Carolina. I was a bored guy with a girlfriend all the way across the state. She was at the main campus and I was still in the satellite campus in Beaufort South Carolina. This was a drag and it eventually led to my first big 140 mile solo run out of the lowcountry and into the agricultural land of cotton and kudzu. She was worth every stroke...of the pedals..to go there. I was on a mission.
Her name was Josephine Iacavidou..she was from the birthplace of Aphrodite and the also the stoic Zenon..I believe. ( to enlarge the piture above just click on it n drop down..shoulda been put in better ) The island in the middle of the meditteranean known as Cyprus. ( greek ) Her father went to war against the invading Turks in 74' and has not been seen since. The policy of the Turkish army was to keep the captured Cypriot men prisoner and reintegrate them eventually into their society and make them marry a Turkish women. The island was split into two and the division is known as the green line. Josephine was given a scholarship for two reasons from the govt. of her homeland. First she had a father who fought for their freedom....secondly she was a straight A student. I benefited from getting to know her in that she was a great tutor for my lame algebra skills. Plus she was awesome as a person and great to look at.
Soo I went on the road and travelled past yamasee ( the name of a marshland indian tribe ) and past many big plantations. I never rode that far before and I was carefull to go easy to not fry myself. I eventually passed many towns and small country hamlets until I finally got into the suburbs that mark Columbia S.C.. I was a nuisance for the dorm because I slept in the dorms lounge on the sofa and the girls in their pajamas probably felt awkward with a guy there. Oh well...it was worth the trip and after the weekend I rode back. I did the trip a couple more times and grew more confident. With that confidence came mistakes. I got caught with 40 miles to go still, once, and it was too dark to continue. I stopped at a remote country store where some hunters were gathered. I asked how far I had to go and told them why I was soo stupid to be stranded this far away from anywhere . They passed the bottle some more, joked some, and one of them gave me a ride to where there were at least city lights. These guys were real southern and they showed me some southern hospitality. Gave me a camouflauge jacket and all. That could have been a real bad situation. Not sure if its better to be stranded in the middle of nowhere or in a magalopolis. At least in the woods you can make a fire but no money in the city, and cold, means you have to break a law for room and board. A new teammate said I should put this story up...thx for the suggestion Grayson.