I woke up this morning to a beautiful sunrise. I actually woke up before sunrise but stopped my packing for the morning and enjoyed one more cup of coffee as the sun came up. I realized after starting riding this morning that it was a good thing I was able to camp at the ferry dock last night. It was a long way down the road before there was even the slightest possibility of a place to camp. The ride out was beautiful but it was mostly marsh area for about 12 to 15 miles. I was on the road before 7:30. My plans before going to sleep last night were to make about 75 miles today and then go on into New Bern tomorrow. But after a couple hours of riding with some good tailwinds I started thinking about making New Bern tonight. That would mean 127 miles and getting there after dark. I would need to average almost 13 miles an hour for that to work out and a 10 hour ride. I had enough eat on the go food and water with me so I decided to go for it! I really started concentrating on keeping a good pace and staying in as high of gear as possible. I stopped about 11:00 to eat a quick lunch. I had a can of chicken, a power bar and a Pop-Tart. As I was eating and looking at my maps I realized that I had better route to New Bern than originally planned. It would require getting on busier roads but would turn my 127 miles into just a little over 70 miles. The road I was on at the time required full attention to the traffic so the sightseeing portion of the trip was pretty much over anyway. I decided to take the shortest distance between two points. The shorter distance would allow me to leave my map guidance on also. Battery life wouldn't be a concern and I would save time by not having to stop and look at a map. I took 101 out of Smyrna and then 70 (I-40) towards New Bern. The GPS allowed me to take a few side roads that I wouldn't have found with my maps. The roads were busy but I kept one eye on the mirror and one eye on the traffic coming toward me. Riding through heavy road debris was just going to be part of this last section. it wasn't going to be an option sometimes to move out into the traffic lane. Coming by the Marine Air Base Cherry Point I felt a bump as I hit something and then heard a scraping noise. Sounded like my tire was going flat and rubbing my fender. I stopped and walked a bike off the road. What I found was hard for me to believe! I had hit a nail but it didn't puncture the tire. It stuck halfway through my fender and was rubbing my tire. Those Schwalbe touring tires are amazing!
The rest of the day was uneventful and I pulled into New Bern just after 2:00. After talking with our friends at the Aerie B&B I packed the car and headed to my daughter and son-in-law's in Pinehurst NC for hugs and a great nights sleep. We're going to get to fly some in the morning before my drive back home.
Pics of the day:
Sunrise over Cedar Island
riding through the marshlands
Video link:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/EWRr7QpxCod9BPZcA
The nail in the fender. I still can't believe it did that
Back in New Bern
I wanted to add this last sound clip. It's out of place but I forgot to add it the night of the storm. I woke up to this in about 4:00 in the morning on the 30th of November. Link below:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/93cXKapHobbJXzs17
Flying with TJ and Caley
it was a little bumpy as you can tell from the video link
https://photos.app.goo.gl/6GtyXpXB2vfgNS5f9
I always love my bicycle tours. I never take for granted how fortunate I am to be able to do this. I wonder where the next adventure will be!?
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