Day 8 Cedar Island to New Bern 71 miles

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!?

Day 7 Wild camp to Cedar Island Miles traveled 28/ Miles ridden (not many)

Last night's camping spot was wonderful! I was in no hurry to leave this morning. So I set up, wrapped my sleeping bag around me and made two cups of coffee before even thinking about getting out. Also the first ferry left at 7:30 a.m. The next one didn't leave until 1:00 so there was no hurry to get going. It was a nice ride form my camping spot into Ocracoke. I passed by the stables where the wild ponies are kept but didn't see any of the ponies. The ponies on the island are descendants of the horses brought over by the Spaniards. Back in the 50's boy scout troop 290 became the only troop to be a mounted scout troop. They would catch and break the wild ponies and teach them to eat hey instead of the natural vegetation. After you reach the national Park campground there is a bike path all the way into town. 

Ocracoke had some neat oddities. There's a British cemetery in town. Britain has a perpetual lease on the property and it's maintained by the Ocracoke Coast Guard. During world war II the British battled German u-boats off of the Outer Banks coast. 

The Ferry ride from Ocracoke to cedars island is only $3 for you and your bike. It's a little over 2 hour ride and I had most of the ferry to myself. Everyone else in the few cars that were on the ferry stayed in their cars. I assumed I was going to be riding for a while after I got off the ferry in search of a good camping spot. I arrived in Cedar island about 3: 46 and rode for about 15 ft! Leaving the ferry I decided to go into the terminal / info center and ask the ladies behind the counter about camping. They said I could camp anywhere here I wanted to. The beach, porch or picnic areas would all be fine and then leave the restrooms unlocked! Found my home for the night! Did I mention there's a seafood restaurant about 100 yards away. It's definitely not as quiet as last night but it's good. 

Pics of the day:

My ride to Cedar island

my private lounge area

home for the night

I've still got 127 miles to go! 

I better get with it or Cathy will have to get an Uber from the airport

Day 6 Waves to a Wild camping site on Cape Hatteras seashore

I'm writing this blog one day later as I take the ferry from Ocracoke to Cedar island. . I ran out of phone service yesterday and then battery went completely dead as I reached my campsite  Another pretty cold morning for a start of yesterday's ride. The wind didn't really slacked up a lot but it come mostly as I cross wind all day  A very enjoyable ride. The traffic also died down considerably. I guess it's due to the fact of getting close to the end of the island. I had to catch the ferry from Hatteras to Ocracoke late yesterday. I didn't really think I would have enough daylight to make it for down the island. With that in mind I stopped by a grocery store and stocked up on food for the night. I filled my water bottles and spare bladder bag also. I found out that the fairies did not run yesterday because of the high winds.  The ferry ride was about 45 minutes and I arrived on Ocracoke around 3:45. I looked at my maps on the ferry ride and realized two things. One: I wasn't going to make the town of Ocracoke or the national Park campground before dark. Two: There look like some awesome possibilities for camping along the way. I was looking for two things in a campsite last night. I needed to be out of sight and out of the wind. The place I found was probably one of the best wild camping sites I have ever had. The pictures don't tell the full story. The site was perfect. Actually the whole night was perfect. The wind died down, The temperatures weren't as cold as the night before and the silence was amazing. There was no other noise besides the ocean and nature sounds. The night sky had more stars to be seen than I have seen in quite a while. I left my rain fly rolled back most the night in order to see the stars. I woke up around midnight and was actually too warm. So I took off everything I was wearing except a pair of light shorts and t-shirt. I realized about 3:00 that I had gotten a little overzealous with my clothing removal. I ended up putting most of it back on.  Here's a list of what I went to sleep wearing:

Padded riding shorts

long spandex pants

baggy riding shorts

Rain pants

socks

Neoprene riding booties

t-shirt

long sleeve spandex shirt

Medium weight zip up jacket

Rain jacket

Beanie

Buff neck gator

Mittens

The weather looks like it's going to be dipping into the 30s for the next couple of days so I imagine I'll be wearing this for the next few nights of sleep. 

Pics of the day:

Along the route

The only footprints were mine

dredging the canal

the seagulls followed us all the way across. Diving down when we came through a school of fish

Coming into the Ocracoke doc

Riding toward Ocracoke

I found my campsite

video of the campsite. You may have to copy and paste these links I send. 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MiT3bPxzSXcVfg4cA

Day 5 Nags Head to Waves 32 mi

Boy,  I am really racking up some miles!! I never have been too concerned about the miles I do anyway. The ride today was mostly wildlife preserve areas. There were quite a few bird watchers with the powerful scopes today. Also a lot of surfers! I went over the Oregon Inlet bridge and actually enjoyed it. There were wide shoulders and not much traffic to contend with. It was a nice view from the top of the arch. 

Most everything is starting to shut down here. I did find a campsite tonight and have anchored the tent down the best I could. The wind hasn't let up much and it's going to be cool tonight. I think 37 is to low. Tonight's meal was a little different than last night but still enjoyable. Ramon noodles and Spam paired with a nice decaffeinated tea from last night's hotel and a bite-size Butterfinger for dessert! 

Pics from today

Today is riding attire, partially because of the cold temps and partially to protect from the blowing sand. 

remote camping tonight. No need to hang a bear bag?

Day 3/4 Winton to South Mills and South Mills to just north of Nags Head 45/70 miles respectively

Combining two days of riding into one night of blogging! I didn't leave Winton yesterday till about 9:00. I had breakfast at the Shell station before I got on the road. Three ladies working in there that really loved their job and wanted to talk to me about my bicycle ride. Yesterday's ride was good mostly back roads and sunshine but very little in the way of any towns or services. Once I left Winton it was mostly cotton fields and swamp until I got to South Mills. I thought I was going further than South Mills yesterday but with the short days and the looming thunderstorm, I decided South Mills would work just fine. There's not a lot in South Mills. The closest big town is Elizabeth city. So after making a round through town I decided to stop at the Grocery and Gun to see if they might know if any place I could pitch the temp tonight. Misty was the lady running the store. Such a nice lady. She started making some phone calls and put me in touch with Mike. He made a couple of more phone calls for me and called me back. I was going to be able to stay behind the Masonic Lodge for the night and it had a shed which was something I really wanted with the weather getting bad last night. And it did!

Last night or some serious wind and rain. I got up at about 2 this morning and started trying to tie my tent to anything that wasn't blowing around. The shed helped I'm sure but it was still a damp night for sleeping. The transformer next to the lodge blew sometime before sunrise. Even though I was very happy to have the shed at the Masonic Lodge for the night, it would still be hard to give it more than two stars!! I got up, packed and hit the road by 7: 30 this morning. The heavy weather had ended for the most part. Just light rain and wind to start the day. The light rain ended but the wind, oh my gosh! When I first started going North I had to win to my back. I was cruising between 18 and 20 miles an hour fairly easily. Then I turned Southeast then eventually south! Crazy winds! I really didn't know if I would make Kitty hawk today or not. But I just kept saying another 10 miles. Then I got there and they really wasn't anything so I said another 10 miles and so on and so on. That mindset worked well until I got to the bridge that connects Point Harbor to Kitty Hawk. I took a look at that bridge and immediately realized I was not going to ride my bike across that bridge with the wind and traffic. I went back to the gas station just before the bridge with the plan of waiting till somebody in a pickup truck was going across the bridge. In just a few minutes John pulled up in his F-350 and after he topped off his tanks we were on our way. Me and Fancy in the back!  So, I did make Kitty hawk and beyond. Tonight I am just north of Nags Head. Where I am staying at the Marriott TownePlace suites which I would give 10 stars if I could!! 

Even though my bicycle tours have ups and downs, good days and maybe some not quite as good as you would like days, the people I meet are a constant. No matter where they're from, how they talk or what they look like. There are a lot of great people just waiting to be met. 

Pics from the last two days. 

Back road leaving Winton

rolls of cotton. Your next pair of Levi's may be here. 

riding through the swamp

lunch in South Mills while I was trying to decide where to stop and sleep for the night

last night at the Masonic Lodge

The pink is severe weather warnings

My route today feel mostly within the pink

I did a video of the wind today. Here's the link. https://photos.app.goo.gl/D5UwLqjj9GXZj15NA

I didn't get a picture of John before he left but here was the truck I rode across the bridge  

first sight of the ocean

my trusty steed that got me here

home for the night. Before picture

The picture on the TV says it all!

after picture

first real seafood meal of the trip!!

Wow!