I typed out a long post, but I don't really have service so somehow I lost it before saving it. Here goes nothing for a second time typing this out. Today was a good day of riding. It was a long day of 81 miles, too. That's way more than I've spent on my bike in the last 2 years! It hurt a bit on the tushy, but I made it through the day with a smile.
The day started with me feeling a bit rushed because I'm not used to being up that early and I'm certainly not accustomed to trips getting up this early. I got breakfast with the "oatmeal club" and had oatmeal with some raisins, walnuts, and honey. I forgot to take a picture of it to post here, but it was delicious and gave me the energy to go the first leg of today.
When I finally got on the road at 8am with the newly founded Atlantic Coast "Caboose Crew", we actually didn't head towards the first rest stop 26 miles away. We went to a friend's house of a cyclist named Amy that was roughly 20 miles away and just barely off route with an extra two miles of riding to get there. We sat on her back patio, pet her affectionate dog, and ate some oranges to get the energy to get back and crush out the last part of the first leg. I pulled (meaning I rode in the front and set the pace) the past 7-8 miles of the first leg. Maybe it was the oranges, but I'd give credit to the dog for how fast I rode. Jeff and Amy (other members of the Caboose Crew) told me that I definitely upped their pace from earlier in the day, but they're strong riders so they were able to keep up!
The first rest stop was right next to a miniature golf course so some cyclists could settle a competition from yesterday where the route leader beat a cyclist in a game. This time the cyclist won! The caboose crew didn't really have enough time to play a game because we were easily the last to get to the first stop because of our detour. We got some snacks in us and got back out on the road. Another rough start to a leg because our body was still in rest stop mode, but we quickly shook it off to catch up to the true captain of the Caboose Crew, Dave. He's the rider I was when I did these tours last. Blasts music and likes to go just a slow pace to enjoy all of the journey. It is a bike tour right? We road with him for 20 of the 31 miles on the second leg until the last mile or two where I kicked it up a notch to power up a truly massive bridge and then make it to the gas station for the last rest stop of the day.
We ate a few snacks there and hung out for a while before heading back to our last 17 miles of coastal riding. It was nice outside but the wind had gotten pretty aggressive. With the turns, we had some as a slight tailwind and some as a slight headwind, but mostly it was a crosswind. It was a gnarly last 17, but we got to camp by 4.
The church was providing a good ole southern dinner at 6:30, so that gave us enough time to have a big $2 cup of ice cream for a snack. We we're in a place that calls itself "Down South" so we got a full on fried chicken dinner. Both the ice cream and dinner were incredible. The team got to bond a little and I even got to pet a neighbors dog as I was getting ready to brush my teeth for the night.
Tomorrow is a 21 mile ride and a 2 hour and 15 minute ferry to okracoke. At the pace I've been going, I might be on a bike half as long as I'm on a boat tomorrow.
Sorry for not posting pictures but I don't have wifi to add them using my laptop. I'll hopefully have time and wifi tomorrow when we get to okracoke.
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