Just a review of all the things happening on my trip because I finally got to a coffee shop to snag some WiFi with my laptop... I will also add all of my photos to my biking facebook page
Yesterday on Okracoke was wonderful. With it only being a 21 mile day, it felt like a rest day for us. We ventured around and got some delicious food. I started with a fried mahi mahi taco with some homemade veggie slaw and tortilla among other ingredients like avocados. It was delicious and i devoured it too fast, but I couldn't help myself. After that, we walked around the town and it was such a quaint little beach town. A local guy suggested the coffee drink I should get (he dubbed it a "cocoa-mocha-nut" because it was a chocolate and coconut mocha).
Later on, we went to dinner because it was a cyclist named Rob's birthday! We were treated to free dinner at the best restaurant on the island where I stuck to the fish theme. Funny enough, our waiter was the guy who suggested the cocoa-mocha-nut to me earlier in the day, so I trusted his dinner choice. It ended up being a fresh mackerel (i think) with jasmine rice and a side of vegetables. Most people got the shrimp, so I was the only one who actually got fish and they gave me SO MUCH! I got three pieces of the fresh fish piled up high on my plate.
After dinner was a good time for setting up our tents and making our way down to watch the sunset OVER THE OCEAN on the EAST COAST! It was a pretty cool experience and nice to just sit around with some awesome people to watch the sunset. We got to bed pretty early, but boy was it humid and dew-y the next morning. Our tents got pretty wet overnight.
This morning we woke up early to the sound of a few roosters at 4:30am, so everyone seemed to toss and turn a bit until like 5-5:30. I got myself ready pretty early with my fellow caboose crew members, so we left around 7ish to head to a coffee shop where we met an adorable begging dog named Lincoln (but we called him Carlos). After a quick pep in our step, we pedaled across the island to the ferry towards Hatteras. It was like 14 miles with a tailwind on a very straight and non-busy road, so we even had time to stop and see the "wild" ponies. I quote wild because they have corralled them into a cage due to the danger having them wild with automobiles. Not very wild if you ask me to see ponies in a fenced in area. I see that when I'm at my parents house! But we had the time and were MOVING FAST towards the ferry. So fast that we actually were speeding (28 in a 25mph zone)!
The ferry ride was like a rest stop because we were off bikes for about an hour. One docked on the other side, we took off towards Hatteras Lighthouse. It was very cool, though I'm not a history buff. They moved the lighthouse a while back because the island isn't very permanent in one location and the ocean was eroding away at the sand around the lighthouse. If I'm correct, it's one of the tallest/oldest lighthouses in the US. Unfortunately for y'all, I couldn't take a photo from the top because we weren't allowed up in our bike shoes that had cleats on the bottom. I was thankful because it was way too high up for my liking.
After the lighthouse, we tried going to apparently the most popular bakery in the outer banks or at least in the area. Little did we know they closed at 11 and we rolled exactly at that time. By the time we locked our bikes and walked up the stairs it was 11:02 and they closed and locked the doors on us. It was such a shame, but we didn't argue and just turned around to keep riding. A few miles down the road was our first official rest stop where I picked up some dinner supplies as well as fruit and coconut water for lunch. Leaving the rest stop, we were a (wo-)man down because Amy rode with another cyclist. Jeff and I didn't skip a beat though. We crushed the next 33 miles or so in an hour and a half even through cars kicking sand into our faces/mouths, trucks passing recklessly (enough to get pulled over by the cops), and people honking at us while making obscene gestures. It wouldn't be a bike trip if I didn't say this: Give cyclists 3 feet on the road. If you can't give three feet, slow down and wait until you can. If they notice you are stuck behind them, they try their best to get somewhere where you can pass. Be patient because it's not worth running a cyclist off the road or worse, hitting them.
Yesterday on Okracoke was wonderful. With it only being a 21 mile day, it felt like a rest day for us. We ventured around and got some delicious food. I started with a fried mahi mahi taco with some homemade veggie slaw and tortilla among other ingredients like avocados. It was delicious and i devoured it too fast, but I couldn't help myself. After that, we walked around the town and it was such a quaint little beach town. A local guy suggested the coffee drink I should get (he dubbed it a "cocoa-mocha-nut" because it was a chocolate and coconut mocha).
Later on, we went to dinner because it was a cyclist named Rob's birthday! We were treated to free dinner at the best restaurant on the island where I stuck to the fish theme. Funny enough, our waiter was the guy who suggested the cocoa-mocha-nut to me earlier in the day, so I trusted his dinner choice. It ended up being a fresh mackerel (i think) with jasmine rice and a side of vegetables. Most people got the shrimp, so I was the only one who actually got fish and they gave me SO MUCH! I got three pieces of the fresh fish piled up high on my plate.
After dinner was a good time for setting up our tents and making our way down to watch the sunset OVER THE OCEAN on the EAST COAST! It was a pretty cool experience and nice to just sit around with some awesome people to watch the sunset. We got to bed pretty early, but boy was it humid and dew-y the next morning. Our tents got pretty wet overnight.
This morning we woke up early to the sound of a few roosters at 4:30am, so everyone seemed to toss and turn a bit until like 5-5:30. I got myself ready pretty early with my fellow caboose crew members, so we left around 7ish to head to a coffee shop where we met an adorable begging dog named Lincoln (but we called him Carlos). After a quick pep in our step, we pedaled across the island to the ferry towards Hatteras. It was like 14 miles with a tailwind on a very straight and non-busy road, so we even had time to stop and see the "wild" ponies. I quote wild because they have corralled them into a cage due to the danger having them wild with automobiles. Not very wild if you ask me to see ponies in a fenced in area. I see that when I'm at my parents house! But we had the time and were MOVING FAST towards the ferry. So fast that we actually were speeding (28 in a 25mph zone)!
The ferry ride was like a rest stop because we were off bikes for about an hour. One docked on the other side, we took off towards Hatteras Lighthouse. It was very cool, though I'm not a history buff. They moved the lighthouse a while back because the island isn't very permanent in one location and the ocean was eroding away at the sand around the lighthouse. If I'm correct, it's one of the tallest/oldest lighthouses in the US. Unfortunately for y'all, I couldn't take a photo from the top because we weren't allowed up in our bike shoes that had cleats on the bottom. I was thankful because it was way too high up for my liking.
After the lighthouse, we tried going to apparently the most popular bakery in the outer banks or at least in the area. Little did we know they closed at 11 and we rolled exactly at that time. By the time we locked our bikes and walked up the stairs it was 11:02 and they closed and locked the doors on us. It was such a shame, but we didn't argue and just turned around to keep riding. A few miles down the road was our first official rest stop where I picked up some dinner supplies as well as fruit and coconut water for lunch. Leaving the rest stop, we were a (wo-)man down because Amy rode with another cyclist. Jeff and I didn't skip a beat though. We crushed the next 33 miles or so in an hour and a half even through cars kicking sand into our faces/mouths, trucks passing recklessly (enough to get pulled over by the cops), and people honking at us while making obscene gestures. It wouldn't be a bike trip if I didn't say this: Give cyclists 3 feet on the road. If you can't give three feet, slow down and wait until you can. If they notice you are stuck behind them, they try their best to get somewhere where you can pass. Be patient because it's not worth running a cyclist off the road or worse, hitting them.
Last leg of the day was only 14 miles and roads weren't bad at all. Took us no time to get to the YMCA where we are camping out back. I cleaned some sand off my bike and got a shower. Now I sit at this coffee shop where the caboose crew will be meeting me soon enough for dinner because Amy is vegan and they have vegan burgers here. I'm sure it will be good, but this strawberry, mango, and banana smoothie with almond milk was exactly what I needed after a hot day.
Time to post these pictures, but tomorrow we are back in a church (I think). If weather and wind is as favorable as it has been these past few days, I'll get to camp fairly early and get a nap in my hammock. I've been itching to lay in it but haven't had a place to set it up.
Thanks for all the continued prayer and support. If you haven't donated and would like to, I would prefer you donate to my friend Jeff's ride. He is going from Florida to Maine, Maine to Seattle, Seattle to San Diego, and San Diego back to Florida. It's a 6 month effort on his end and he has been biking with his gear all on his bike. This kid is busting his tail to keep up with me and deserves every bit of donations possible.
Here are his cyclist pages if you don't believe me or want to donate:
Here are his cyclist pages if you don't believe me or want to donate:
Pacific Coast (donate here to get him to 100%)
For those who want to see all my pictures from the trip, I'm loading them here:
Zach's Biking Facebook Page
Zach's Biking Facebook Page
No comments:
Post a Comment