Day 4: Sunny with a chance of tailwinds

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.

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:

Atlantic Coast (100% fundraising already complete!)
Northern Tier (donate here to get him to 100%)

Pacific Coast (donate here to get him to 100%)

Southern Tier (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

Day 3: Easy ride to the ferry

Today was a light day. Only 21 miles, so I wore my least favorite pair of bike shorts. Come to find out they have a hole on my left butt cheek. Glad my behind found a way to get a little sunlight.. We rolled out at 8 and got to the ferry with about an hour to spare. After riding, we spent 23 miles going out to okracoke on a ferry.

We changed into real people clothes at camp and then took off (by foot) to walk around the island. I got some fresh mahi mahi fish tacos and Old Bay seasoned fries. Now we're just walking around and enjoying life.

Tomorrow is an 81 miles day with lots of options for side adventures. I think caboose crew is going to go up Hatteras lighthouse which is tallest in the US (I think). Pictures to come, hopefully.

Day 2: The ride to the outer banks

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.

Ride Day #1

Going from what I call my hometown in Wilmington, NC to Jacksonville, NC was such a weirdly pleasant ride. I made it 64 miles in just under 4 hours. That's because we were on some major and busy roads where cars were flying past me. So far, I was the third person to camp because I was one of the only people who didn't get lost :)

I took a lot of photos today because we had a beautiful scenic route through north topsail. It was an awesome ride with a little tailwind as well. The only thing I had an issue with (and it's a lesson I will never learn) is to not sing and bike at the same time. At like 20mph I had a beetle or some sort of massive bug flight straight into my mouth while I was smiling and singing with my guy Charlie Puth. It was so big I think it survived inside my mouth and I had to spit it back out. I spit it back out into the road, so thank goodness I didn't have anyone following behind me. Still it couldn't complain about today, so enjoy all the pictures I took!

Crappy chamois and crappier weather

After going to the gym last night to log some reps and some interval cardio, I needed to loosen up my legs and get on my bike, Sully, for a ride. I'll get to that in a minute, though.

First thing this morning, I needed to uncover all the things to take on my trip with me that I accidentally packed into boxes from moving out of NJ. Those things included my hammock, my camping pillow, and my towel. I was a mess. I ripped open boxes and retaped them numerous times but finally found a bag with all three things I was looking for!

By the time I found them, it was time for lunch and an afternoon ride. In the words of the great Ron Burgundy, "taco salad was a bad choice". Okay, okay. He said milk, but I tell you taco salad before a ride had me gassed up and not in a good way. Still, I put on a jersey and my worst chamois (padded shorts for biking) that I wasn't planning on bringing with me for my ride. Those chamois shorts were not comfortable, but I didn't need to bike far. I just needed to stretch out the legs and ride a few good climbs to prep my muscles for what's to come next week.

Just when I thought I was pushing through the discomfort and soreness, the rain came. It started immediately before my favorite downhill, too. Nothing was going my way, but then I thought about it...

Sometimes life doesn't help you out, but that's not a time to get upset. Just stop and think about the amazing gifts you have in life. Family, friends, health, money or whatever else you might cherish. There is so much bad in this world, but none of that should affect what I cherish, and that's just simply riding my bike and helping others.

So all I could simply do is stop, smile, take a selfie, and praise God that I'm healthy enough to ride for people living with MS who cannot.

Even with poor weather, the country in NC is still gorgeous

Smile just as the rain started to come down
before I had to put the phone away

For those able, go and donate at www.biketheusforms.org. There are some amazing people who are worthy of your donation. If you need urging to choose who to donate to, go to cyclists -> Atlantic Coast and then check out Jeffrey Brath or Angela Shaw. Among others on my team, Jeff and Angela are both a huge inspiration. Jeff will be riding the entire circumference of the US on his trusty steed. Meanwhile, Angela who currently lives with MS is going to be using her NuStep machine to virtually ride along with us. For every dollar you give, they certainly will be earning it.

As always, thanks for the support and God bless.

Ride begins in a week!

I'm sitting here in probably the worst biking shape I have been in for some time staring out the window at all the rain from the past day and a half. Now I'm not completely a fair weather cyclist, but I just got my bike cleaned and fixed up for the 850 miles up the coast next week. I don't want to ruin all that work by having it get drenched in road water and dirt.

Instead I'm here making sure I pack all that I need and boy is that fun. I've got a weekend in Wilmington, 2 weeks on a bike, and then another week out of my car. It's my last big adventures until I begin school next month and I couldn't be more excited. ☺️

For those checking in, I reached my monetary goal while at the flea market this past weekend, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't raise more. Donations are always welcome and encouraged because all proceeds go towards helping people living with MS. If you want to donate and haven't done so before, you should do it here:
http://biketheusforms.org/cyclists/detail.asp?cid=1350

Check back in later as I'll be trying to post every day until I begin my drive back to NC on May 16th. I love y'all and thanks for all the support you've given me over these last few rides. Continue to pray for safety of myself and my teammates as they're currently riding through Georgia right now to meet up with me in Wilmington.

My Time in the Northeast!

I forgot how this whole blog post action works, but I'm bringing it back to briefly talk about my time in NJ. I spent the past 2.5 years living in NJ and working very hard to develop my skills to become successful in a job relating to data analysis. I have so much gratitude and love for my coworkers and friends that I made while I was in NJ, but I'm so grateful to be able to continue my pursuit of knowledge by attending grad school with my dream program at NC State!

Similar to my bike trip before beginning work at Bloomberg, I biked across the country to promote not only change in the country but change in myself. I will be doing this same thing prior to grad school, though it's unfortunately going to be a shorter trip. I'm riding 837 miles up the east coast from the place I called home in undergrad at UNCW to the place I called home at Bloomberg in Princeton. Well, technically I will be biking to Philadelphia, but after I get there I will be going solo to NJ to say one final goodbye to my best friends before I leave for NC and start school literally a day later.

I'm so grateful for all of the support people have shown me in the past for these trips and you might be getting sick of me riding a bike, but just remember that these rides aren't about me. Yes, I'm powering the bicycle, but I'm only doing this to spread hope in the world. Your donation doesn't go to me, it goes to those who need a little bit of hope.

As always, here's the donation link: Donation Link

Thanks for reading and God bless!