The question was not whether I would ride, it was how much the weather would affect my ride. Tropical Storm Ana continues to linger over North Carolina, and with it rain and strong gusty winds. One of the weather forecasters predicted rain would begin around 9 am – and almost like clockwork it did – and continued for an hour and a half, at least, with intermittent showers later in the day.
Our ride took us north to Wilmington with a nice tailwind, which I hoped would follow us all day – no such luck. Just as we entered the outskirts of Wilmington, in a very industrial area, the rain began – and we encountered a number of railroad tracks, very hazardous when wet. Sadly, two of our tour group fell and will spend a few days recovering from their injuries. My group of Gail, Marilyn, Susan and Wendy walked many of the crossings, just to be safe. A few “waterlogged” photos:
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- The ominous skies as we were preparing to leave Carolina Beach.
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- Trying to find a bit of relief from the rain.
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- Rain-soaked group outside of CVS where we found a bit of shelter and some snacks.
The wind seemed to come at us from all directions, except to push us north. We are staying the next 2 nights at Tiffany’s Motel in Surf City on Top Sail Island. About 3 miles from our destination, we encountered this large alligator, guarding the entrance to a beach-supply store.
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- Almost there.
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- I am on the far left as you view the photo.
We stopped for lunch at Buddy’s next to the beach – no one swimming in these high seas:
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- Town pier and high seas.
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- I had unbuckled my helmet just before the picture was taken.
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- Tiffany’s Motel.
Today’s ride: 53.85 miles. From Fort Lauderdale: 1092.43 miles. From Key West: 1320.92 miles.