Dolly's Bike Blog

After a good night’s sleep last night, I was willing to accept the 10+ mph headwinds we faced most of the day.  I have observed that when there is a crosswind, the trees are helpful with buffering the winds.  But with a headwind, the trees seem to funnel the wind into your face.

Our route today had more turns than on previous days; the longest straight distance was 5.7 miles.  Somewhere in the first 20 miles we passed these two fields of purple flowers – can’t tell if they are the same flowers, and we are still trying to solve the mystery of what was growing??

At mile 19.5, we had a sag stop and prepared to cross the Albemarle Sound – the bridge is almost 3.5 miles long (wouldn’t have wanted to try to cross when Tropical Storm Ana was blowing so hard).

There was a sign (photo not taken) at the end of the bridge, indicating we had entered Chowan County, founded in 1668!

Now that the storms from Ana have passed, the farmers are all out preparing the fields for planting.

Our destination for the night is Elizabeth City, NC, home of the largest Coast Guard base in the continental U.S., specializing in air search and rescue.  After finding the hotel, I wandered to the downtown waterfront and “discovered” the Museum of the Albemarle, very informative.  This area consists of the 13 counties surrounding the Albemarle Sound, with lots of history.

64.90 miles today – headed to Virginia and margaritas tomorrow!

Tonight our internet connection is very slow, so I will wait another night to post pictures, of downtown New Bern, and of today’s ride.

After 100 miles yesterday, my body was not eager to ride 70+ miles today.  And the tailwind of yesterday was now a headwind, coming from the northeast as we headed north.  My average speed for the day was 12.5 mph, compared to 13.4 for 97 miles yesterday – truly indicative of how my body was feeling.

We started the morning with a 3-mile bridge to cross the Neuss River – luckily more of the traffic was headed into New Bern than away from town. Beginning around mile 6, we enjoyed almost 10 miles of new pavement – so wonderfully smooth.  Along this route, Gail and I stopped to watch a small logging operation.  We have seen logging trucks all through South Carolina and now into North Carolina, but not seen the process of stripping the logs, cutting them to size, and loading a truck. (Photos to follow.)

Along SR 306 near Aurora, we passed several miles of mining and processing for Potash Corporation, the largest such operation in the world. (Photos to follow.)  Our destination was the Aurora ferry, to cross the Pamlico River.  We had been instructed to be sure to arrive for the 11:15 am ferry, which actually was the 11:45 am ferry, so we enjoyed some leisure time in the grassy area at the ferry dock, joined by 30 first graders, teachers, and chaperons on a field trip – such exuberance and noise!

The ferry ride seemed to tire me out (30 minutes, about 4 miles) and I was sluggish as we headed further north, still with the wind at our face (less than 10 mph, but felt stronger as I was tireder).  As recommended, I wandered into Bath, the oldest town in North Carolina.  Still 30 miles to go and I needed to just keep pedaling.  Some of the pavement was quite rough, which added to the misery.  At 2 miles before our hotel, I stopped for ice cream – with renewed energy, I dawdled a bit in “downtown” Plymouth, which has some interesting Civil War history as the site of the sinking of the Abermarle, a Confederate ironside ship.

The cue sheet mileage was listed as 73.1, I had 81.58, including the 4-mile ferry ride.

Hopefully I can load photos tomorrow, with a shorter (58 miles) day to Elizabeth City, our last stop in North Carolina.

Our longest day: 97 miles.  The direct route is closer to 65 miles, but for cyclists, we needed to avoid Jacksonville and Camp Lejeune, thus the longer miles.

Gail and I left Tiffany’s at 7 am and enjoyed 20 miles of a tailwind (reportedly 15 mph).  Our average was 15.8 mph!  Then we started the circuitous route around Jacksonville, sometimes south, back into the wind, sometimes with a crosswind. At 40 miles, our average was down to 15.1 mph.  When you are biking the long distances, you don’t stop for photos….  At 60 miles, our average was 14.7 mph, at 80 miles 14.5 mph, and when we arrived at the hotel, it was 14.4 mph – a great day.  Sunshine, mostly tailwind, mostly good roads, few trucks – it did get hot, 90 degrees!

Gail and I pedaled together all day – a great partner!

Of course, wanting a century, I continued into the town of New Bern and did some sightseeing, finishing with 101.60 mph!