Ride Day 65

I got up early and left the fire station before any of the fire fighters were out of bed. It was a long ride I had planned for the day and the temps were going over the century mark again so I wanted to ride as far as possible in the cooler morning air. I rode hard for a short while but the heat climbed quickly into the 90s and kept climbing until it hit 114!!. The road was terrible for bikes. There was generally enough room on the shoulder but it was covered in glass and debris from recent strong thundershowers. The debris made me focus on the space right in front of me so that I could not get in much looking around at the scenery. There really was not much to see other than the usual longleaf pines as I passed the military bases. In the afternoon I had to stop at every store I passed to buy drinks or food and cool off in their air conditioning. I finally made it to Beaufort NC where I had planned to spend the night. I had ridden 98 miles and was exhausted. I spent a few hours looking around town and had a couple of beers. I talked to the locals about where to stay or camp and the options were terrible for my wallet. I just could not afford the place. One of the guys I talked to told me I could camp at his parents house about halfway to the ferry. I told him ok and headed in that direction. The heat was brutal. I rode slow and drank copious amounts of drinks. In the end, I decided to make the whole 42 mile run to the ferry and camp there for the night so that I could catch the 7AM ferry to the Outer Banks. It was getting dark when I pulled into Cedar Island where the ferry leaves from. 140 miles for the day and I was beat up. I had to check into the hotel and pay the extra money so that I could soak in a hot tub for a while to help me recover. I slept well and planned out my ride for tomorrow on the Outer Banks. This was my longest ride so far on my journey and my second day of grueling heat. Tomorrow would be even sunnier I am told.