I was out of my hotel room at the crack of light to explore the Cedar Island area. Five minutes later I had seen it all. I decided to eat breakfast instead. I pigged out on bagels with cream cheese, apples, bananas, cereal, coffee and muffins. Then I took a few apples for later. the ferry was right on time as expected. I enjoyed talking to a couple of other bikers that were just going out to the banks for a short look around. There were also a couple of families that were quizzing me about my ride. The ferry took 2 hours and 15 minutes so we had plenty of time to talk. Once off the ferry I was off to Kittyhawk 85 miles away. I started out riding strong but there was absolutely no shade and the sun was beating down all day in the upper 90s. I was disappointed that the famous light house was covered up with scaffolding. I started to overheat right after the second ferry that took me to Hatteras Island. I stopped for yet another breakfast at an air conditioned cafe. The food was soso and the price was high but the company of the staff was nice and friendly. I rode for another couple of hours and stopped for lunch this time. I had a philly cheese steak which tasted great and the staff again was very friendly and talkative. I enjoyed their company. Then I rode for several hours straight. To keep cool I went swimming in the ocean a few times or I would stop any time I saw a beach shower and just stand under the shower with all my riding clothes on until I was cooled down then I would jump on my bike all wet and ride on. A few people laughed at the sight of me doing that but could not have cared less if they thought I was weird. I made the mistake of stopping for an apple break along the road and I was eaten alive by mosquitoes and no-see-ums. Did I say I hate no-see-ums? I was seriously slowing down from the heat when I suddenly picked up a nice tailwind. Don't think I would have made it to Kittyhawk without the wind at my back. When I arrived at Kittyhawk I stopped at a cafe called Chilli's and had a shrimp stir fry that tasted great. I washed it down with some beer and then headed off to the campgrounds. It was dark when I finally put up the tent. I sat around and talked to a couple of young guys that were originally from the Chicago area. It was fun talking to them but I was passing out from my ride so I went to bed.
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.
I left camp early and headed to Sunset Beach for my coffee fix this morning. I chatted with the owner about my ride and then hit the road going North. The road was terrible at the beginning with no shoulder and heavy traffic. I rode hard because my plan was for 83 miles and the temp forecast was over a hundred with high humidity. The plan did not work out so well today. I made it to the ferry without much problem and just missed the boat but I got to watch it leave. It was 45 minutes for the next one. I sat around with a crowd of people and they quizzed me on my ride and my plans. I handed out some cards so they can look it up. On the ferry we played with the gulls and took pics of them. A couple of young kids were putting bread on their heads and letting the birds pick it off on the fly. I enjoyed watching them. After we landed I took off to try to make up some time. The heat had other ideas for me. I rode up the coast through Carolina Shores and enjoyed seeing all the tourists and the beautiful beaches. Then the first detour sign came along. It was for my road and I took it like the sign told me to. Detours are usually planned for cars and this was no exception. It was almost 25 miles out of my way and the temperature went over 104. I was melting big time. I eventually made it back to my route only to be told by someone that the detour was not needed because they opened the road for the holiday traffic. They just did not take down or cover up the signs...So I wasted 2 hours of my time riding hard in 104 degree sweltering heat. When I got to Hampstead about 23 miles short of my destination I had already ridden 98 miles and the temp had climbed up to around 114. I was in danger of heat exhaustion and stopped at a volunteer fire station to ask if I could cool down or if they knew of a place I could stay the night either a campground or a hotel. They laughed and said there were neither any place close but that I could spend the night at the station. I was extremely thankful for the offer and accepted right away. I have now had a shower and have recovered well from my heat problems. They are all nice guys. We talked about my ride a bit but basically I am too tired to do much but get ready to crash for the night very soon. Tomorrow I am riding to the outer banks if I don't melt again in the heat which is forecast to continue with scattered thundershowers possibly severe.
I had my last day in Calabash NC. I watched my neighbors in the campground shrimping with a cast net. I enjoyed watching them doing it. There are more pics and a video at picasawebalbums/jimfrogs098. I did not do much else today except eat some ice cream at the Creamery, which I love. I also started the day at Java Cafe again in Sunset Beach. It was a day of rest more than anything getting ready to hit the road again in the morning.
Today I am sitting in a coffee shop called Java Coffee in Sunset Beach. I was talking to a couple of guys here this morning named Roger and Ray about my travels. They had the typical response of "no way," "nobody did that," "I don't believe it." I am used to people having a hard time believing that I have done some of the things I have done. I am not your typical American. I have been wandering the world for decades and lots of crazy things have happened around me and to me. I find it entertaining that people do not believe it all. I could care less about believers because I just travel for my own personal reasons and write about it for my own personal reasons. I am not out to impress anyone. There is no need for me to do that. I get plenty of satisfaction just doing my thing. Last night I ran into a guy that had just returned from a several month tour of India. One of the nonbelievers was listening to us talk about India and all of a sudden he spoke up and said "Wow. You really do know what you are talking about if you even know directions around town in Calcutta India like that." I had to laugh at his response but it is not the first time that happened. I am still in Sunset Beach North Carolina. The weather sucks. I am seriously considering ending my ride when I get to Virginia. I will have ridden almost 4900 miles by then and I am starting to burn out physically. My knees are starting to hurt when I ride and I do not want to cause permanent damage on my knees by overdoing it. I am not a young whippersnapper any more and it takes me a while to heal up. The weather is also not making it much fun. Thundershowers are the daily norm and they do not go well with riding a bike and camping. I am tired too. My nightly pain levels are very high recently. It all adds up to the common sense thing and flying back to California. I am thinking about going back to Bakersfield so I can see the grandson. Maybe next spring I can return to Virginia and continue on my ride around the country. This is not an iron man contest for me, I just want to enjoy the ride and meet nice people and see the country from an up close point of view. I hope to leave tomorrow for Virginia if the weather allows. It is a three day ride to get there. I will visit Wendy in Chesapeake and ship my bike home then fly back. Such is the life of a wandering biker.
Well here I sit in Calabash North Carolina. The weather forecast for the next ten days is terrible news for a bike rider. Thundershowers with high winds are on the forecast for every single day. These storms have been hitting just north of here for the last week and have taken out lots of trees and knocked out power to millions of homes--not what I want to hear. Yesterday I rode around town a bit looking for a laundry to wash my dirty clothes. I had to ride all the way down into Little River South Carolina to find one. I did my clothes and then ate yet another breakfast, my third of the day today. Then I went and had a root beer float over at the creamery just to make sure I was getting enough calories in me. I am still eating as much as I can afford to eat. My weight is 176 pounds and I started at 210 when I left San Francisco. That is too much weight loss in such a short time so I am clearly not eating too much. After the ice cream fix I headed over to the Sippin Suds bar to hide out in their air conditioning because the temps felt like a 100 degrees today. I was talking with Bonnie the owner and she expected a large group of bikers to show up for a short stop. She asked me to video them coming into her parking lot and to take some pics while they were there. I did that for her and enjoyed hanging out with all the bikers from the Titans motorcycle club. We talked about their ride today but mostly they all just sat quietly and tried to recover from the brutal heat outside today. The highest temp they rode through today was 109 degrees. That is too hot to ride in if you ask me, even on a motorcycle. That is why I am just sitting tight here in Calabash. The weather is just to hot to safely ride a bike and now the thundershowers are supposed to start and high winds to boot. I am seriously thinking about ending my ride right here. This weather pattern is forecast for the next ten days. Yikes. I am thinking about all my options and I don't like any of them. I need to decide soon because I can not afford to just sit in hotels around here, that would cost me a hundred bucks a day in this tourist area. Such is the life of a wandering biker...
