Friday, January 7, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
bike trip 2 Bike Trip Part Two: Wilmington NC-Savannah GA: 9 days & 330ish Miles.
Day 11: I left Wilmington very late in the day. I had intended to get an early start, but the comforts of civilization were to much for me... I ended up lazing about all day reading & didn't leave until 3 in the afternoon. Just before I left, I took some snapshots of my host's house. Unfortunately I accidentally deleted my favorite one: my host had built a hydroponic herb garden that sucked water from their fish tank. (see link in comment section) My route took me through the downtown area, & out through the industrial area around the harbor & through Carolina beach state park. When I got to Ft. Fisher, I had to take another ferry to Southport, where I had a leisurely dinner of pasta & Newcy brown. During dinner my waitress told me about her uncle, who at 65 did a cross-country race for the cure event. Even more remarkably, he had been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in his youth, & his doctors could no longer detect it because of his active lifestyle. After dinner I wandered down to the boardwalk(a little tipsy) & finished my book(Siddhartha by Herman Hesse) before going to sleep on the beach. In the middle of the night it started raining & I had to relocate to beneath the city pier. This turned out to be a good thing, because the tide came in in the middle of the night & I would have been soaked if I'd stayed where I was.
Day 12: It was still drizzling when I woke up, so I used the opportunity to do some errands in town(library, post office, coffee shop etc.) Eventually I got sick of waiting around & started out, even though it was still raining lightly. At some point a few miles out of town the rain picked up, so I ducked into a nearby used bookstore. Although they didn't have any of the books I was specifically looking for, I made several purchases, including "Jonathan Livingston Seagull", which I then proceeded to read while waiting for the rain to let up. I can't really think of anything else that happened that day. I ended up sleeping on a couch in a pagoda-like structure outside a Habitat for Humanity Restore, my logic being that Jimmy Carter wouldn't mind me crashing on his couch.
Day 13: After having an omolette & gritts at George's Pancake House in Calabash SC,(so far my second favorite name of a town after Sligo NC) I decided to take a detour to Myrtle Beach to see the World Famous "Mt. Atlanticus Minitaur Golf Course"(see photo album) a haven for Bryanologists worldwide. Myrtle Beach sort of reminds me or Reno Nevada... without the casinos & with less prostitutes. I spent that night behind a club that was being renovated right next to the beach.
Day 14: After a quick dunk in the ocean, my next mission was to find food. This was easily accomplished at "Grandma's Kitchin," where I opted for the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet, but had to put of with an extremely grumpy old chain-smoking Yankee at the table next to me, who hated pancakes, was outraged at the absence of butter-paddies at his table & the overpriced coffee. Goddamn yanks. After a somewhat miserable ride along the highway, I made it back to my route around lunchtime, & made Andrews SC(home of Chubby Checkers) just after dark, where I broke down & got an(admittedly quite cheap) motel room, & gorged myself on free soap, television, & vending machine popcorn.
Day 15: I wandered around Andrews for a while, looking for some place to fine breakfast, but had to settle for gas-station coffee & a muffin of highly questionable nutritional value. I did stop by the town museum, which was really more of a large storage room full of random crap... not that I'm complaining. I was a little surprised that they didn't have any Checkers-related exhibits. I returned to my hotel room only to become engrossed in a documentary about Woodstock, so that I didn't end up leaving till just before noon. Despite this I managed to make it all the way to Charleston that night(taking some short cuts & arriving long after dark,) where I had arranged to couchsurf for a couple days. I figured out later that I did around 85 miles that day... about the most I've done in one day so far. On the way into town I passed through the 'corporate slime-mold hell' that is north Charleston, & an extremely creepy abandoned railroad area where I somehow managed not to be killed by psychotic meth-heads. When I finally made it to my hosts house, he was out partying with some Australian couch-surfers, so I kicked back & watched some "Dexter" on his recommendation & helped myself to some of his vodka. Eventually David came home alone & very drunk(the Ausies apparently went off to party with some Irish guys they met at the bar.)
Day 16: After sleeping most of the day, I went to pick up the Ausies(who I had not yet met) in their car. The Irish guys, who were in town for a wedding, were staying in a sort of beach-resort area about 45 minutes away. On the way back we discussed the Ausie's travels & Obama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. After we got back & the Ausies had gone upstairs for a nap, some more couch-surfers arrived! At this point we outnumbered our host 5 to 1... although the Ausies left soon afterwards, intent on driving to Florida that night. The new couch-surfers(Taylor & Erin, a very nice couple from Boone NC,) David & I went out to a party were I very wisely abstained from playing Twister, was fondled by a very nice but very large older lady, & partook of some very good chili, Taylor's beer, & whiskey. I was a little uncomfortable at first, since the crowd was a little older & a lot drunker than me, but alcohol that great social lubricant soon fixed that.
Day 17: I had decided to spend another day in Charleston, since I had slept most of the previous day & as a result didn't get to see much of the town. Taylror, Erin, David & I went out to breakfast at Gaulart et Maliclet(fast & french) cafe, where I had french press coffee with ice cream, salmon & goat cheese on toast & white bean & ham soup. Hands down the best breakfast of my trip so far. We then proceeded to wander around Charleston, stopping at art galleries, rooftop bars & seafood restaurants, before returning to Davids for an afternoon nap. That night we went to another party, where we were regaled by two crazy tales of super-Christian former Acid freaks. The first fellow had 'accidentally' dropped acid when he was 6. Apparently his cousin had been tripping with a friend, & they were debating giving him a small hit as an experiment when he grabbed the bottle & chugged half of it. His cousin & his friend ran off leaving him alone(probably the worst thing they could have done) leaving him alone with this poster: http://www.leninimports.com/iron_maiden_killers_mbr_flag.jpg
To cut a long store short, he ended up a schizophrenic devil worshiping druggie death metal enthusiast, before eventually finding Jesus & prescription drugs.
The next story was even crazier. Subject Number two claimed that in his early twenties, he went on a three week acid binge, during which he decided he was the second incarnation of christ & spent most of his time wandering around downtown Charleston barefoot, handing out all of his money to homeless people. At some point around week 3 he dropped acid & decided that god wanted him to kill himself. Before dawn, he swam as far as he could out into the ocean. At some point his parents notified the police & they somehow figured out what he'd done & began a massive search for him. At two o'clock in the afternoon, they stopped looking for his live body but continued looking for his dead body. After sunset that evening, after sobering up, having spent 18 hours swimming in open water, our man washed up onto the beach & walked into a church. Where he found Jesus & prescription drugs. Problem solved.
Around midnight we all ended up at the beach, were Taylor & I & one other feller ran out into the surf, splashing around amidst the phosphorescent algae.
Day 18: Again, got started really late in the day... it's always hard to leave the comforts of civilization & get back on the road. That days ride was pretty uneventful. I biked about 40 miles before slinging my hennessey hammock & turning in after reading from "Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe. A had a hard time falling asleep, as I'd been severely bitten by mosquitoes just before climbing into bed.
Day 19: I finished the last 60 or 70 miles to Savannah. Apart from seeing several dead armadillos(first time I'd seen those, although I had seen dead dear, possums, raccoons, frogs, turtles, snakes, all manor of small rodents, birds both waterfowl & birds of prey) probably the most interesting roadkill I've come across so far. I stopped at a tourist-trap ''country store" for a breakfast of apple pie, alligator jerky, and peach cider. Just before I crossed the bridge into Georgia, I was caught in a terrific rainstorm, & received a thorough soaking. Luckily my destination (Britt Irick's dorm room at the Savannah College of Art & Design) was just on the other side of the bridge.
Day 12: It was still drizzling when I woke up, so I used the opportunity to do some errands in town(library, post office, coffee shop etc.) Eventually I got sick of waiting around & started out, even though it was still raining lightly. At some point a few miles out of town the rain picked up, so I ducked into a nearby used bookstore. Although they didn't have any of the books I was specifically looking for, I made several purchases, including "Jonathan Livingston Seagull", which I then proceeded to read while waiting for the rain to let up. I can't really think of anything else that happened that day. I ended up sleeping on a couch in a pagoda-like structure outside a Habitat for Humanity Restore, my logic being that Jimmy Carter wouldn't mind me crashing on his couch.
Day 13: After having an omolette & gritts at George's Pancake House in Calabash SC,(so far my second favorite name of a town after Sligo NC) I decided to take a detour to Myrtle Beach to see the World Famous "Mt. Atlanticus Minitaur Golf Course"(see photo album) a haven for Bryanologists worldwide. Myrtle Beach sort of reminds me or Reno Nevada... without the casinos & with less prostitutes. I spent that night behind a club that was being renovated right next to the beach.
Day 14: After a quick dunk in the ocean, my next mission was to find food. This was easily accomplished at "Grandma's Kitchin," where I opted for the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet, but had to put of with an extremely grumpy old chain-smoking Yankee at the table next to me, who hated pancakes, was outraged at the absence of butter-paddies at his table & the overpriced coffee. Goddamn yanks. After a somewhat miserable ride along the highway, I made it back to my route around lunchtime, & made Andrews SC(home of Chubby Checkers) just after dark, where I broke down & got an(admittedly quite cheap) motel room, & gorged myself on free soap, television, & vending machine popcorn.
Day 15: I wandered around Andrews for a while, looking for some place to fine breakfast, but had to settle for gas-station coffee & a muffin of highly questionable nutritional value. I did stop by the town museum, which was really more of a large storage room full of random crap... not that I'm complaining. I was a little surprised that they didn't have any Checkers-related exhibits. I returned to my hotel room only to become engrossed in a documentary about Woodstock, so that I didn't end up leaving till just before noon. Despite this I managed to make it all the way to Charleston that night(taking some short cuts & arriving long after dark,) where I had arranged to couchsurf for a couple days. I figured out later that I did around 85 miles that day... about the most I've done in one day so far. On the way into town I passed through the 'corporate slime-mold hell' that is north Charleston, & an extremely creepy abandoned railroad area where I somehow managed not to be killed by psychotic meth-heads. When I finally made it to my hosts house, he was out partying with some Australian couch-surfers, so I kicked back & watched some "Dexter" on his recommendation & helped myself to some of his vodka. Eventually David came home alone & very drunk(the Ausies apparently went off to party with some Irish guys they met at the bar.)
Day 16: After sleeping most of the day, I went to pick up the Ausies(who I had not yet met) in their car. The Irish guys, who were in town for a wedding, were staying in a sort of beach-resort area about 45 minutes away. On the way back we discussed the Ausie's travels & Obama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. After we got back & the Ausies had gone upstairs for a nap, some more couch-surfers arrived! At this point we outnumbered our host 5 to 1... although the Ausies left soon afterwards, intent on driving to Florida that night. The new couch-surfers(Taylor & Erin, a very nice couple from Boone NC,) David & I went out to a party were I very wisely abstained from playing Twister, was fondled by a very nice but very large older lady, & partook of some very good chili, Taylor's beer, & whiskey. I was a little uncomfortable at first, since the crowd was a little older & a lot drunker than me, but alcohol that great social lubricant soon fixed that.
Day 17: I had decided to spend another day in Charleston, since I had slept most of the previous day & as a result didn't get to see much of the town. Taylror, Erin, David & I went out to breakfast at Gaulart et Maliclet(fast & french) cafe, where I had french press coffee with ice cream, salmon & goat cheese on toast & white bean & ham soup. Hands down the best breakfast of my trip so far. We then proceeded to wander around Charleston, stopping at art galleries, rooftop bars & seafood restaurants, before returning to Davids for an afternoon nap. That night we went to another party, where we were regaled by two crazy tales of super-Christian former Acid freaks. The first fellow had 'accidentally' dropped acid when he was 6. Apparently his cousin had been tripping with a friend, & they were debating giving him a small hit as an experiment when he grabbed the bottle & chugged half of it. His cousin & his friend ran off leaving him alone(probably the worst thing they could have done) leaving him alone with this poster: http://www.leninimports.com/iron_maiden_killers_mbr_flag.jpg
To cut a long store short, he ended up a schizophrenic devil worshiping druggie death metal enthusiast, before eventually finding Jesus & prescription drugs.
The next story was even crazier. Subject Number two claimed that in his early twenties, he went on a three week acid binge, during which he decided he was the second incarnation of christ & spent most of his time wandering around downtown Charleston barefoot, handing out all of his money to homeless people. At some point around week 3 he dropped acid & decided that god wanted him to kill himself. Before dawn, he swam as far as he could out into the ocean. At some point his parents notified the police & they somehow figured out what he'd done & began a massive search for him. At two o'clock in the afternoon, they stopped looking for his live body but continued looking for his dead body. After sunset that evening, after sobering up, having spent 18 hours swimming in open water, our man washed up onto the beach & walked into a church. Where he found Jesus & prescription drugs. Problem solved.
Around midnight we all ended up at the beach, were Taylor & I & one other feller ran out into the surf, splashing around amidst the phosphorescent algae.
Day 18: Again, got started really late in the day... it's always hard to leave the comforts of civilization & get back on the road. That days ride was pretty uneventful. I biked about 40 miles before slinging my hennessey hammock & turning in after reading from "Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe. A had a hard time falling asleep, as I'd been severely bitten by mosquitoes just before climbing into bed.
Day 19: I finished the last 60 or 70 miles to Savannah. Apart from seeing several dead armadillos(first time I'd seen those, although I had seen dead dear, possums, raccoons, frogs, turtles, snakes, all manor of small rodents, birds both waterfowl & birds of prey) probably the most interesting roadkill I've come across so far. I stopped at a tourist-trap ''country store" for a breakfast of apple pie, alligator jerky, and peach cider. Just before I crossed the bridge into Georgia, I was caught in a terrific rainstorm, & received a thorough soaking. Luckily my destination (Britt Irick's dorm room at the Savannah College of Art & Design) was just on the other side of the bridge.
bike trip 1 Richmond VA-Wilmington NC... The First 9 Days & 467 miles.
I set out from Richmond on Thursday, the 24th of September, on my newly acquired touring bike, with the seemingly insurmountable goal of biking to New Orleans. Thus far I've made it as far as Wilmington NC(467 miles via the outer banks,) averaging 50 miles a day, and am now brimming with confidence & looking forward to Charleston, Savannah, St. Augustine, New Orleans, and all points in-between.
Maps: Before leaving Richmond I procured several sections of the Adventure Cycling Association's Atlantic Coast map. Although they are certainly not infallible, I would certainly recommend these maps to anyone who's planning on doing a long distance bike trip. They publish maps of routes in most of the Continental US. http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/index.cfm
The routes take you mainly along small country roads, but occasionally you will have to bike along dangerous and nerve-wracking stretches of large highways.
Bike: I am riding a Surly Long Hall Trucker, which I purchased in Richmond. http://surlybikes.com/bikes/long_haul_trucker_complete/
So far it has served marvelously. On it I have mounted both a front & back rack, with panniers. I also added clip-less peddles & shoes(special biking shoes that clip on the your peddles,) when I reached Kittyhawk. All this equipment is very expensive. If you live in a good bike city(Richmond, Baltimore or DC) you could probably put together a suitable bike for touring relatively cheaply, but it would require more time, patience, and technical knowledge than I had or was willing to expend.
Supplies: I am carrying a minimal amount of clothing, a briefcase full of art supplies, comic books, and other accouterments, tools, a hennesey hammock(hammock tent... http://hennessyhammock.com/) a very small & compact inflatable mat, a very compact sleeping bag, a digital camera, & various other odds & ends... & food & water obviously. If anyone's interested in specifics I'd be more than happy to talk shop. I like to think I have a few good tips when it comes to traveling.
Day 1: I left Richmond at around 8:30 in the morning. I biked through downtown, weaving in between drowsy Virginians on their way to work. It was still quite cool out. The Route took me out through the eastern suburbs and under 295, & through Richmond National Battlefield Park(see Photo Album of same name.) I stopped to read a few of the signs along the way, describing various clashes of Union & Confederate troops in what, where I come from most people call the Civil War, & where I am going to is more often called "The War of Northern Aggression." After a while I passed into Charles county, "Birthplace of Presidents," (William Henry Harrison & John Tyler.) I took a quick dunk in the James to cool off, after crossing the bridge on SR 156 just East of Hopewell. I had planned on stopping at a restaurant at that point, but foolishly passed up the only one for miles, even though it was clearly marked on my map. I ended up having nothing to eat but apples and home-made granola for the rest of the day(if anyone wants my recipe... it's quite simple & both delicious & nutritious.) The rest of the day I biked through farmland & woods on small but well paved one lane country roads, with very little traffic. Although my map claims that the route goes past tobacco & peanut fields, I mainly noticed soy-beans & cotton(this was true for most of my trip.) Eventually I grew tired & my stomach implored me to stop, so I went slightly off route, to the town of Dendron, where I got some groceries & devoured some fried chicken. The owner of the corner store advised me to sleep in the yard of an abandoned house across from his store, where he said all the bikers who came through stayed. He had apparently asked permission from the owner to let bikers stay there. I pitched my trusty Hennessey Hammock right in front of the porch. That night I kept snug & dry while a harrowing thunderstorm raged outside. I had come roughly 66 miles(more like 70, as I'd made a few wrong turns & gone miles out of my way before realizing it,) despite the fact that I hadn't trained at all before embarking, & had planned to do 50, & only expected to do 30.
Day 2: I awoke fairly early, but took a long time packing up my camp. My ass was so sore from the previous days biking, I almost gave up right there. I ended up making it to South Carolina that night, despite my physical discomfort & the fact that I had previously planned to stop & couch-surf (http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html) in Suffolk VA that evening. I spent that night in Merchants Mill Pond State Park, about 4 miles south of Sunbury NC, and 67 miles from Dendron. At some point during the day I had realized that my phone had been rained on & didn't work(went voodu on me.) Miraculously, it eventually fixed itself after 3 or four days.
Days 3 & 4. I had decided to take the outer banks alternate route, which would add an additional 87 miles to my trip. I called Cape Hatteras National Seashore Info. to make sure there were no hurricane warnings, & then set out going north on 158. The next couple of days were fairly hellish, and not all that remarkable. I went through the great dismal swamp & Sligo NC(the Dead Possum capital of the world,) and camped at an R-V park on Bells Island in the Currituck sound. Day 4 was fairly miserable, as I was mostly on large highways. Just as I was about to reach the bridge over the Currituck sound, I saw a female biker going the other way & let out a loud war-woop... we waved to each other in solidarity... I wished I could have told her how hellish the next 50 or so miles would be, & that she should turn around & go relax on the beach. In any case, seeing a fellow biker gave me a boost of energy & I whipped across the bridge & into Kitty Hawk, where I saw my first Spanish Moss, ate dinner on the beach, & spent the night camped out behind the OBX hostel.
Day 5: I only went about 20 miles that day, as I spent most of the day reading on the beach. I had been reading "Black Elk Speaks," a book that I've picked up many times over the years, but never finished until now. It tells the story of a Sioux medicine man who was a second cousin of Sitting bull and was active in the Messiah movement, and of his great visions. It is truly a remarkable & powerful book, and one of the most interesting and rewarding things I've ever read. That day I also made it to a bike shop, where I finally purchased the proper shoes & pedals that I needed(previously I had been wearing my old "Jesus Sandals" as a smart-ass in Baltimore once called them.) I camped at a National park campground at Oregon Inlet. There I met some kindred spirits... a very nice gentleman named Richard who was playing Crosby Stills & Nash on his car speakers & warmed up a can of chili for me on his camping stove, and a cool old hippie biker(as in Harley, not Surly) couple from Dayton Ohio who were on their way back from a wedding in Wilmington & kindly shared some "contraband" with me. After imbibing of the aforementioned herb, I wandered out to the beach over & through a maze of 20 foot tall dunes. There I proceeded to send a flurry of annoying text messages to various friends, as my phone still didn't work properly. At some point it began to rain & I got soaked & somewhat lost running through the dunes to my makeshift tent. Because I was camped on the beach, there were no trees, so I had to improvise: I had an extra tarp that I normally use to cover the bike when it rains, & I made this into a tent. I flipped my bike upside down, so that it balanced on the handlebars( I have no kick-stand) & placing it about 7 feet from the picnic table at my campsite, I ran a rope from the table to the bike, looped it around several times & tied it off, & then tied the rope off to a makeshift anchor(my saddlebags buried in the sand) to ensure that the bike would not fall over on me in the middle of the night. I then draped the tarp over the rope & used colored pencils as stakes to hold it down... I then piled sand on the edges of the tarp to help keep it down, as it was an extremely windy evening. See photo album. I was extremely proud of myself... in case you couldn't tell.
Day 6: I broke camp later than I'd hoped. I ended up leaving around 10 or 11, but still managed to make it to Ocracoke Island that night. At some point while I was packing up my camp, the biker couple stopped by with a gift, to "take the edge off after a long day of having cars whip by you." I gave them & Richard a copy of my comic book. I biked along route 12, which is a two lane highway with moderate traffic. By this time I was fairly used to biking on heavily trafficked roads, so the occasional car whizzing by me really didn't bother me anymore & the views of the National Seashores/wildlife refuges I was going through, combined with the brisk sea-breeze more than compensated. I also passed through several small towns, including RODANTHE of "Nights in Rodanthe" fame. (For those of you who aren't in the know, it stars Richard Gere & is probably the biggest thing in chick-flicks/romantic dramas for aging baby boomers since "the Big Chill.") I arrived in the town of Hatteras fairly late in the day, & took the ferry over to Ocracoke Island just at sunset (see photo album.) By the time I got to Ocracoke it was quite dark, and all the campgrounds were on the other side of the island, and I was sick of paying fees to camp on my own damn land anyway, so I crashed on the beach(despite the threat of a 5000 dollar fine.) I got a bit intoxicated & started drawing/dancing chinese-looking characters in the sand with my toes... something I tend to indulge in when on the beach. I like to think I've gotten quite good at it... although I don't know any actual Chinese Characters, I enjoy the eccentric dance-like movements. At the end of a long fluid line of such characters I made a bunch of x's one of which I dug a large hole in the middle of.
Day 7: I biked alongside another fellow whom I'd met the previous day for a few minutes & talked about couch-surfing & biking, before he apparently decided I was going to slow & pulled ahead of me. He was biking with his father(I'd say he was in his mid-late sixties,) who had gotten tired & joined his wife in the car. I took the 2 1/2 hour ferry to Cedar Island, where I had been warned about the mosquitos. My route took me through Cedar Island National Wildlife refuge, which is quite beautiful(miles of marsh land... nothing but giant planes of reeds.) At some point that day I had a revelation about the way I shifted gears that eventually improved my time significantly & made for somewhat more relaxed riding. I had written several postcards, & kept looking for a post office so I could mail them, but somehow I managed to pass several post offices that were marked on my map without seeing them before finally finding one. In the late afternoon I stopped at a restaurant & got a lasagna to go. It would have been fairly mediocre, especially compared with my mother's lasagna, had I not been starving. That night I stopped at a gas station to use the payphone, & was looking at my maps when the owner came out & asked me what I was looking for. I informed him that I was looking for a campground(there was one very close by) & he said I could camp behind the store if I wanted to. I was a bit skeptical at first, & this certainly wasn't the nicest place I've slept... but on the other hand I've slept in much worse places(on the street in Reno Nevada for instance) & there were several distinct advantages to this course of action. For one, it was free, and also because it was such an uninspiring & relatively undesirable location, I would have no reason to dawdle in the morning. I set up my hammock, smoked some more biker contraband & read for a while (Siddhartha by Herman Hesse,) before dropping off to a fitful night of sleep.
Day 8: I woke up very early and very cold, & immediately put on more clothes & went back to sleep. eventually I got up again & had some french toast & coffee at the gas station, before continuing on my way. That evening I came to the Cape Carteret-Cedar Point-Swansboro trifecta on the Bogue Sound, & was moved in some indescribable way by the sunset and the river and the atmosphere. I sat out on the fishing pier in Centennial Park in Swansboro, where I was hassled by an old drunk fisherman who called Glen Beck an "American Hero" & Barack Obama "half a Nazi Negraww" & other such bullshit. I was just trying to read my book & I could tell after a while that he was going out of his way to be loud & attract my attention to get a rise out of me... speaking to his lady in almost theatrical tones how he had a "terrible stench" in his nose... & that stench was not the mullet he was netting, but Barack Obama. I ignored him... I do not negotiate with terrorists, I do not respond to blackmail, and I do not attempt to argue with brick walls... especially drunk ones. Actually I think calling this guy a brick wall would be giving him to much credit... just a brick really. In any case I read for a long while & chatted a little with a young couple who were fishing, & waited for the 8 or ten fishermen who were left to disperse, & then rolled out my sleeping mat right there by the lovely river. Oh... also before I dropped off I took a lot of silly snapshots of the lights across the river, & decorated the cover of my sketchbook.
Day 9. After a very long day( over 70 miles I think... haven't finished tallying it all) of biking, much of it in the rain, and most of it along a large highway, after having to resort to energy drinks & candy bars, I finally made it to Wilmington, where I am staying with a very nice gentleman named Adam, who it turns out is from Arlington VA. In fact he & his housemate Oliver(who's in Georgia at the moment) graduated from Wake-field in 05' & we have several mutual acquaintances. Small world. I once got picked up by a 21 year old Alexandria native about 30 miles North of Yellowstone in Montana. I also met a man on a bus in Porland Oregon who's little sister graduated from Yorktown in 07... unfortunately I've since forgotten her name, but I know it sounded familiar at the time. Anyway... I arrived in Wilmington just in time for Riverfest(apparently the most happening time of year here in Wilmington.) After checking in with Adam, & checking out his very cool house & taking a shower, I walked downtown looking for food & a laundromat. I got some pizza & did my laundry at "the Soapbox" a combination bar/music venue/club/laundromat. Very cool idea. I enjoyed a couple terrapin drafts while my laundry dried. I appreciate that in Wilmington, like Baltimore, most of the bars don't seem to card. I guess not getting carded in bars often depends more on your degree of confidence & nonchalance than on how old you look, & having lived in Baltimore for two years & been in bars various other places has made me less nervous & therefor increasingly less likely to get carded... either that or I just look 21... after all I'm less than two months away anyway. After doing my laundry I wandered around for a while & then headed back to the house, where I had the best night's sleep I've had in a long time & the first on a bed since I slept on Megan's bed in Richmond two weeks ago. Today I took a day off to wander around Wilmington & enjoy the passing parade of peasants pirates pigs and plastered pastors. OK... I made up the last one... but there were a lot of drunk people & I'm sure SOME of them were priests. I witnessed the "Pirate Invasion"(see photo album) a whole different parade on the river, and then wandered over to an Italian restaraunt for some pasta with mussels & Stella Artois(I tend to treat myself very nicely when in town to make up for the relative lack of comfort on the road,) before heading back to the old homestead(as fireworks went off overhead) to watch some Weeds with Adam. Well... that pretty much wraps er' up... all up to date & in a ridiculous amount of detail... congratulations if you made it this far... stay tuned for more when I get to Savannah! See you later on down the trail. -OJ
Maps: Before leaving Richmond I procured several sections of the Adventure Cycling Association's Atlantic Coast map. Although they are certainly not infallible, I would certainly recommend these maps to anyone who's planning on doing a long distance bike trip. They publish maps of routes in most of the Continental US. http://www.adventurecycling.org/routes/index.cfm
The routes take you mainly along small country roads, but occasionally you will have to bike along dangerous and nerve-wracking stretches of large highways.
Bike: I am riding a Surly Long Hall Trucker, which I purchased in Richmond. http://surlybikes.com/bikes/long_haul_trucker_complete/
So far it has served marvelously. On it I have mounted both a front & back rack, with panniers. I also added clip-less peddles & shoes(special biking shoes that clip on the your peddles,) when I reached Kittyhawk. All this equipment is very expensive. If you live in a good bike city(Richmond, Baltimore or DC) you could probably put together a suitable bike for touring relatively cheaply, but it would require more time, patience, and technical knowledge than I had or was willing to expend.
Supplies: I am carrying a minimal amount of clothing, a briefcase full of art supplies, comic books, and other accouterments, tools, a hennesey hammock(hammock tent... http://hennessyhammock.com/) a very small & compact inflatable mat, a very compact sleeping bag, a digital camera, & various other odds & ends... & food & water obviously. If anyone's interested in specifics I'd be more than happy to talk shop. I like to think I have a few good tips when it comes to traveling.
Day 1: I left Richmond at around 8:30 in the morning. I biked through downtown, weaving in between drowsy Virginians on their way to work. It was still quite cool out. The Route took me out through the eastern suburbs and under 295, & through Richmond National Battlefield Park(see Photo Album of same name.) I stopped to read a few of the signs along the way, describing various clashes of Union & Confederate troops in what, where I come from most people call the Civil War, & where I am going to is more often called "The War of Northern Aggression." After a while I passed into Charles county, "Birthplace of Presidents," (William Henry Harrison & John Tyler.) I took a quick dunk in the James to cool off, after crossing the bridge on SR 156 just East of Hopewell. I had planned on stopping at a restaurant at that point, but foolishly passed up the only one for miles, even though it was clearly marked on my map. I ended up having nothing to eat but apples and home-made granola for the rest of the day(if anyone wants my recipe... it's quite simple & both delicious & nutritious.) The rest of the day I biked through farmland & woods on small but well paved one lane country roads, with very little traffic. Although my map claims that the route goes past tobacco & peanut fields, I mainly noticed soy-beans & cotton(this was true for most of my trip.) Eventually I grew tired & my stomach implored me to stop, so I went slightly off route, to the town of Dendron, where I got some groceries & devoured some fried chicken. The owner of the corner store advised me to sleep in the yard of an abandoned house across from his store, where he said all the bikers who came through stayed. He had apparently asked permission from the owner to let bikers stay there. I pitched my trusty Hennessey Hammock right in front of the porch. That night I kept snug & dry while a harrowing thunderstorm raged outside. I had come roughly 66 miles(more like 70, as I'd made a few wrong turns & gone miles out of my way before realizing it,) despite the fact that I hadn't trained at all before embarking, & had planned to do 50, & only expected to do 30.
Day 2: I awoke fairly early, but took a long time packing up my camp. My ass was so sore from the previous days biking, I almost gave up right there. I ended up making it to South Carolina that night, despite my physical discomfort & the fact that I had previously planned to stop & couch-surf (http://www.couchsurfing.org/profile.html) in Suffolk VA that evening. I spent that night in Merchants Mill Pond State Park, about 4 miles south of Sunbury NC, and 67 miles from Dendron. At some point during the day I had realized that my phone had been rained on & didn't work(went voodu on me.) Miraculously, it eventually fixed itself after 3 or four days.
Days 3 & 4. I had decided to take the outer banks alternate route, which would add an additional 87 miles to my trip. I called Cape Hatteras National Seashore Info. to make sure there were no hurricane warnings, & then set out going north on 158. The next couple of days were fairly hellish, and not all that remarkable. I went through the great dismal swamp & Sligo NC(the Dead Possum capital of the world,) and camped at an R-V park on Bells Island in the Currituck sound. Day 4 was fairly miserable, as I was mostly on large highways. Just as I was about to reach the bridge over the Currituck sound, I saw a female biker going the other way & let out a loud war-woop... we waved to each other in solidarity... I wished I could have told her how hellish the next 50 or so miles would be, & that she should turn around & go relax on the beach. In any case, seeing a fellow biker gave me a boost of energy & I whipped across the bridge & into Kitty Hawk, where I saw my first Spanish Moss, ate dinner on the beach, & spent the night camped out behind the OBX hostel.
Day 5: I only went about 20 miles that day, as I spent most of the day reading on the beach. I had been reading "Black Elk Speaks," a book that I've picked up many times over the years, but never finished until now. It tells the story of a Sioux medicine man who was a second cousin of Sitting bull and was active in the Messiah movement, and of his great visions. It is truly a remarkable & powerful book, and one of the most interesting and rewarding things I've ever read. That day I also made it to a bike shop, where I finally purchased the proper shoes & pedals that I needed(previously I had been wearing my old "Jesus Sandals" as a smart-ass in Baltimore once called them.) I camped at a National park campground at Oregon Inlet. There I met some kindred spirits... a very nice gentleman named Richard who was playing Crosby Stills & Nash on his car speakers & warmed up a can of chili for me on his camping stove, and a cool old hippie biker(as in Harley, not Surly) couple from Dayton Ohio who were on their way back from a wedding in Wilmington & kindly shared some "contraband" with me. After imbibing of the aforementioned herb, I wandered out to the beach over & through a maze of 20 foot tall dunes. There I proceeded to send a flurry of annoying text messages to various friends, as my phone still didn't work properly. At some point it began to rain & I got soaked & somewhat lost running through the dunes to my makeshift tent. Because I was camped on the beach, there were no trees, so I had to improvise: I had an extra tarp that I normally use to cover the bike when it rains, & I made this into a tent. I flipped my bike upside down, so that it balanced on the handlebars( I have no kick-stand) & placing it about 7 feet from the picnic table at my campsite, I ran a rope from the table to the bike, looped it around several times & tied it off, & then tied the rope off to a makeshift anchor(my saddlebags buried in the sand) to ensure that the bike would not fall over on me in the middle of the night. I then draped the tarp over the rope & used colored pencils as stakes to hold it down... I then piled sand on the edges of the tarp to help keep it down, as it was an extremely windy evening. See photo album. I was extremely proud of myself... in case you couldn't tell.
Day 6: I broke camp later than I'd hoped. I ended up leaving around 10 or 11, but still managed to make it to Ocracoke Island that night. At some point while I was packing up my camp, the biker couple stopped by with a gift, to "take the edge off after a long day of having cars whip by you." I gave them & Richard a copy of my comic book. I biked along route 12, which is a two lane highway with moderate traffic. By this time I was fairly used to biking on heavily trafficked roads, so the occasional car whizzing by me really didn't bother me anymore & the views of the National Seashores/wildlife refuges I was going through, combined with the brisk sea-breeze more than compensated. I also passed through several small towns, including RODANTHE of "Nights in Rodanthe" fame. (For those of you who aren't in the know, it stars Richard Gere & is probably the biggest thing in chick-flicks/romantic dramas for aging baby boomers since "the Big Chill.") I arrived in the town of Hatteras fairly late in the day, & took the ferry over to Ocracoke Island just at sunset (see photo album.) By the time I got to Ocracoke it was quite dark, and all the campgrounds were on the other side of the island, and I was sick of paying fees to camp on my own damn land anyway, so I crashed on the beach(despite the threat of a 5000 dollar fine.) I got a bit intoxicated & started drawing/dancing chinese-looking characters in the sand with my toes... something I tend to indulge in when on the beach. I like to think I've gotten quite good at it... although I don't know any actual Chinese Characters, I enjoy the eccentric dance-like movements. At the end of a long fluid line of such characters I made a bunch of x's one of which I dug a large hole in the middle of.
Day 7: I biked alongside another fellow whom I'd met the previous day for a few minutes & talked about couch-surfing & biking, before he apparently decided I was going to slow & pulled ahead of me. He was biking with his father(I'd say he was in his mid-late sixties,) who had gotten tired & joined his wife in the car. I took the 2 1/2 hour ferry to Cedar Island, where I had been warned about the mosquitos. My route took me through Cedar Island National Wildlife refuge, which is quite beautiful(miles of marsh land... nothing but giant planes of reeds.) At some point that day I had a revelation about the way I shifted gears that eventually improved my time significantly & made for somewhat more relaxed riding. I had written several postcards, & kept looking for a post office so I could mail them, but somehow I managed to pass several post offices that were marked on my map without seeing them before finally finding one. In the late afternoon I stopped at a restaurant & got a lasagna to go. It would have been fairly mediocre, especially compared with my mother's lasagna, had I not been starving. That night I stopped at a gas station to use the payphone, & was looking at my maps when the owner came out & asked me what I was looking for. I informed him that I was looking for a campground(there was one very close by) & he said I could camp behind the store if I wanted to. I was a bit skeptical at first, & this certainly wasn't the nicest place I've slept... but on the other hand I've slept in much worse places(on the street in Reno Nevada for instance) & there were several distinct advantages to this course of action. For one, it was free, and also because it was such an uninspiring & relatively undesirable location, I would have no reason to dawdle in the morning. I set up my hammock, smoked some more biker contraband & read for a while (Siddhartha by Herman Hesse,) before dropping off to a fitful night of sleep.
Day 8: I woke up very early and very cold, & immediately put on more clothes & went back to sleep. eventually I got up again & had some french toast & coffee at the gas station, before continuing on my way. That evening I came to the Cape Carteret-Cedar Point-Swansboro trifecta on the Bogue Sound, & was moved in some indescribable way by the sunset and the river and the atmosphere. I sat out on the fishing pier in Centennial Park in Swansboro, where I was hassled by an old drunk fisherman who called Glen Beck an "American Hero" & Barack Obama "half a Nazi Negraww" & other such bullshit. I was just trying to read my book & I could tell after a while that he was going out of his way to be loud & attract my attention to get a rise out of me... speaking to his lady in almost theatrical tones how he had a "terrible stench" in his nose... & that stench was not the mullet he was netting, but Barack Obama. I ignored him... I do not negotiate with terrorists, I do not respond to blackmail, and I do not attempt to argue with brick walls... especially drunk ones. Actually I think calling this guy a brick wall would be giving him to much credit... just a brick really. In any case I read for a long while & chatted a little with a young couple who were fishing, & waited for the 8 or ten fishermen who were left to disperse, & then rolled out my sleeping mat right there by the lovely river. Oh... also before I dropped off I took a lot of silly snapshots of the lights across the river, & decorated the cover of my sketchbook.
Day 9. After a very long day( over 70 miles I think... haven't finished tallying it all) of biking, much of it in the rain, and most of it along a large highway, after having to resort to energy drinks & candy bars, I finally made it to Wilmington, where I am staying with a very nice gentleman named Adam, who it turns out is from Arlington VA. In fact he & his housemate Oliver(who's in Georgia at the moment) graduated from Wake-field in 05' & we have several mutual acquaintances. Small world. I once got picked up by a 21 year old Alexandria native about 30 miles North of Yellowstone in Montana. I also met a man on a bus in Porland Oregon who's little sister graduated from Yorktown in 07... unfortunately I've since forgotten her name, but I know it sounded familiar at the time. Anyway... I arrived in Wilmington just in time for Riverfest(apparently the most happening time of year here in Wilmington.) After checking in with Adam, & checking out his very cool house & taking a shower, I walked downtown looking for food & a laundromat. I got some pizza & did my laundry at "the Soapbox" a combination bar/music venue/club/laundromat. Very cool idea. I enjoyed a couple terrapin drafts while my laundry dried. I appreciate that in Wilmington, like Baltimore, most of the bars don't seem to card. I guess not getting carded in bars often depends more on your degree of confidence & nonchalance than on how old you look, & having lived in Baltimore for two years & been in bars various other places has made me less nervous & therefor increasingly less likely to get carded... either that or I just look 21... after all I'm less than two months away anyway. After doing my laundry I wandered around for a while & then headed back to the house, where I had the best night's sleep I've had in a long time & the first on a bed since I slept on Megan's bed in Richmond two weeks ago. Today I took a day off to wander around Wilmington & enjoy the passing parade of peasants pirates pigs and plastered pastors. OK... I made up the last one... but there were a lot of drunk people & I'm sure SOME of them were priests. I witnessed the "Pirate Invasion"(see photo album) a whole different parade on the river, and then wandered over to an Italian restaraunt for some pasta with mussels & Stella Artois(I tend to treat myself very nicely when in town to make up for the relative lack of comfort on the road,) before heading back to the old homestead(as fireworks went off overhead) to watch some Weeds with Adam. Well... that pretty much wraps er' up... all up to date & in a ridiculous amount of detail... congratulations if you made it this far... stay tuned for more when I get to Savannah! See you later on down the trail. -OJ
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