Week 12: Beach Bound Summary: Damascus, VA to Virginia Beach, VA 481 miles June 21st to June 28th
To view map in Google click here. Day 77: Damascus,VA to Mountain Park, NC 79 miles Sunday, June 21st Let me just start off by saying this was the best day of the trip as far as the ride and scenery went. I woke up in Crazy Dave's Hostel to the smell of bacon. Dave was making breakfast, an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord of pancakes, bacon, sausage, and eggs. I gulped down several helpings before rolling up my gear and setting off down the road. To start the day I would ride along the Creeper Trail, named after the creeper vines which dominate the trail. The trail was 17 miles up a steady grade. It was part of the "Rails to Trails" system that converts old railroad ways into trails. I was covered by the treetop canopy the entire ride and it was a great way to start my week.
After gaining 200 feet in elevation the trail ended near White Top Mountain and an old railway station. I stopped for a Snickers bar and a gatorade at the visitor center where I was told about an 80 year old man who had been bicycling the trail for years and had accumulated over 186,000 miles!!! That puts my trip to shame.
After the visitor center it was a short ride into North Carolina where I would begin ridding on the North Line Route that would take me all the way to the coast. After gaining so much elevation I was rewarded with some stunning views of North Carolina from a hilltop and then decended rapidly down a windy road. That decent may have been the most fun downhill section I had ridden during my entire trip. The rest of the day I was rewarded by yet more stunning views before eventually arriving into Mountain Park, NC. I decided to tent for the night at the city park. I set my tent up under the covered picnic area because it looked like a storm was blowing through. Sure enough the wind picked up and gusts threatened to snatch my tent away so I had to tie down the corners to the picnic tables. Before going to bed I took a spit bath in the parks bathrooms. Not the best wash I have had but it'll do. The day was a great one, and marked the first day of the last week of my trip.
Day 78: Mountain Park, NC to Danville, VA 109 miles Monday, June 22nd I woke up around 5 o'clock this morning and was treated to a gorgeous sunrise. Made me wish I had woken up early more often. The North Line Route (Route 4) took me on roads with little traffic although it wasn't marked very well and I had to constantly check my map on my phone to make sure I hadn't missed a turn. Today was quite hilly but I steadily lost elevation. I had just found my pace for the day, about 20 miles in, when I heard a loud TWANG! I looked back and saw that I had popped a spoke. Almost 4000 miles into my trip and I had my first popped spoke. I called a "cycle shop" in Eden, some 40 miles away, explained my situation, and they assured me they could help me out. Having disk brakes, I was able to continue riding, although my rear wheel had a considerable wobble.
Just before arriving in Eden I stopped for lunch at a pizza joint. After finishing I noticed that next door was a post office. I decided then was as good a time as any to drop a little more weight. I threw my front panniers, sleeping bag, pillow, solar charger, and other miscelaneous things into a pair of boxes and shipped them home, dropping over 10 lbs in the process. After riding again, I could feel a significant difference.
It was nearing 4 o'clock and the cycle shop closed at 5 so I decided to hitch hike the last 4 miles in order to make there on time. I was picked up by the third truck that passed me. Unfortunately, once arriving at the cycle shop I learned that it was a motorcycle shop and they didn't work on bicycles. I was a little annoyed because the guy on the phone had told me they could help me. Apparently he hadn't been paying, well, any attention to me at all. So I got my phone out and started calling bike shops in the area. There weren't really any within 30 miles, and none even close to along my route. The fourth shop I called I was greeted by Tony who opperated a small shop out of his garage called Far Out Bikes. Tony immediately expressed interest in helping out any and all bike tourists. Although it was getting late, and his shop was 30 miles away just across the border into Virginia, he said I should start biking his way and he would meet me in the middle. Sure enough, right at 15 miles, I see a truck do a U-turn in my mirror and Tony pulls up and helps me throw my bike in the back of his rig.
We talked, pretty much non-stop, the rest of the evening. Tony was a very gregarious person and regailed me with stories from his touring days. After getting to his house and eating some Little Caesars we picked up along the way, we put my bike on a stand in his shop alongside his house, and he began educating me on how to true a wheel. He gave my bike the works, tuned it up, put on new grip tape, and checked everything over. By the time we finished it was nearing 11:00 at night. I thanked him, crawled in my tent spread on his lawn, and tried to sleep, although it was a very hot night and I had difficulty.
Day 79: Danville, VA to Lake Cerr, NC 72 miles Tuesday, June 23rd In the morning, Tony showed up with a bologne and egg sandwhich for me. He refused any cash I tried to give him for the services he gave me and even insisted on driving me back to my bike route. What a swell guy.
After getting back on NC Route 4 I passed over lake Hyco Lake, went about 20 more miles and TWANG! Another spoke gone. You see, as one spoke goes, the rest are weakend and it often becomes a snowball effect. I pretty much saw a repeat of the day before. I rode into the town of Oxford where I had been told there was a bike shop only to find that it had closed down the year before. I stopped at the local hospital to eat lunch in their cafeteria, made some calls to local bike shops, and once again found out there were none even remotely close to me. Luckily, I was put in touch with a guy about 15 miles due south of me who had all the stuff needed to hook me up. So I rode to his house, he fixed me up, and I rode back to Oxford where I would then have dinner at the same hospital.
After dinner I headed for Kerr Lake (pronounced Car Lake). But I tell you, all of the sudden, my backside was killing me. That last fifteen miles was probably the most painful of my entire trip. 4000 miles and in the final legs I had finally developed a saddle sore. Eventually though I would roll into the one of the Lake's campgrounds where I would pay $25 bucks for the worst quality campsite I have ever stayed in. The facilities were filled with bugs, the showers were cold, and the tent sites were covered with thistles. But, after such a long, hot day on the bike I walked straight into the lake, clothes and all, before taking a shower and laying down for the night. I don't think the temperature dropped below 85 degrees that night. I barely slept a wink.
This whole week I had been wrestling with the idea of continuing my trip after I hit Virginia Beach, up north along the coast. However, now with a bike that is breaking down, a body that has just about had it, and frankly, a bank account that was quickly diminishing, I had pretty much decided that Virginia Beach and my first glimpse of salt water in 3 months will be my ending point. It was a difficult decision, but one that brought me relief and finally allowed me to sleep despite the oppressive heat.
Day 80: Lake Cerr, NC to Gaston Lake, NC 35 miles Wednesday, June 24th
I woke early that morning, took another dip in the lake and another shower, then hopped on my bike and got back on Route 4. My behind was still painful, but considerably better than the day before. I decided to make it a short, half-day, and get a motel in the city of Roanoke Rapids, located right on the edge of Lake Gaston.
I rode for about 30 miles, and arrived at the lake. I spent the next five miles passing over bridges and admiring all the water recreation. There were boaters of all kinds: wakeboarders, wave runners, speed boats... etc. TWANG! Ugh... not again. I popped my third spoke in three days, but this time my wheel didn't seem too out of alightment so I decided to push forward. It was only a few more days until Virginia Beach. I pulled in at a gas station right on the edge of the lake to grab me some chocolate milk before the last few miles to the motel I had decided on when I was approached by a giant of a man, even by my standards. He was easily 6'8 with a commanding pressance, athough he had a jovial attitude, kind of like a southern Santa Clause. Even before knowing my name he was offering for me to stay at his beach house, not 3 miles away. He had seen me taking pictures off a bridge and had felt compelled to catch up to me. What luck. I had been planning on staying at a motel, and here was a seemingly great guy offering to let me stay in a camper at his lake house, complete with a dock, boat, jet skis, and cold brews. Needless to say, I accepted his offer.
Ray, as he introduced himself, and I spent much the rest of that afternoon floating in the water off his dock and pondering the deeper things in life. He told me about several self-help books I needed to read and even showed me a short, 20 minute video on how to attain one's full potential. Ray, his wife, and I went to dinner at one of the local, private, campground clubs where I had some amazing beef tips and mashed potatoes. I slept in Ray's camper that night, and with the AC on full blast, I had the best night's sleep in days.
Day 81: Gaston Lake, NC to Elizabeth City, NC 122 miles Thursday, June 25th I woke quite early and was on the road before sunset yet again. I snapped some pretty cool shots of the sun rising over the road in front of me that morning. However, I wouldn't take many more pictures until the end of that day because I would ride over 120 miles to make it to Elizabeth City. The half-day of rest did my body good and with flat roads I flew, even despite a calm but steady headwind.
Just before getting into Elizabeth City, I would casually look in my review mirror to notice a pretty nasty storm had crept up on me. I opened up my phone to see how far I was before my motel and saw that a tornado warning was flashing on my screen. I double timed it into town and about 2 miles out caught glimpses of some pretty terrifying funnel clouds. Once entering the outskirts of the city, I figured I was just far enough away from the storm and just close enough to my motel to grab some Subway sanwiches for dinner. I had never seen Subway take so long to make food. There were seriously 4 employees struggling to make 3 sandwhiches. There were talking and dawdling and barely even addressing the customers so I straight up told them, "Look, I'm on a bike and trying not to be caught up in a tornado, can you please hurry this up a bit?" They complied.
I arrived at my motel minutes before the storm. Seconds after entering into my room and shutting the door it looked like a monsoon outside my window. I could barely see the street through the wind and rain. What perfect timing. While I was in the shower the 120 miles I had ridden that day quickly caught up to me. My legs began shaking and I felt light headed so I dried off and laid down on my bed on top of the blankets and fell asleep. I woke up around 2 in the morning and pulle the covers over me before falling back asleeep until morning.
Day 82: Elizabeth City, NC to Virginia Beach, VA 64 miles Friday, June 26th This was it. 82 days later and I was finally going to see Virginia Beach. I left the motel and road about 20 miles into the town of Currituck where I would hop on a ferry. Unfortunately, I missed the ferry by 20 minutes and so had to wait for the next one at 2 o'clock. The ferry deposited me on McKay Island where there was a natural wildlife refugee. It was essentially all swampland and was the norhernmost swamp area where you can find allegators, although I wasn't lucky enough to spot any that day. From the "island" which was more of a peninsula, it was a straight shot across the border to Virginia and into Virginia Beach.
I had chosen Virginia Beach as my Atlantic destination because two of my friends who had formerly been volunteers with me at Young Life in Skagit Valley had moved there the previous year. As I rolled up to there house, sure enough, Spencer and Jonae Steinman were there standing on there front porch with the cheesiest grins on their faces. They welcomed me with open arms. I had made it.