Moving right along....

We are in the midst of three fairly tough days. Yesterday we left Ocracoke well before the sun came up to catch a ferry to bring us back to the mainland. It was a 2 and 1/2 hour ride with breakfast on the boat as we sailed across the sound. We actually started riding at about 10 AM, a pretty late start for such a long day (typically we start at 7:45). The good news was that the sun was out and it was a summer kind of day. Much of our route was right on the ocean - however, we could not see the water. There were dunes and vacation homes or townhouse/condo complexes along much of the way. Our only climbing was over bridges but some of these go pretty high up over the intracoastal or some of the rivers feeding into the Atlantic. I don't mind standing at the rail looking out over the water but riding over the bridge on a bike when I have to look down really spooks me out. I keep my eyes on the road or the rider ahead of me and just keep moving to get to the downslope and off the bridge. And many of these bridges, just to add to the fun, are drawbridges and so have sections of steel grating that is also a ton of fun to ride on with our skinny little tires - give my solid road anytime. So we rode into Jacksonville right in the middle of rush hour, another fun time. We went right by Camp Lejune the large Marine training base - David did much of his initial training there. And as you can imagine Jacksonville is very much a military town. As we counted miniature golf courses in the northern shore towns here we could have counted tatoo parlors and barber shops specializing in marine haircuts. Leaving Jacksonville this morning we again caught the morning rush but we were against traffic and close to the edge of town - once we got through an initial series of traffic lights we were on country roads and traffic was steady but not too bad. We did make one stop at a country version of 7/11 where one of the good ole boys warned me very seriously to be careful out there, some of these boys would just as soon run you down as look at you...welcome to back county North Carolina. Much of the first part of the day was on roads that were basically all pine forest and lots of isolated, mostly poor looking houses or mobile homes. That being said the day was perfect for riding with a nice little tail wind and clear, sunny skies. I got stopped at a light early on and had to play catchup for much of the first ten miles or so. And then I hooked up with the ride mechanic, a man about my age but also a very strong rider. We decided to take advantage of the wind and just took off passing our group and heading up the road alternating the lead and thoroughly enjoying the day...at the 23 mile mark I had a 18.2 average, much more than I would usually be doing - really fun stuff for a change. Ultimately I rejoined my group and we went from rural roads to busy highways, sometimes with decent shoulders and sometimes not so great. We made good time with the two elders of the group leading the way (me and Hank who is self-styled patriarch at 76). Tonight we are in Little River which is North Myrtle Beach (did I mention that we crossed into South Carolina ?) after doing 111 miles with a 17.2 mph average. I should also note that according to my computer I expended 7201 calories - would take a lot of ice cream to make that up...Tomorrow is another century day - we head for Charlotte and expect to do about 120 miles. If we go over 119 I will have a new personal best. And on that note I am off to bed to get ready. Sorry no photos tonight, just too tired to manage it.