The Explorers woke up to the sound of the rooster cock-a-doodle-doing. Sidekick Sue couldn’t wait to leave this campground. Even a promise of a rest day wouldn’t have tempted her; she wasn’t about to shower in the bug bathroom again.
The Explorers left Kill Devil Hills (which thankfully is just the one hill that the Wright Brothers used), and continued on down the outer banks. They took the beach road as far as they could, avoiding the traffic on Route 12. The Outer Banks is beautiful, but the main road was not built for biking. They passed through Nags Head, which seems to be the “hot destination” town with hotels, restaurants and attractions. A number of them appeared to be closed for the season, which probably ended around Labor Day.
One thing the Explorers noticed was that the beach didn’t seem very accessible for anyone that didn’t have beachfront property. Every driveway had signs warning “no beach access”; some driveways had gates or chains. There were very few public access routes to the beach. The Explorers wondered how the folks in rows of houses across the street could ever enjoy the beach; they are more accustomed to the rules in California, where public beach access is required.
Eventually the beach houses and the beach road ended, and the Explorers had to merge back onto Route 12. Luckily, the traffic was lighter, but still not too bike-friendly. There were miles and miles of desolate road with the Sound on one side and the ocean on the other. Most of the time, the ocean was not visible because the dunes were built up so high on the side of the road, but there would be an occasional break for the Explorers to see the water. Their ride took them across the 3 mile Marc Basnight Bridge that connects Bodie Island to Hatteras Island over the Oregon Inlet. It was a pretty incredible sight, but a little harrowing as the traffic was speeding by.
The ride continued through the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge (saw lots of turtles in the swampy area by the side of the road). The Explorers passed through another more populated area which was their last chance to decide if they wanted to stop for the day or continue on to the next possible area (which would mean another 50 mile day. Sidekick Sue was definitely leaning toward the first option, but after stopping for a nice lunch at “Sheila’s Kitchen” at the KOA Cape Hatteras Resort, she decided she could move on (another 16 miles… ugh). This agreement came with the promise of ice cream at the final destination.
There was another 15 miles of very desolate cycling on the narrow strip of land between the Sound and the Ocean. There was evidence of damage caused by Ian, standing water and sand on the sides of the roads. Apparently, the road had been completely closed earlier in the week, as some dunes had been breached and the road itself was below sea level. The road was opened, but there were still bulldozers moving sand around, trying to rebuild the berm along the side of the road. Unfortunately, there was still a lot of sand and water on the shoulder of the road, so the Explorers had to ride in the lane, making the more aggressive drivers very unhappy.
The Explorers took a break at one of the entrances to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore to go look at the ocean. It was beautiful, especially with the sky and water so blue. As the Explorers got closer to Avon, NC, their destination for the night, they reached the Dairy Queen, which was supposed to be the stop for the promised ice cream. Alas, it was closed for the season, so the Explorers had to “make do” with a chipwich from a local convenience store. They got to their campground, but without a reservation because no one was answering the phones all day and the office was closed. Of course, Captain Mark wanted to just “set up and deal with in the morning” while Sidekick Sue wanted to follow the rules, call the after hours number and get permission. Luckily, someone called back before the Explorers came to blows, and gave them a site for the night.
Sidekick Sue was so relieved to see a clean bathroom AND laundry room that she took a long hot shower and got the laundry going. She is hoping that there are no nearby roosters to crow in the morning.
