First there were mountains. then hills, then there were rolling hills, then hills created or discovered by Ragan(just kidding...) and finally there were hills that exist only in your mind(and maybe in the minds of a few other weary riders....)....
These below are a few words, pictures and videos that sum up the experiences and perspective of a cycling newbie (relatively speaking) participating in the Mountain to Coast ride conducted by Cycle North Carolina (Cycle NC)
This ride is the 19th such ride conducted by Cycle NC and I have to start off this little essay by stating that the ride was well organized. The organizers were spot on in all aspects ranging from communication, logistics, camp site selections and rider support through out the ride. It is no wonder that there is a significant number of repeat riders.
This year the ride started in Jefferson, North Carolina on October 1st. Jefferson is a little town nestled near the Blue ridge mountains.
The ride ended near the east coast of North Carolina in the town of Swansboro on October 7th. My plan was to take the transportation from Swansboro to Jefferson before the ride and then cycle back to Swansboro before driving back to Washington DC.
The total distance of the ride was around 450 miles.
I arrived in Swansboro two days before the ride started on Sep 29th and took some time to visit the beautiful beach in Emerald City.
Next day on a crisp fall morning, the journey started first with rider registration outside the Hampton Inn in Swansboro.
The registration was prompt and hassle free.
The riders then dropped off their bikes near the U-Haul for transportation to Jefferson.
The cycle drop off went fairly smoothly without any hassles.
Shortly there after three Holiday tour buses showed up to transport the riders to Jefferson, North Carolina.
I then proceeded to board one of the buses.
Nearly 7 and a half hours later we arrived in Jefferson at the site where the ride would start the next day.
I then proceeded to take the shuttle (normally a school bus) from the camp site to my hotel (Nations Inn).
Next day on a chilly morning(~35F) we checked in at our starting point in Jefferson.
After a short while I started my 1st mile of this ride.
A short while later I started experiencing some frost bite and had to stop by at a local gas station to get a pair of gloves. I resumed cycling.
A short while later we start experiencing foggy conditions.
/
A bit later I had my first taste of "rolling hills" which would always be part of the ride until the 4th day of the ride. Needless to say I was out of breath a few times.
Of course there are stretches of downhill also to help you relax...
And then the hills came back again...
A short while we went down a steep descend of nearly 6 or so miles at a stretch.
I arrived in Elkin around 1:00 PM and checked in the Best Western Inn in Yadkin.
Cycle NC has shuttles from the hotels to the camp sites and then shuttles from the camp sites to the towns. The frequency was about 30 minutes. These shuttles helped the rides to explore the towns and visit some interesting place.
Later in the evening I got a glimpse of the camps in Elkin.
These are the "Bubba" tents. There are provided by "Bubba pampered pedalers" .
Adjacent to the tents provided by Bubba pampered pedalers were the tents that that riders setup on their own.
Next day morning we started off from Elkin in much warmer temperatures (A balmy 40 degrees instead of the much colder 35 degrees)..
After some time the climb resumed.
After some time we stopped at the rest stop in the village of Bethania.
The rest stops had local fare as well as a constant presence of three ladies who server peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I looked forward to the rest stops that had these sandwiches and the sandwiches became my lunch for almost all of the days.
I arrived at Oakridge around 2:00 PM. My hotel was in Greensboro. I decided to leave the bike in the camp site and take the shuttle to the hotel.
For any of you considering future "Mountain to Coast cycle NC" rides. I would recommend this to anyone as some of the hotels are nearly 8-10 miles from the camp site and most of the daily rides do not pass the hotel.
By the way Cycle NC transports your luggage from one hotel to the other. During registration, you get a baggage tag as shown below.
Day 3 had the most miles (~ 74 miles) and it felt extra long. I started in Oakridge and arrived in Carrboro. The hotel was near Chapel Hill and I took advantage of the diverse cuisine available near the University.
I started day 4 on a rough note. First I fell down right at the start of the ride and then shortly thereafter some insect sting me in the head with tremendous ferocity about a few miles into the ride. A fellow rider was kind enough to stop by and check in on me.
These two incidents with poor night of sleep presented a challenge in both mental and physical terms for the first 20 miles till I arrived at the rest stop (Durham Bulls stadium near downtown Durham)
After getting thru that portion of the ride, things took a better turn as we rode for the next several miles in what appeared to be a trail(American Tobacco Trail) without the presence of any motorized vehicles.
After riding in the American Tobacco trail for a short duration the ride then seemed to wind its way from one street to another street in what can only be aptly described as the all pervasive suburban crawl that has limited distinguishing characteristics from the suburbs of Northern Virginia (where I reside) or from that matter from any other suburban landscape.
Thankfully after some time the ride entered another trail and this portion of the ride bought some much needed respite from the blah...blah....blah.
Here are some more sights from what appears to be the Mingo creek trail.
After a much needed massage in Knightsdale on Day 4 I felt that I was like in better shape for Day 5. This day was significantly warmer than previous days and as on previous days, I started early.
We passed thru many farms during the ride and here are the sights and sounds of the one farms that we passed by on Day 5 of the ride.
I arrived in Wilson at around 2:00 PM.
Day 6 was a mostly uneventful day as I rode from Wilson to Kinston.
Finally Day 7 arrived and the first 20 miles of the ride went by rather quickly as this was the first stretch of the entire ride from Jefferson that I was riding with a few other folks for an extended duration.
By these times one of the common sights that I kept passing by was the cotton farm.
Finally I arrived in Swansboro at around 12:45 PM.
After a short while I proceeded to Emerald Isle where I concluded my journey. 30 minutes later I left for Washington DC and arrived in DC at 730 PM, just in time to see my daughter getting ready for her first home coming.
For the fall of 2018(Mid October 2018), I have shortlisted the following bike rides for consideration:
Ride #1 - Cedar City,UT --> Tempe,AZ (Grand Canyon Connector)
Cedar City --> Rockville --> Kanab -->Marble Canyon -->Cameron --> Grand Canyon Village --> Flagstaff --> Paulden --> Wickenburg --> Tempe
(532 miles)
Ride#2 - Buffalo,NY-->Chicago,IL
Buffalo --> Erie -->Painsville -->Kipton-->Maumee-->Pleasant Lake -->South Bend --> Gary -->Chicago
(568 miles)
Ride#3 Buffalo,NY to Burlington,VT (Erie Canal Bike ride ...)
Buffalo-->Rochester-->Syracuse-->Little Falls-->Albany-->Lake George-->Middlebury-->Burlington
(586 miles)
The ride will be a self supported ride similar to my previous ride from Washington DC to Pittsburgh last year.
Signing off until next posting.. Adios, Bye Bye, Auf wiedersehen...
These below are a few words, pictures and videos that sum up the experiences and perspective of a cycling newbie (relatively speaking) participating in the Mountain to Coast ride conducted by Cycle North Carolina (Cycle NC)
This ride is the 19th such ride conducted by Cycle NC and I have to start off this little essay by stating that the ride was well organized. The organizers were spot on in all aspects ranging from communication, logistics, camp site selections and rider support through out the ride. It is no wonder that there is a significant number of repeat riders.
This year the ride started in Jefferson, North Carolina on October 1st. Jefferson is a little town nestled near the Blue ridge mountains.
The ride ended near the east coast of North Carolina in the town of Swansboro on October 7th. My plan was to take the transportation from Swansboro to Jefferson before the ride and then cycle back to Swansboro before driving back to Washington DC.
The total distance of the ride was around 450 miles.
I arrived in Swansboro two days before the ride started on Sep 29th and took some time to visit the beautiful beach in Emerald City.
Next day on a crisp fall morning, the journey started first with rider registration outside the Hampton Inn in Swansboro.
The registration was prompt and hassle free.
The riders then dropped off their bikes near the U-Haul for transportation to Jefferson.
The cycle drop off went fairly smoothly without any hassles.
Shortly there after three Holiday tour buses showed up to transport the riders to Jefferson, North Carolina.
I then proceeded to board one of the buses.
Nearly 7 and a half hours later we arrived in Jefferson at the site where the ride would start the next day.
I then proceeded to take the shuttle (normally a school bus) from the camp site to my hotel (Nations Inn).
Next day on a chilly morning(~35F) we checked in at our starting point in Jefferson.
After a short while I started my 1st mile of this ride.
A short while later I started experiencing some frost bite and had to stop by at a local gas station to get a pair of gloves. I resumed cycling.
A short while later we start experiencing foggy conditions.
/
A bit later I had my first taste of "rolling hills" which would always be part of the ride until the 4th day of the ride. Needless to say I was out of breath a few times.
Of course there are stretches of downhill also to help you relax...
And then the hills came back again...
A short while we went down a steep descend of nearly 6 or so miles at a stretch.
I arrived in Elkin around 1:00 PM and checked in the Best Western Inn in Yadkin.
Cycle NC has shuttles from the hotels to the camp sites and then shuttles from the camp sites to the towns. The frequency was about 30 minutes. These shuttles helped the rides to explore the towns and visit some interesting place.
Later in the evening I got a glimpse of the camps in Elkin.
These are the "Bubba" tents. There are provided by "Bubba pampered pedalers" .
Adjacent to the tents provided by Bubba pampered pedalers were the tents that that riders setup on their own.
Next day morning we started off from Elkin in much warmer temperatures (A balmy 40 degrees instead of the much colder 35 degrees)..
After some time the climb resumed.
After some time we stopped at the rest stop in the village of Bethania.
The rest stops had local fare as well as a constant presence of three ladies who server peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I looked forward to the rest stops that had these sandwiches and the sandwiches became my lunch for almost all of the days.
I arrived at Oakridge around 2:00 PM. My hotel was in Greensboro. I decided to leave the bike in the camp site and take the shuttle to the hotel.
For any of you considering future "Mountain to Coast cycle NC" rides. I would recommend this to anyone as some of the hotels are nearly 8-10 miles from the camp site and most of the daily rides do not pass the hotel.
By the way Cycle NC transports your luggage from one hotel to the other. During registration, you get a baggage tag as shown below.
Day 3 had the most miles (~ 74 miles) and it felt extra long. I started in Oakridge and arrived in Carrboro. The hotel was near Chapel Hill and I took advantage of the diverse cuisine available near the University.
I started day 4 on a rough note. First I fell down right at the start of the ride and then shortly thereafter some insect sting me in the head with tremendous ferocity about a few miles into the ride. A fellow rider was kind enough to stop by and check in on me.
These two incidents with poor night of sleep presented a challenge in both mental and physical terms for the first 20 miles till I arrived at the rest stop (Durham Bulls stadium near downtown Durham)
After getting thru that portion of the ride, things took a better turn as we rode for the next several miles in what appeared to be a trail(American Tobacco Trail) without the presence of any motorized vehicles.
After riding in the American Tobacco trail for a short duration the ride then seemed to wind its way from one street to another street in what can only be aptly described as the all pervasive suburban crawl that has limited distinguishing characteristics from the suburbs of Northern Virginia (where I reside) or from that matter from any other suburban landscape.
Thankfully after some time the ride entered another trail and this portion of the ride bought some much needed respite from the blah...blah....blah.
Here are some more sights from what appears to be the Mingo creek trail.
After a much needed massage in Knightsdale on Day 4 I felt that I was like in better shape for Day 5. This day was significantly warmer than previous days and as on previous days, I started early.
We passed thru many farms during the ride and here are the sights and sounds of the one farms that we passed by on Day 5 of the ride.
I arrived in Wilson at around 2:00 PM.
Day 6 was a mostly uneventful day as I rode from Wilson to Kinston.
Finally Day 7 arrived and the first 20 miles of the ride went by rather quickly as this was the first stretch of the entire ride from Jefferson that I was riding with a few other folks for an extended duration.
By these times one of the common sights that I kept passing by was the cotton farm.
Finally I arrived in Swansboro at around 12:45 PM.
After a short while I proceeded to Emerald Isle where I concluded my journey. 30 minutes later I left for Washington DC and arrived in DC at 730 PM, just in time to see my daughter getting ready for her first home coming.
For the fall of 2018(Mid October 2018), I have shortlisted the following bike rides for consideration:
Ride #1 - Cedar City,UT --> Tempe,AZ (Grand Canyon Connector)
Cedar City --> Rockville --> Kanab -->Marble Canyon -->Cameron --> Grand Canyon Village --> Flagstaff --> Paulden --> Wickenburg --> Tempe
(532 miles)
Ride#2 - Buffalo,NY-->Chicago,IL
Buffalo --> Erie -->Painsville -->Kipton-->Maumee-->Pleasant Lake -->South Bend --> Gary -->Chicago
(568 miles)
Ride#3 Buffalo,NY to Burlington,VT (Erie Canal Bike ride ...)
Buffalo-->Rochester-->Syracuse-->Little Falls-->Albany-->Lake George-->Middlebury-->Burlington
(586 miles)
The ride will be a self supported ride similar to my previous ride from Washington DC to Pittsburgh last year.
Signing off until next posting.. Adios, Bye Bye, Auf wiedersehen...
WOW!!! Whatta breath taking views!!!
ReplyDeleteNice to read your blog and 450 (~500) miles is not at all easier to bike... I'm sure you put on lot of efforts, hours of training and so on... Awesome Sathya!!!
Looks like, you enjoyed the nature better than your ride :)