Week 2

Dad was awoken on the morning of Thursday, October 10th, by a flash of lighting and thunder so loud that it shook the hotel.  Luckily, it stopped raining by the time he was ready to go.  There were many utility trucks on the road that day assessing the storm damage.  Water covered the road in many places and at one point there was a mile stretch that was under water.  It was so deep in one place, the water was in the middle of Dad's shin when he was standing on his bike and the pedal was at the bottom of the rotation. 

Cleaning sand off the road.

 Bill rode through a one mile stretch of flooded road later.   The water rose to the middle of his shin at one point.

When he got to his destination that afternoon, he couldn't find the campground, so he went to a motel that was charging $99/night (+ tax) and he didn't want to pay that much.  He found another motel that was $88/night (+ tax) and he decided to take a room.  As he went to the room, he found 4 steps that he didn't want to climb with his bike, as he was tired from a hard day of riding about 60 miles.  He went back and asked about a wheelchair accessible room.  The clerk at the front desk said he didn't have one; there was 1 room for disabled people, but not a wheelchair accessible room.  Dad was bothered and didn't want to patronize a hotel that didn't have a wheelchair accessible room, so he asked for his money back. 

He found out where the campground was and made his way over there passing another motel with a flooded parking lot.  The campground was also flooded.  He found a place that wasn't underwater to pitch his tent, but had to walk through water to get to the shower house, which was covered in water.

Flooded Campground

On Friday, October 11th, Dad only rode 27 miles, but covered a bit of distance as he rode two ferries.  The second ferry docked at about 3:30 p.m., where there was a motel.  The next campground was a bit far and since Dad was still tired and his tent and clothes were still went from the campground the night before, he decided to stay at the motel.

Ferry One

Ferry Two

Dad on Ferry Two.  Notice the beard starting to form.

He started riding before sunrise the next day and had his breakfast at a convenience store along the way.  He planned to stay at a Hampton Inn in Swansboro, North Carolina, but it was full due to the Mullet (Fish) Festival and a couple weddings, so the next closet available motel was in Jacksonville, another 17 miles away.  There were no campgrounds or choices closer to Swansboro, so Dad rode off to Jacksonville, logging a total of 83 miles that day.

On Sunday, the 13th, Dad decided to take a short cut off the Adventure Cycling bike route using US17, which ended up adding about 10 miles to his trip.  He got to an intersection where the sign said US 17 and US17 Business.  He didn't know which way to go.  He wanted to go through Wilmington and since US17 Business was not on his map and he didn't see any other signs, he continued on US17, only to find himself on Interstate 140 with a speed limit of 70 mph. There were no exits on his map or signs for Wilmington.  He didn't know where he was.  He went over the bridge for Cape Fear River, which on the map.  It showed that he was now south of Wilmington, so he thought he missed the town.  Soon after, Interstate 140 ended and he had to exit only to find himself on US17 again.  After a couple miles, he found a saying downtown ahead.  Confused, he went to a gas station and asked for directions to Wilmington.  He was told to take US17 Business. 

It ended up being a 72-mile day.  On top of being lost, Dad started to hear a clicking sound in his pedal area that he couldn't identify.  He was concerned that the flood waters from the previous day washed the grease out of some area causing the problem.  The odd thing was that it happened randomly.  He could hear it for 3 pedal strokes and then not for 2; hear it for 5, but then not for 3, and so on.  It was possible it was clicking the whole time, but since Dad doesn't hear well, he could only hear it when it was quiet; not when he was in traffic or when there was wind.  He decided to inquire about this the next chance he got.

On the 14th, Dad decided that US 17 was not good for cycling.  Besides the confusion from the day before, the traffic was fast at 55 mph and the shoulders were narrow.  But, he was on his way to visit his friend, Terry, so he stayed on that route.  After 47 miles of riding, he got to the campground early and enjoyed a leisurely afternoon setting up camp, enjoying the sunshine, and wandering around.  He has noticed that with the sunrise and sunset being around 6:30 respectively, he has about 12 hours of daylight.  When camping, that doesn't leave a lot of time for riding when he has to set up and breakdown camp.  He is going to start learning to be more efficient and prepare to work in the dark or twilight.

Tent without Rainfly

Tent with Rainfly

On the 15th, Dad discovered that US 17 has no shoulders in South Carolina and the traffic lanes are narrow, but it got him to the home of his friend, Terry.  He visited the South Carolina Welcome Center where he got a lot of information for his visit to Charleston.  Before meeting Terry, he stopped at a bike shop he researched where the bike mechanic couldn't hear the clicking sound.  His guess was that it had to do with they way his cleats were moving in the pedal and was nothing serious.

Dad arrived at Terry's house before she did.  The moment she got home, she asked Dad  to hop in the car and gave him a tour of the area.  She didn't seem to mind that Dad was stinky from riding all day and happily showed Dad around.  Dad has a great time catching up with Terry and another friend from his Japan days, Gaynelle, over wine at dinner.  Gaynelle lives close to Terry.  Terry is bright, has lots of energy and varied interests, so they all enjoyed good conversation and time together. 

Dad and Terry

Gaynelle

Dad continued to enjoy his time with Terry during his rest day on the 16th.  There is only 1 campground between Terry's place and Charleston and it is closed due to the government shutdown, so Dad has a 74-mile plus day ahead of him tomorrow.