I begin every morning by evaluating the weather in my current location and intended destination.  Today’s evaluation was disconcerting.  Winds are forecast to be heavier than normal for the next two days, and morning feels-like temperatures will be in the low 30’s.  And, oh by the way, the climbing profiles get higher by the day.

I was motivated by the opportunity to cross into Virginia, getting ever closer to home.  So I decided to press on.

I surprised myself with my leg’s ability to handle today’s hills.  I did have to downshift more frequently.

In previous days, I’ve held back on going all out so that I could have sufficient reserve to get to my destination after fatigue set in.  Today was a turning point, giving me the confidence to know that I could cycle all out for longer distances.  No more need to hold back!

Yellow and Black Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterflies seemed to enjoy today’s winds, gliding across the roads in front of me.  Whenever I stopped for a water break, a few seemed attracted to my bright yellow helmet as they made cautious approaches to me.  It’s often the simple things that make bicycle touring such a joy!

Through many miles of rural cycling, I observed many stately looking homes as well as scores of dilapidated and abandoned homes.  A few of the latter had their own sense of history and beauty, such as this one:

This sign, located on a very remote farm road, warmed my heart:

Today’s tally: 62 miles

This morning is cool, in the mid-40’s.  Winds are from the north at 8 sustained 20 gusts.  My route says that hills today are more substantial than previous days.

I cycled through historic small towns such as Hookerton and Maury.  Because of the greater number and height of the hills (and riding against the wind), I took many more breaks. Climbing hills against the wind is double the fun from a fitness perspective.  But my legs handled the moderate hills with relative ease.

I didn’t stop to take any pictures today.  I did capture this video of my biking flag:

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Frankly, today was what cyclists would call a hard ride.  I was glad when it was over.

Today’s tally: 63 miles.

Today’s winds were forecast to be 8 mph sustained with 18 gusts building to 15 sustained and 27 gusts. This forecast tends to stifle any cyclist’s enthusiasm.  But I had places to go and people to see!

The trip was planned at 46 miles but I took some short cuts on main roads.  Much of my route was sans medians but traffic was light.  Here’s the typical farm road along the route (note the clouds):

As shown above, the day was partially cloudy.  There were very sharp-edged shadows of the clouds on the road.  I noticed that the cloud shadows were passing me at about three times my speed of advance.  The winds were zooming along, fortunately mainly in my direction of travel.

Heavy rain was forecast beginning at 4 pm.  So I sped through the journey arriving at my destination at noon. I hung out at a local McDonald’s until check-in time.  I entered my hotel room at 3 pm just as the heaven’s opened up.  The rain continued through the night.

Once again, unstable WiFi forced me to suspend attempts to update this blog.

Today’s tally: 42 miles.

I took a day off at the home of a former USCGC GLACIER shipmate, Bill Kelsey.  Bill and Lora are dear friends and were phenomenal hosts for allowing me a chance to rest and recover:

Today I enjoyed a mostly wind-aided ride to Jacksonville. I passed mainly farms, rural homes, and a few new housing developments that appeared to be out of place in their rural setting.

The first water stop I encountered was 62 miles into the ride.  Fortunately I carried extra water to eliminate worrying about running out. But what a difference a cold bottle of water can make to a weary cyclist:|

During today’s ride, the scent of pine trees was most pleasant.  And I was occasionally showered by falling dogwood petals and strands of oak tree pollen.  For the entire journey to date, I haven’t experienced any allergies.

I had one episode of gnats swarming around me.  Other than being pesky, the biggest problem is that they get stuck to my generous coating of suntan lotion.

I noticed that I was climbing more and more each day.  Even so, I was amazed that I covered the journey in only six hours.

Today’s tally: 73 miles

I was excited this morning about my ride to Wilmington.  Wind was forecast to be unhelpful but I felt ready for the challenge.

When I arrived at Elwell Ferry, one of the last 3-cable ferries in North Carolina, I was the only vehicle in the queue.  Vehicles must honk their horn to signal to the ferry operator on the other side.  My bell just didn’t cut it.  Fortunately, a car pulled up shortly afterwards.  I informed the two ladies about the horn protocol and it worked.  We could see someone exit a building on the opposite side of the Cape Fear River to bring the ferry over:

Because I had endured a few consecutive days of long miles, I was pushing the limits on my physical fatigue.  I took opportunities to take occasional breaks, especially at places of workshop like Trinity AME Zion Church:

I also passed a national park:

I fought winds for the final third of my trek before I arrived at home of my USCGC GLACIER shipmate, Bill Kelsey. I deeply appreciate he and Lora for putting me up (and putting up with me!).

Today’s tally: 82 miles

The morning was cool.  I expected headwinds as I began heading east towards Wilmington.

I encountered yet another closed road so I shifted to automobile mode.  While the main roads were reasonably safe, I got tired of “dancing with the big rigs” so I shifted back to the bicycle route after being satisfied that I was well past the closed road.

It was a pleasant ride through farmland and small towns.

The town of Marion had a really nice path:

And I continued to chat with animals along the way. I just wish I had packed some apples to share:

The wind was kinder than expected but gusts picked up as the day wore on.

I arrived at the motel in time to be inspired by the Artemis II launch.

Today’s tally: 82 miles

My legs felt more rested as compared to yesterday morning.  Winds were favorable.

This first picture is from my crossing of Lake Marion on a dedicated pedestrian/bicycling bridge:

I ran across a church with fascinating old-time architecture.  As I took a closer look, I discovered some rich history:

The last picture is some of the many herds of cows.  Cows and horses seem fascinated with touring cyclists.  They stop whatever they are doing and come over to the fence line to say moo or neigh.

I experienced one notable  dog chase, this time as I was climbing a hill.  Without the ability to speed away, I simply talked kindly to the two dogs and they became friendlier.  Nice dogs!

Finally, I encountered a bike trail that was no longer there due to a new industrial development.  The only option I had was to shift my e-map to the car route, which required me to bike through a cemetery.  I’m not a fan of doing this so I said a silent prayer as I passed the gravesites.

Today’s tally: 75 miles

Last night, I caught up with a Coast Guard colleague by phone: Captain Shawn Lansing, who is Commander of Sector Charleston.  Shawn and I cycled together when I was on active duty.  It was great to catch up with him.

After yesterday’s long ride, my legs were still a bit fatigued today.  Fortunately, winds were calmer today until later in the afternoon.  And traffic was very light… for much of the ride I was the only one on the road.  And most of the roads did not have bicycling lanes or medians.

My first challenge today involved unleashed dogs.  I had a trio of dogs pursue me. One large, one medium, and one small.  As I rode on, I talked very nicely to the large dog—a pit bull—and it began wagging its tail.  The medium dog followed suit.  The pocket dog—clearly the alpha of the pack—keep pursuing me but didn’t try to bite.

Later in the ride, a pack of seven or eight dogs came running at me.  Most seemed vicious by nature so I used my command voice to try to keep them off of me.  They surrounded me on both sides but I kept my cool and continued to yell.  After almost a quarter of a mile, I heard a loud pitch emanating from one of the dog’s collars and could hear their owner yelling.  Apparently that was a signal for the dogs to return home to which they reluctantly complied.

Other than dogs, I saw horses, cows, goats, and chickens.  And I snuck up on a few wild turkeys grazing near the medians.

Also, I experienced a few swarms of biting flies.  It’s amazing how they can buzz around me while I’m going along at 15 miles per hour.  I was only bitten once.  Their bite is instantly painful and the welt lasts for several days.  Guess it’s better than getting bit by a dog!

My second challenge was a 3-mile gravel road.  I am always leery on gravel because the sharp edges can puncture a tire. And smaller gravel gets spun in between the tires and the metal fenders, creating a distinctive high pitched pinging sound that so annoying.  And dust covers the bike, which isn’t helpful to the drive train.

Touring cyclists look for signs of upcoming urban development.  Water towers have become my friends:

I couldn’t figure out what these houses were used for.  They were located in the middle of nowhere.  I assume that they’re some type of worker accommodations?

Self portrait:

Today’s tally: 52 miles

Today’s winds were in my favor for most of the day.  The challenge was the heat. As the air temperature rose into the mid-80’s, the pavement temperature climbed ever higher.  My bike computer sensor reflects what can be interpreted as pavement temperature and I watched it climb to over 107 degrees (see the lower left hand number):

I never felt that hot but did take more frequent water breaks.

My computer also provides critical weather alerts.  During the ride, it kept flashing “gale warning” to me.  I didn’t note anything in my weather scan during the previous night, so I ignored the warning during the ride.

Today was another day of narrow median strips.  This picture provides a sense of the challenge.  Steering a narrow lane on a racing bike is a cinch.  Steering a narrow lane on a touring bike while carrying forty pounds of saddle bags is a chore:

Even so, I was able to act more like a tourist on today’s ride:

I also took note of the swamplands, and endless fields of wildflowers. I also noticed majestic oaks growing very close to major state highways. I couldn’t help but salute the highway engineers for their wise stewardship decision.

Speaking of the swamp, I avoided making water stops in these areas after experiencing a siege by thirsty mosquitoes.  And I encountered a baby snake crossing my median into open traffic. I chose not to render any assistance because the critter had a diamond-shaped head, indicating that it was most likely poisonous.

I also learned about an amazing solution to minimize the presence of roadkill, having encountered numerous flocks of vultures. They perform a gruesome service but are fascinating to watch as they jump out of the way of oncoming traffic and then immediately return to the task at hand.

As I got closer to Darian, traffic was dominated by large tractor trailer trucks characteristic of a major port city.  My route tried to take me off-road but here’s what I encountered at the beginning of an 11-mile unpaved trail:

I didn’t want to take the chance that the trail would become impassable so I decided to join the trucks.  It was a good decision and the truckers were very accommodating since my median eventually disappeared.

When I arrived at the hotel, I scanned my weather apps and found out that the gale warnings were clearly evident for the next day.  I made the difficult decision to take a rest day, knowing that those forecasted winds would serve to nearly break my spirit over the anticipated 80+ mile ride.

I made sure that I could stay another night.  Adapt and overcome!

During my extended stay in Port Wentworth, I connected with a good friend and former shipmate from our time in the office of the Coast Guard Deputy Commandant for Mission Support.  I enjoyed a splendid outing with Brian Staudt and his family. They were so gracious in flexing their schedule to accommodate me!

Today’s tally: 70 miles