Author Archives: Sarah
Northbound, for Alaska
Warm and sunny weather has finally arrived in Portland, and Dallas and I are on our way to Alaska, where it’s
Our shaky attempt to ride the tandem around the block
currently snowing. We hosted a potluck with our friends who had hosted us, and everyone has stunned me with their generosity. I must say that this is a great group of friends, and while I’m excited to be finally on our way to something new, I am a bit sad to leave such wonderful people. During our last week in Portland without our bikes, our friend John Benenate provided us with a tandem to borrow. Even friends who couldn’t make it to say goodbye gave us donations so we could replace our stolen bikes sooner than ever. We are well on our way to doing that, thanks mostly to Dallas’s friends and family!
We will be spending the remainder of our weekend in Juneau before boarding a ferry on Monday morning for Skagway. Hopefully the weather will warm up rapidly so we can enjoy the last frontier!
Missing: Two Touring Bicycles
I write this post with both sadness and hopefulness.
On our last day in New Orleans last year (in May of 2012) we celebrated by going out to a bar. Our bikes were just outside and a few doors down. When I went to check on them, I noticed someone standing over them. As I approached him, I realized the man was attempting to steal our bikes by twisting a broom handle that he had stuck in between the cable lock and the bike frames. I confronted the man, who looked both drunk and homeless.
“What are you doing with our bikes?”
“These bikes? These aren’t your bikes.” He lied.
“Ummm…yes. That’s my bike, and that’s my helmet!” I retorted, pointing at the helmet that he was wearing backwards on his grimy head of long, tangled grey hair.
He finally decided against messing with me any further and stumbled away.
Having my bike stolen was one of my biggest fears about living in New Orleans. We made it until our last night without incidence, and I was lucky enough to divert the one feeble attempt that was made to take our bikes from us. Unfortunately, it was in Portland that our bicycles were successfully stolen. Unless of course, our bikes had overheard Dallas considering buying a new bike and decided to run away together before I got the same idea. I can only hope they are together and being treated respectfully, wherever they are, and that they are not too afraid.
Opus Largo with green frame, brown handlebar tape and saddle and army green handlebar bags, and BianchiVolpe with black frame, Terry Liberty saddle and white handlebar tape – both bikes have steel frames and spd pedals.
We were on our way back home from visiting Dallas’s mom in Oregon City, and stopped at REI. Our bikes were locked up together on the bike rack outside of REI, and we left them alone for maybe an hour, while we browsed the store and ate a quick meal next door. Walking back to the bike rack, I did not see any wheels sticking out. That’s when my heart sank in my chest, and we saw the cleanly cut lock on the ground by the rack. Fortunately, Portland does have good public transportation, and we were able to get home within 40 minutes and only one connection from the MAX to a bus. But I felt a bit of shamefulness having to walk to the MAX in our bike shoes, helmet in hand, with no bikes. I started thinking of all the things that I could have done differently to prevent our bikes from being stolen, and I felt as if it were my fault. We shouldn’t have stopped at REI. We should have taken the ride that Dallas’s step-father had offered us back home. We should have locked our bikes somewhere else, or gone back to check on them between shopping and eating. But in reality, there’s no way I could have known, and of course it’s too late to change what has happened.
Dallas and I are looking on craigslist, ebay, pawn shops and bike shops in hopes of recovering our lost bicycles. But in the end, we cannot complete our goals without bikes, and we may just have to break down and get new ones. This gives us an opportunity for something good to come out of it, and perhaps we can strike up a partnership with a bicycle company that would be interested in sponsoring us. We are totally open to ideas. In our current circumstance, we will probably end up riding whatever we can find on a budget.
A few months away from rainy Portland
On the eve of my departure from Portland I lay awake thinking about everything that has happened since our arrival. I was feeling incredibly sad that I would be leaving Dallas for two weeks, but at the same time I was excited to go back to New Orleans and hopefully recover a bit financially. My alarm clock rang to wake me up before I ever fell asleep. It was going to be a tiresome trip.
St Louis Cathedral at Jackson Square is all lit up for the Super Bowl
New Orleans was colder than I would have liked it to be, but the spirit in the city was just picking up for the Superbowl and Mardi Gras. I came just at the right time to start pedicabbing at the height of the tourist season. It did warm up considerably after a few weeks, and Dallas joined me for a month before going back to Portland. I had planned to fly back to Portland on the same day as Dallas, but I ended up passing up my flight to stay longer and enjoy a visit from my dad. My pedicab license actually expired on my birthday, so instead of pedicabbing in New Orleans, I carpooled with my friend Ryan over to Austin, where my pedicab license was still valid for another year.
Biking around Austin on a sunny day
Austin was warm and sunny during the days, but dropped to cooler temperatures once the sun disappeared for the night. I arrived a few days before SXSW, the festival that attracts thousands of people to the city each year. I didn’t want to work as hard as I had last year, but I needed to work enough to make up for the expense of being there. At this point, I had bought another plane ticket to go back to Portland and see Dallas, but it was three days before the festival ended, and I would have had to miss out on two of the best nights for pedicabbing. I also wasn’t looking forward to leaving the lovely weather to go to a place where I would be mostly alone, unemployed, and uncomfortably cold. I decided at the last minute not to take my flight, and instead stay in Austin until the end of March.
Mayan ruins of Tulum
After SXSW was over, I got in touch with my friend Dainy (D), another nomadic free spirit who showed up both in New Orleans and Newport while bouncing around between other various locations. She had been in Austin for SXSW and was planning to drive to Mexico that day with her roommate, John, from New Orleans. After thinking over her invitation for a few minutes, I decided to join them. A few hours later, the three of us were driving south in her car, headed for Monterrey. We arrived around 4am, where Perla, a couchsurfer in Monterrey, so kindly let us stay on her couches. She even made us pancakes and drove us to the airport in the morning, where we caught a discount flight to Cancun. From there, we took a bus to Playa del Carmen and spent 4 days exploring beaches, cenotes (underwater caves), and Mayan ruins in Tulum. D’s friend from Mexico City, Stephen, joined us in Playa and introduced us to some of his friends as well. Once back on the bus to the airport, D decided to stay in Mexico and actually stopped the bus driver to get off at the next stop. Back in Monterrey, John and I were met by Karina, another couchsurfer that D had arranged to host us. Being the only two ‘gringos’, she easily recognized us and took us to an awesome barbecue at her friend’s house. This was the most memorable night of my time in Mexico, since it was more authentic than eating at a restaurant in a tourist town, and the people were amazingly welcoming and friendly. I still find it amusing that Mexican meals always seem to include the same foods, and this barbecue was no exception. Tacos made with fresh corn tortillas, meat, cheese, and spicy salsa. We stayed at Karina’s house that night, and her mom fed us breakfast (similar to the barbecue, but with eggs too) the next morning before we drove back to Austin in D’s car.
Me, Karina’s mom, John, and Karina before leaving Monterrey
Driving back, the line at the border was so long, and the sun was so hot, that the car overheated and the radiator leaked. We noticed this after smelling something burning and seeing smoke rising from the hood. Mexicans are very resourceful, and there were plenty of guys walking around all the cars waiting in line, selling various goods. I kind of wanted to ask if any of them were handy with fixing overheated car engines. We eventually made it to the front of the line, but had to keep turning the engine off and back on again to move forward a space (people would cut us in line if we left more than half a car’s length of space between us and the car in front). I think border crossings should all be at the bottom of a slight decline, so cars can all turn off their engines and coast down the line. Either that, or do something to make the line move faster! The officer who inspected our car did not seem surprised that our engine had overheated, nor did he offer any help with our situation. We did manage to find a shaded area to park once we crossed into Laredo, and after letting the engine cool down I was able to refill the coolant without it leaking again. A mechanic at Sears told us that it’s very common for cars to overheat while waiting at the border. I think there has got to be a solution to prevent this from being a common occurrence.
Oldest tree in Roger Williams Park, Providence, RI
I enjoyed the warm weather and company of friends in Austin for a few more days before flying to Providence to visit family for a week. I also reconnected with some good friends from home and started to get back into a regular running routine. I finally flew to Portland at the beginning of April to be back with Dallas. Apparently the weather wasn’t so bad while I was away, but the city greeted me with cold weather and persistent rain upon my arrival. That’s just when it started to warm up in Rhode Island too!
While we were in New Orleans, Dallas and I applied for and accepted jobs as bicycle tour guides in Skagway, Alaska. We will be leaving Portland at the end of April to spend the summer in Alaska. Our plan after that is to head south by bicycle towards Patagonia, with likely stops along the way to work and recover financially.
New Connections
In four months of living in Portland, the only job that I managed to get was a temporary position as a seasonal employee for the Columbia Sportswear outlet about 3 miles from where we lived. I started working there shortly before Thanksgiving, and quickly learned that retail jobs are not for me. After the first week or so, I was grateful for the little income it provided, but I was equally grateful that it was a temporary position. The hours of walking around and being on my feet were not a problem, but the lack of intellectual stimulation and challenge that I normally seek was wearing on me. I must say that I really liked my coworkers, who were mostly outdoorsy, active, and friendly people – an important element that can make or break job satisfaction.
Knowing that my job would eventually end, but not knowing when Dallas would be ready to leave Portland, I continued to search for and apply for jobs, ranging from bicycle delivery to food service to biological research jobs. I also continued to work out, despite the dismal climate. Instead of running or bicycling outside, I was mostly cycling to the nearby community center to go swimming. I was receiving no positive feedback from the outside world regarding any of my job inquiries and was starting to lose hope about being in Portland. Then, one night after my swim, as I was getting ready to leave the community center, came a sign that maybe there was something for me in Portland afterall.
A man rolled up in a wheelchair and started talking to me as I was about to leave, complimenting me on my swimming. My reaction? Who, me?? This guy must have me confused with someone else. I’m a terrible swimmer. Surely, he can’t tell me apart from any of the other women in the pool when we’re all wearing swim caps. But he insisted that he saw me swimming laps and that I was a great swimmer. I engaged him in conversation briefly before leaving, and he revealed that he was a cycling coach with a team in Portland that rides every Sunday. He also leads rides for kids on Saturdays from the Boys and Girls Club in Northeast Portland. He sounded a lot like my friend, Dick, who started the US Open Cycling Foundation.
I told Dallas about my encounter with John Benenate when I got home, and he was intrigued as well. We agreed to meet at his house for breakfast that Saturday and join in on the kids ride to see what it was all about. When we arrived at John’s house on Saturday, we met Cody, who was cooking breakfast, and her daughter, Jasmine. John had a whole room of cycling gear and apparel that he encouraged us to pick from before we headed out in the freezing cold rain.
Cody, Jasmine, Dallas and I, at John’s house for breakfast before the kids ride
Riding in the rain
At the Boys & Girls Club, we met Tim, who was a regular on both weekend rides. Only two other kids were brave enough to show up for the 4 or 5 mile ride in the cold Portland rain. John gave Dallas, Cody, Tim and I radios to wear so we could hear him as he directed our ride from his station wagon. Jasmine, Blessing and Demario were outnumbered by “shepherds” as we all followed John through the city streets. For a stretch along the river, we rode in a paceline before heading back to the Boys & Girls Club. It was a slow, but rewarding ride, and the kids were still smiling when we made out way inside to thaw out.
This was the first ride of its kind for Dallas, and he was a natural. We both looked forward to helping out with more rides like this, and hopefully more kids. I had to work the next day, but Dallas joined John for the Sunday ride with his race team, Cyclisme. They rode about 40 miles through cold temperatures and intermittent downpours. Seeing Dallas’s refreshed face after work that evening, I could tell that these rides would provide a spark of energy for us throughout the depressing winter.
Dallas rides with the racing team
My schedule at Columbia seemed to exactly mirror Dallas’s schedule, in that I had to work during all the times that Dallas did not. We never really got a day off together, and I never got to ride with John’s team, aside from a Saturday women’s ride that he put together specifically taking my schedule into consideration. I was relieved to hear that my last day of work would be January 5th, but my outlook for earning any income was bleak. Spending my weekdays alone in a home that houses 6 other people is a lonely feeling, and having to go to work when my best friend is actually home was wearing on my psyche. I had spent more of my savings than I was comfortable with and started to think about going back to New Orleans to recover some of my losses. The Super Bowl was going to be this season, right in the middle of Mardi Gras, and my pedicab license was free to renew – I just had to pick it up at the taxicab bureau.
Happy New Year, from Portland!
I didn’t have the time or money to visit my family for the holidays, but I did get to meet Dallas’s family on his father’s side. Unfortunately, we both spent half of our time in California crippled with food poisoning. Shortly after returning to rainy Portland, I decided to go back to New Orleans. I would go for six weeks, and Dallas promised to visit me for a week while I was down there. However, a few days after I bought my ticket, Dallas, overcome with sadness, bought a one-way ticket to New Orleans. He would meet me two weeks after I arrived, and we would stay until we figured out our next move. I would have liked to train with John’s cycling team, but the timing wasn’t right. I am glad to have connected with him though, and plan to ride more seriously the next time I find myself in Portland (hopefully not during the winter!).
XTerra Trail Race Recap
Team Skora the day before the big race
I had seriously underestimated the difficulty of the XTerra Trail Running World Championship Race. Never had I encountered such steep terrain in a race of any distance, let alone a half marathon. Before any race, one of two things usually happens, sometimes both in the same race. 1) I have the feeling of total unpreparedness, and my biggest fear is coming in last place, or 2) I feel like maybe I have a chance of placing (and hopefully winning money) in the race, or at least placing in my age group. After looking at the times from last year, I seriously thought I might have a chance at placing. Only 15 women had finished in under 2 hours, and the first woman crossed the finish line in over an hour and a half. It was either a really non-competitive field or it was a really tough course. I should have known from the title of the race and the size of the prize purse that it would draw a competitive field, but I was in no way prepared for just how tough it would be.
One last group photo before we tear our legs up on the trail
If I do this race again (and I hope I do, some day), I will train by doing hill repeats up mountains at least once a week. Some parts of the race were so steep, just walking up was a challenge – my legs burning and breathing labored, I had to turn and walk sideways up some of those hills. The scenery was incredible, but I could hardly enjoy it, since I had to keep my eyes on the ground to avoid stumbling on a root or loose rock. I can’t wait to see the photos.
Dallas made the rest of us look bad by being the only one to finish in under 2 hours and crossing the finish line almost 20 minutes before anyone else on our team. Gerrit managed to pass me on one of the hills and beat me by almost 2 minutes. All six of us finished in under 3 hours, which may not be that impressive for any normal half marathon, but I am very proud of our team after conquering that course. The official results of the race can be found here: http://www.jtltiming.com/results/x-oahu-21k.html
My feet after the race – that’s not a tan line!
Needless to say, our Skora’s got us through this tough race. I wish I could say we remain injury-free, but 3 of us ended up hurting after the race. However, all injuries were sustained prior to race day and while not wearing Skoras. Gerrit had stepped on a nail at work a few weeks earlier, and his foot was sore from where the nail had pierced his heel. Travis had injured his knee the day before while riding the strong surf on Oahu’s north shore. Upon returning to Portland and visiting his doctor, he found out that he had torn his meniscus and ACL (but will not need surgery). I injured my hip flexor the night before, just walking to dinner (wearing Vibrams). Miraculously, the pain disappeared the instant the cannon went off to initiate the start of the race, but it’s back stronger than ever, and I can barely walk now.
Dallas and I break into a run during a hike on the Manoa Falls trail
As much as Dallas and I wanted to stay in Hawaii, it was not possible for us to find a way for it to work for us out there in the short time we had. We both hope to be back some day (maybe for another Xterra race?). Now we are back in Portland, saving up for the next big adventure!
Thank you to Skora, our first sponsor!
Happy Thanksgiving! Here’s a photo of my baklava, the way Grandma taught me to make it 🙂
I’ve been feeling inspired to write lately, but haven’t had much time since I finally started working. Now, I would first like to say that I hope all of our followers had a wonderful Thanksgiving, if you celebrate it. I made a broccoli/carrot salad with bacon, cashews, red onion and dried cranberries, Dallas made cranberry sauce, and I made baklava and pumpkin bread to add to the delicious food that the rest of our roommate and guests shared with us.
Meet Tara, the newest member of the household.
I was never a fan of Thanksgiving meals because I never liked turkey and wasn’t too fond of vegetables as a kid – I also think that it can’t be a good thing, environmentally, that every American household has to have a turkey one that one day of the year. I’m sure lots of turkey ends up going to waste…and the poor (or lucky?) birds are forgotten about for the rest of the year. However, I do enjoy the time this holiday gives us to spend with family and friends. While this year I am unfortunately missing my family, I feel incredibly lucky to have good friends and an amazing boyfriend. I certainly wasn’t expecting to find love when I set out on my bicycle last year, but I couldn’t be happier with Dallas and am so thankful that I get to share my life with him!
Gerrit, Alyssa, Michaelangelo, Dallas, Travis and me at the Skora office with our new gear!
Anyway, the biggest news in our lives since I last updated this site is that we now have a sponsor! It’s not specifically for our bike tour (although, maybe it could be one day), but it does fit our lifestyle perfectly in that they are a running shoe company. Skora is a new company based in Portland who came out with their first line of running shoes last year. Dallas, Gerrit and I came across their booth at the Portland Marathon expo in October, and all of us ended up buying shoes from them. After further communication with them, Skora agreed to sponsor six of us for the XTerra Trail Run World Championship that we plan to run in December this year. So last Tuesday, Dallas, Gerrit, Alyssa, Travis, Michaelangelo and I all met up with the guys at Skora, where they fitted each of us to a new pair of shoes and t-shirts. We’re all very excited to represent Skora at the race, which will be in Hawaii on December 2nd – we also look forward to extending our relationship with them into the future! They are great shoes – very light and minimalist, and we think they’d be perfect for taking with us on our bike tour.
A much needed update – Portland, Oregon!
A detour through the Tillamook Forest on the way to the Oregon coast
I apologize for neglecting this website for so long. When I’m not actually bicycle touring, I don’t think there’s much point to writing on here, but I know that some people have been curious about where we are now and what we are doing (and when we are planning to hit the road again!). I will add some more posts to fill in the details about the summer later, but for now I will write about where I am right now.
After pedicabbing in Newport for the summer, Dallas and I purchased a one-way flight to Portland, Oregon. We flew directly from Boston to Portland on September 11th, and we plan to stay here until the end of the year.
Camping on Mount Hood
While Dallas was able to get to work immediately on a construction project remodeling an apartment building, I spent the next 6 weeks looking for a job. It wasn’t easy, but fortunately the weather stayed nice for a while before the rain moved in. I printed out a bunch of resumes and biked around town for days, dropping resumes off, mostly at bike shops. I also spent a fair amount of time performing online searches and applying for gigs on craigslist. It took nearly 2 months before I finally landed a seasonal position at the Columbia Sportswear outlet in Sellwood, just a few miles from where I live (and all downhill).
Dallas crushing the Portland Marathon
Dallas and I ran the Portland Marathon on October 7th, and Dallas impressed me with his time of 3:32:14. I’d like to see Paul Ryan beat that! In his first marathon, Dallas ran faster than I have ever run a marathon. He’s definitely a keeper.
One thing I noticed about Portland, which is one of the only platinum level bicycle cities, is that everyone here is pretty good at bicycling. There’s a whole network of bike paths and lanes throughout the city, and the local cyclists (of which there are thousands) zip by with purpose at intimidating speeds. During the morning rush hour, cyclists stream towards downtown dressed in cool rain gear and all carrying some sort of cycling bag either on their backs or bike racks. I have honestly never seen so many cyclists in this country and so many fast bicycle commuters in any city (including Amsterdam). I’m not used to being passed on my bicycle by other cyclists, but during my first few weeks in Portland I had trouble keeping up with most cyclists of all ages and genders.
View from the trail that goes up to the top of Multnomah Falls
Aside from the predominantly cold and rainy weather, I have enjoyed living in Portland. It has a great outdoor culture, and accommodates runners and all sorts of outdoorsy people in addition to bicycle commuters. Our roommate, Gerrit, has been generous to lend us his car on occasions when we want to get out of town – and usually he will go with us. We’ve been trail running in Washington and Multnomah Falls, camping on Mount Hood, and most recently ran a trail race in Eugene.
Photo from the dress rehearsal of Marat/Sade
Before I was hired at Columbia, I was in search of gigs I could do through craigslist. I ended up putting the pocket trumpet I bought in New Orleans to good use and performing in a play, The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade (Marat/Sade, for short). Having never played trumpet for anything before, I was nervous, but the show went well. Being part of the play inspired me to audition as a singer for a Winter Solstice performance, but I did not get called back for that.
Also since moving to Portland, Dallas and I decided to audition for the Amazing Race. We had our friend, Justin, help us put together the video for our application, which you can see here:
James and his mom, Jo, before departing Portland on their bike tour up to Bellingham, Washington
We have had friends visit us here in Portland, which is always fun. Dallas’s friend, Linus, and his friend Vito, came to town for work one weekend and cooked us fettuccine Alfredo with veggie sausages. My friend, Ashley, came down from Vancouver, BC with a bunch of friends for a weekend. One of Dallas’s friends, James, who he met while cycling down the coast before he came to New Orleans, was bicycling up the coast with his mom, who was on her first bike tour. They stayed for 2 or 3 days, and explored the city while it rained the entire time – and James made incredible Bengali lentil soup.
We were all Happy Fangs Stars for Halloween – Jayson, Doug, Adam, Gerrit, Taassin, me and Dallas lying in a pile during our Halloween party
My friend, Adam, from Rhode Island, was visiting during Halloween, and we made him a costume like ours. We searched for a place to buy cheese curds so he could make poutine, but had to resort to buying poutine at one of the food trucks. And most recently, Duffy and Kara, friends from New Orleans, stopped in for a few days on their way to a job that was waiting for them in California. Kara cooked delicious vegetable soup and made salad, which she served with bread and ginger snap cookies for dessert. To any friends who are reading this, you are more than welcome to come visit as long as you give us a bit of notice to make sure we’ll be home – and cook us dinner one night! (Dinner is not required, but always appreciated).
Happy Holidays from Lowenbad!
Dallas has reunited with his band, Lowenbad, and will be playing a show on December 14th at a bar called Scandals. I may get to play trumpet or trombone in a few songs! (We picked up a trombone on craigslist for only $25). If you are in the area, it’s worth checking out.
We plan to leave in the spring on our bicycles and head for South America. I will try to update again before we leave Portland, but for now, I think I’ve caught y’all up to everything we’ve been doing here!
Pea Island to Virginia Beach to NYC
Dallas on a sand dune by our camp site
Tuesday was a long day. Dallas and I were hoping to catch the sun rise on the beach that morning, so Dallas had set his alarm for some crazy hour before 6am. I think we missed the sunrise, although I dreamt that we were watching it from our tent. It poured for a few minutes before we emerged from the tent, and then rained again on us while we were packing everything up.
It remained drizzly as we approached Oregon Inlet, and the bridge was long and terrifying, with a small shoulder and large, fast-moving vehicles that passed too close for comfort. We stopped just on the other side of the bridge at a Coast Guard station, where we rinsed sand off of our bikes and refilled on water. The day was going to be a race to stay ahead of the tropical storm that was headed in our direction.
Bodie Island Lighthouse
Just a few miles beyond the Coast Guard station was a public beach with showers, so we stopped there to clean ourselves off. The sky continued to alternate between sun and rain, sometimes both at the same time. Just 3 miles before reaching our first food stop of the day, Dallas got a flat tire. We stopped so he could repair it, and it started to rain on us again. It was almost noon when we finally arrived at the Waverider Coffee and Deli in Nags Head, just 13 miles from where we started early that morning. Dallas’s tire wasn’t staying seated properly on the wheel, so he had to fix that a few times before we could move on.
Wright Brothers National Memorial, with the storm approaching from the southwest
Since diverting our route to leave the island via the Wright Memorial Bridge, we were hoping to catch a ferry in Currituck to Knott’s Island. The last ferry left at 5:45pm and was 48 miles from where we ate lunch. We thought we could make it if we maintained 15 mph, which was definitely possible with the help of the tailwind. The rain ruined that possibility for us when we ducked into another ice-cream shop just before the bridge in order to stay dry. We also took a detour to check out the Wright Brothers National Memorial, on the hill where Orville and Wilbur did most of their test glides and were credited with the first flight in December of 1903. It started raining on us again as soon as we climbed to the top of the hill, but there was an excellent view of the ocean.
The bridge taking us to the mainland was also long and terrifying and littered with debris, but at least there was a wide shoulder. It seemed to take forever to cross this bridge, as we were met with strong headwinds. The traffic did not die down when we made it to the other side, but the road was smooth and the shoulder we were riding on remained wide. It was here when Dallas and I decided to start looking for a ride the rest of the way to Virginia Beach. We still had over 65 miles to go and it was supposed to rain all day on Wednesday. If we didn’t make it to Virginia Beach that night, we would be stuck riding in the storm. There was an overnight bus leaving Virginia Beach every night at 12:30 taking people to New York City. We probably could have made it by midnight if we keep cycling, but it wouldn’t be wise to be on the road for so long after dark, and we would have gone well over 100 miles if we had ridden all the way to Virginia Beach.
Me, Barry and Dallas in front of the first bus company we tried
When we stopped at a gas station between Jarvisburg and Grandy, we were fortunate enough to receive a ride offer from a man who was on his way to Chesapeake. Barry helped us to fit our bikes and panniers in the back of his truck and even dropped us off at the bus “station” where we planned to leave for NYC.
The guy at the bus station said we wouldn’t be able to bring our bikes on the bus, contrary to what the woman told Dallas over the phone when he phoned them to inquire about this. A woman who overheard the conversation informed us of three other bus companies we could choose from, all of which have daily service between VA Beach and NYC. We decided to eat first since we were both starving, and then biked over to the cheapest bus company. This bus was sold out for both their 11pm and 11:59pm departures, so we went to another bus line, which was more expensive but boasted free wifi and electric outlets on board. However, when we got on the bus, they broke the bad news that their bus with the electric outlets and wifi was in the shop and we were going to ride the 7 hours on a regular bus. At least we didn’t have to find a place to sleep that night. Dallas and I arrived in New York City just after 6am on May 30th, where we will likely stay until we find a ride to Rhode Island. The bike tour is over for now while we work and save money over the summer.
Frisco (on Hatteras Island) to Pea Island
Oh, good morning! And happy birthday, Dallas!
The mosquitoes had mostly disappeared by the morning, but we did find a few ticks while packing up our tent. We went back to the cafe we had stopped in the night before, Captain Beaner Bakery, to eat breakfast and publish the blogs that I had written but hadn’t had a chance to upload yet. Dallas and I both found more ticks on ourselves while changing in the bathroom. I finally caught up on my blogging and looked over to see Dallas reading about ticks on his phone. I’m afraid the fear of these insects is consuming his every waking thought.
Dallas and me in front of Cape Hatteras Lighthouse
Despite rising early, we didn’t leave the cafe until after noon. From there, we rode east and checked out the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. We rode north with the wind for the rest of the day, effortlessly maintaining a pace above 20 mph. Our first stop after the lighthouse was to go swimming on the beach. A Food Lion employee told us we could get free showers at a pool just down the road, so we chose to swim at the beach across from the pool. A group of vacationers hanging out in their own pool offered that we store our bikes under their rental home after watching us struggle to carry them up a few stairs to the first landing of the boardwalk. After our short swim (the ocean was too seaweedy today) we rode over to Club Hatteras, where we swam in the pool for a bit and we able to shower, all for free.
We ate lunch at a deli in the Food Lion plaza, where another man told us what to expect up ahead before we continued on our way north. He recommended a few food and ice-cream places and told us that we would be unable to leave the Outer Banks the way we were hoping to go, straight through False Cape State Park in Virginia. Instead, we would have to get off via the Wright Memorial Bridge in Kitty Hawk. This was good advice, since we wouldn’t have discovered that we couldn’t get through until we had gone more than 20 miles beyond the bridge.
Dallas and Alex on Route 12
Just before reaching the first ice-cream shop that was recommended, we passed another touring cyclist going in the opposite direction. His name is Alex, and we stopped and talked to him for a while. Alex was the first touring cyclist we ran into since leaving New Orleans, and the only one I have ever come across in my travels so far. We exchanged advice for the miles ahead of us before parting ways.
Setting sun behind the Oregon Inlet Bridge
We resumed our fast pace northward until 7pm, when Dallas recommended we start searching for camping spots so we don’t get stuck in the dark. This put us just before the Oregon Inlet bridge to the next island. We were hoping to make it to Nag’s Head that day, but didn’t want to go over the busy bridge while the sun was so low, so we set up camp about a mile before the bridge amongst the large sand dunes, between the road and the ocean. An hour or so after trying to fall asleep, we got up and moved the tent in an attempt to prevent more sand from blowing in and burying us in our sleep.
Ocracoke to Hatteras, NC
The ferry ride to Ocracoke was 2 and a half hours long. I caught up on my blogging while Dallas caught up on sleep. He was probably dreaming about mosquitoes.
On the ferry from Cedar Island to Ocracoke
After arriving on Ocracoke Island, we rode a short distance to Flying Melon Cafe, where we shared a delicious brunch. Right off the ferry there is a small village area that is dense with cafes, restaurants, and ice-cream shops. The best part about beach towns is that there’s no shortage of ice-cream shops. After this strip, there is only one road that goes to the other end of the island, where we catch the free ferry to Hatteras. This road is devoid of any structures at all – no shops, restaurants, houses…nothing. There is a nice bike path that runs as far as the campground, and after that there is a wide shoulder to ride on for another 5 miles or so to the beach. After the beach, there is just a narrow road the rest of the way to the ferry, where there is little else aside from a few vending machines and bathrooms.
Strong waves on the beach in Ocracoke
Dallas and I rode the 14 miles to the other end of Ocracoke at a leisurely pace, enjoying the flat and scenic ride with minimal traffic. There is driving allowed on the beach, so maybe that’s where all the vehicles were. Most of the trucks driving by were carrying coolers and fishing poles, which were blatantly obstructing the view of the road for the drivers.
Seagulls following the ferry to Hatteras
The ferry to Hatteras is free and runs every half hour. It is only a 40 minute ride over shallow waters. Hatteras is a much bigger island than Ocracoke, but the selection of shops and restaurants we were met with upon exiting the ferry was meager in comparison. We rode a few miles to a beach, where we swam and rode the waves for a while and then showered in the public outdoor showers. The tap water around here smells and tastes horrible.
After cleaning up and drying off, we continued up the only road and ate dinner at the only restaurant on the map for miles. We both agreed that it was a terrible restaurant, but we didn’t have a lot of options and we were hungry. Further down the road we came across a cafe that wasn’t on the map, but it was open. The man inside said that they had just bought the place and were in their first week of business, which explains why we couldn’t see it on google maps. He told us we could camp in their back yard if we wanted, which we seriously considered before heading off to the campground nearby.
Upon entering the campground, a park ranger informed us that it costs $20 per night to camp there. She said we could ride around and pick out a site that we liked and then come back to tell her which one we wanted. We rode around the area, which was hilly from sand dunes and had some great views of the ocean, but neither of us wanted to pay $20 to camp out next to a bunch of other campers, including RVs and trucks. After leaving the campground but before reaching the main road, Dallas spotted a small trail leading away from the road. We decided to bring our bikes back there and find a place to camp for free. The mosquitoes were upon us as soon as we decided to take out our tent, so we hurried to set everything up and get inside. The next day (May 28th) is Dallas’s birthday…hopefully the bugs will leave him alone!
Nomadic Cycling 