April 30, 2017
Day 15: To Jacksonville, NC
I was up until 11 last night, so I slept late until 7:35. On the road before 9 AM. I had to backtrack 2 miles west to return to the Adventure Cycling route which goes northeast through suburban Wilmington. Past the airport and many subdivisions. It was a beautiful low-traffic Sunday morning ride until I got near the town of Hampstead. Then heavy traffic once again on US 17.
I stopped for lunch in Hampstead and had an egg bake. Never had that before-it must be an eastern thing. It was very good.
After a few miles I turned right onto NC 210 towards Surf City. Across another tall bridge to a barrier island.
Then several delightful miles through the beach towns of Surf City and North Topsail Beach. The towns have dense development but frequent driveways and crossroads cause the traffic to drive slowly. And it has a narrow paved shoulder.
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Today the weather is mostly cloudy in the morning. Around noon it looked like it might rain, but the sky cleared up late in the afternoon. The clouds made the temperature a bit cooler today. High of only 82F. Still super humid with a southeast wind.
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Just past North Topsail Beach NC 210 turns north, crossing a tall bridge to the mainland. The bridges across the Intracoastal Waterway top out at 70 feet above the water. The ship clearance is 60+ feet. The new bridges have a 4-6 foot shoulder which makes it safe to stop and take pictures.
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Traffic was heaviest in my direction. Everybody is driving home from the beach late on Sunday afternoon. Few people were driving towards the beach. I made a wrong turn from NC 210 onto Snead's Ferry road. That cost me 2 miles but I have plenty of time.
Busy NC 210 connects to even busier US 17. 15 miles to Jacksonville on a 4 lane divided highway with a wide shoulder. Heavy beach traffic but no trucks because it's Sunday.
The route from North Topsail Beach to Jacksonville is straight north so I had a brisk tailwind. The terrain is rolling hills-the hilliest terrain I saw during this tour. Some of the notable hills are man-made embankments for freeway overpasses. Somewhere near Jacksonville is the highest point of land on my route, 80 feet (24 m) above sea level. The hills are easy, mostly 2-3 percent grade.
Jacksonville is a depressing city. It doesn't look prosperous. It's not historic or scenic. It's the gateway town to Camp LeJeune Marine Corps base and New River Marine Corps Air Station. Totally a military town. 60,000 people work at Camp LeJeune.
Cyclists were allowed to pedal through Camp LeJeune before September 11, 2001. Now cyclists must make a dreary 60 mile inland loop around the base. Perhaps you can still go through if you have a Department of Defense ID. It would save at least 30 miles.
One nice thing about military gateway towns is that they usually have an abundance of cheap motels. I got a $61 room at Days Inn. Military towns like Kingsland, GA and Jacksonville, NC give me occasional relief from high-priced lodging in resort areas.
I had dinner at a Mexican restaurant across the street and accidentally left my credit card behind. I didn't realize it until lunch the following day. For the remainder of the tour I had to use my ATM debit card, always paranoid about losing it too.
Today was a bit longer than usual and had more climbing than any other day of the tour. But it was still an easy day.
Jacksonville, NC (not the big city in Florida) gets my vote as the worst big town on this tour. Andrews, SC is worse but it's a small town.
Distance: 70.4 mi. (112.6 km)
Climbing: 786 ft. (238 m)
Average Speed: 11.7 mph (18.7 km/h)
Today's ride: 70 miles (113 km)
Total: 668 miles (1,075 km)
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