Day 2: Barrier islands, here I come!

May 22, 2016

I woke this morning around 5:00 to the sound of quacking. A row of ducks paraded about 6 feet past my tent, and as they vocalized their quack, they lifted their head into the air. This led me to believe, that quite literally, they were "quacking up". Score 1 for the bad pun.

As it turns out, when I set up my tent yesterday I did so adjacent to a duck's nest. You can see the brush assembled in the corner of the porch in the picture below. If I had seen it I probably would have chosen a different location. Anyway, I made sure not to disturb them as I broke down the tent in the morning. During the departure the weather was breezy and high 50's (F). I wanted to make the 10:00am ferry from Knotts Island to the mainland, so I figured I would take off, ride the 12 miles to the ferry terminal and wait out the ferry in the terminal.

Tent setup right next to duck's nest. Didn't know it when I set up - made extra care in breaking down the tent so as not to disturb the waterfowl

Only there wasn't a terminal. It was nothing more than a park and a dock for the ferry. And that's part of the charm. It was completely empty and silent. Until 4 motorcyclists rode up 15 minutes before departure, my only companion that morning was a golden retriever from an adjoining property.

Cloudy skies in the mid-50's F making my way to the ferry

Made it to Knott's Island. More like a peninsula, but hey, it was too good a photo op to pass up

Now if only he rode a bike he could be my riding partner for the remainder of the trip. And if you don't know how difficult it is to take a selfie with an active dog, this is the only pic of many that came out

Once across the Currituck sound I searched out something for lunch. It was a little before 11:00 but you know, cyclist's hunger and all that. Besides, there was a McDonald's right there as I departed the ferry so it was a good stop before traveling the remaining 40 miles into camp.

The bike parking in the "terminal". Ferry approaching

Pulling into the ferry dock. This was the first of four ferries - one of the reasons I took this trip was for the ferry rides

I asked for a quarter pounder, fries, and a shake, but they were not serving lunch at that time. Only breakfast. So I chose a McGriddle and some orange juice. Well, wouldn't you know it - 10 seconds after I place my order they change the signs for the lunch menu. The people right behind me ordered lunch. Go figure. AND, to make matters worse, my order was delayed because they were changing over to lunch when I placed my order so they had to remake the item. Then, the item is a soggy pancake mess anyway so not really the best choice ever. Not bashing Micky-D's, but that was a serious lack of planning between kitchen and front-end and customer. Anyway, time to hit the road.

Then, it's 13 miles on the Caratoke Highway to Digger's Dungeon. This was perhaps the most interesting sight on the way to the outer banks. It's a museums dedicated to the Gravedigger series of monster trucks. Interesting enough - not a follower of the monster truck craze but these vehicles are over the top!

Me: "What's the worst that could happen? A monster truck would fall out of the sky?"

All I could think of was Ricardo Montalban in Fantasy Island - "Smiles! Smiles everyone!"

The next 15 miles are along Caratoke highway. The shoulder is about 1.5 - 2' along a 4-lane vehicular-designed road to access the outer banks. It's designed around automobiles (what isn't?) so it feeds 4-wheeled vehicles from point A to Outer Banks point B as quickly as possible. Road was fine for cycling albeit not super-scenic. I knew this going in as once you get into the islands there are few alternate routes available - there's this constraint called a bridge which one has to ride over to get to the islands. Strangely enough, I hit a Strava segment along the route and made KOM on the segment. I don't race any longer so I was surprised at the speed and the Strava award - probably was created by a slower rider.

I passed over the causeway and onto the first barrier island of the trip. Stop #1 was the monument to a century of flight. It was 100 years ago when the first powered flight happened here at Kill Devil Hills, and the monument erected right around the time I received my pilot's license

Causeway over to the barrier island. Shoulder wide enough for cycling (at least from my viewpoint)

Monument to a century of flight! I feel like I'm on top of the world

It was then about 5 miles to the campground. There was noone in the office so I deposited my cash in an envelope and chose my site on the field. I constructed my tent and then went for the shower to change into my off-bike clothes. Then it was a 2-mile walk to get some Mexican. Weather forecast is for showers tomorrow in the afternoon so the plan is to ride as many miles as possible before the rain.

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Today's ride: 55 miles (89 km)
Total: 89 miles (143 km)

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