Today’s Date: August 5, 2024

Today’s Start Point: Elizabeth City, North Carolina

Today’s End Point: Bruxton, North Carolina

Today’s Miles: 112.6 Miles

Cumulative Miles: 4,811.52 Miles

The morning routine now involves a careful reading of the weather report in an attempt to determine the track of Hurricane Debby. It appeared that today would be wet but not Debby influenced yet. My plan was to go about 60 miles to Nags Head on the Outer Banks and then reevaluate.

As an aside, on this trip I have crossed the Cascades, Rockies, Ozarks, and the Allegheny’s; I have ridden in rain and snow; I have ridden chilled to the bone and in 100+ temperatures; and I have faced the occasional aggressive dog and biting bugs. Saying that, I refuse to be cowed by a storm called “Debby”. Don’t get me wrong, Debby is a wonderful name, but it is not one that strikes fear into the hearts of humanity. Debby reminds me of Debbie Reynolds or Little Debbie cakes, not a terrifying storm that will knock me off the road. Hopefully, the previous thoughts will not result in ironic foreshadowing.

I left before sunrise again since it was dry and I wanted to ride as long in the dry as possible. The route took me east to Currituck, North Carolina on the Atlantic coast. Once at Currituck, I would head south until I got to Point Harbor where I would go east one more time and cross a bridge and start my trek down the Outer Banks.

The bridge went straight into Kitty Hawk, made famous by the Wright Brothers. The road dead-ended into the dunes that separate the road from the ocean. I climbed some steps to get over the dune and there it was: the Atlantic Ocean. I had checked off one of my goals on this trip, I had gone from the Pacific to the Atlantic. I have to admit I was giddy about it, telling a family and a couple that were on the steps. They took a few pictures and they were excited for me. It was nice to share the experience with someone, even if it was with strangers. I refrained from going into the ocean itself, saving that event for when I get to Camp Lejuene.

I had arrived in Nags Head at 10:30 am and I had not hit any rain. It was hot and humid, but I didn’t feel that bad. There was a headwind, but only around five or ten mph. I had planned to go to Buxton, North Carolina on Hatteras Island on Tuesday. You probably know where this is going-I decided to double my mileage and go on to Buxton.

I called Les and she proceeded to get me accommodations in Buxton for the night. She also had to move her airline reservations up in order to be at Camp Lejuene when I get there. This is definitely a plan in flux, thanks Debby.

I moved down the coast, first going through the congested area of Kitty Hawk through Nags Head. There are two roads that run parallel through this crowded area, one is a highway and the other one (which I was on) is slower and has a bike lane. The beach homes that line the road appear to be for vacation rentals, and people were crossing the road to get to the beach.

When I was south of Whalebone, the two roads merged and I started to ride through a series of national coastline and wildlife refuges. Where the northern part of the Outer Banks was crowded, the remainder of the route was devoid of any commercial development, other than the town of Rodanthe, North Carolina.

With about 25 miles to go, the moderate headwind increased to 18 mph. With 80 miles in my legs, the headwind was hitting me hard. The last 25 miles was tough, and by the time I arrived in Buxton I was beat. The dunes on each side of the road had channeled the wind straight into me.

I turned into the hotel and there was so much sand in the parking lot that I started to fall sideways. If I wasn’t so tired, I probably would have been able to save the situation, but no way in my current state no way. I fell onto my side and the good news was that I fell into a pile of sand. The best part was that I had pulled into the wrong hotel (all of the hotels have Hatteras in their name).

Once I got up and brushed myself off, I went to my actual hotel to check in. Now I am going to sound like an old man, but the check in process for this hotel was not my favorite. When you walk in, there is what looks like a huge iPad. You touch the screen and you are connected to an employee located in India who checks you in. The sound system needs work since about every fourth word is dropped. Your key comes out of the machine and all other information is on the receipt. I am sure it is efficient, but this approach takes the hospitable out of hospitality.

I didn’t finish until 6:00 pm so I needed to quickly refuel, recover and write. Tomorrow could be another long day.