You Will Have To Ride the Beach

Dear friends and family,

” Oh no you aren’t” was the reply i got from the ranger when I told her my plans to pedal down the inside of the island from the campground to Duck, NC.

“The road is basically out and no one is getting through” followed.

So, my plan, researched and mapped by both Google for bicycles and Komoot, was toast. After pedaling south from Norfolk for 31 miles, I had reached the state park campground. The plan was to camp here and then carry on the 33 miles to Duck, to my sister and brother in law’s place for the family reunion. 

“But, you can ride on the hard sand at low tide, we call do in our cars”

So, I left the office to find my campsite. As I did, the thunderstorm let loose with a torrential rain. I was already wet with sweat from riding in the 85 degree F heat, so just stood in the warm rain and let it drain off the remains of the anti-bug juice that the ranger had sprayed on me.

Since it didn’t seem to be letting up, I made camp, and only had about a half inch of rain inside the tent. I tried mopping it up with my tiny little dish sponge, but gave up after a few tries. My new inflatable mattress appeared to float above the water to keep me dry as long as I didn’t roll off it. Dry-er, as I was soaked through, with no chance of getting dry clothes out of my packs in the continuing downpour.

I made a quick freeze dried meal in the pouch and walked toward the beach to see how hard that sand can get for riding. It was six PM, and twelve hours later the tide would be similar, so even though it was difficult to even walk in the soft sand for the few hundred yards to the beach, I made it and tried to convince myself that the sand right at the waterline was indeed hard for riding a skinny tired road bike.

Then back in the tent to lay mostly awake, troubled by my choices for the morrow. I kept working on imagining that sure, the sand would be really hard and I could ride fast even though the tide would be coming up fast, using up the hard surface and leaving VERY soft sand higher up the beach. If I went about eleven miles per hour I had some chance of finishing the beach portion, about 17 miles, before I reached pavement. 

At 0500, i rolled up my wet camp and trundled the gear to the edge of the beach, then came back and had to carry the bike over the soft sand to unite with the bags. 

The headlamp attracted bugs like I have never seen and I was covered with tiny biting bugs from head to toe. On my way later I stopped at a restroom with a mirror and saw that my face was covered with black spots-dead bugs I had smashed. I think I ended up with several hundred bits on exposed skin.

It was just after six when I loaded the bags and started the ride south. The tide was pretty high and left me with a very narrow path of semi hard surface to ride as the sun came up. I pushed hard on those pedals and found the fastest I could go was six miles per hour as the bike dug into the sand with each rotation. 

I knew I was in trouble and pushed harder in the growing sun and heat of the day, but made slow progress.

After about only eight miles of this and about an hour and a half of hard pedaling, I lost any hard surface and found that I could not push the bike at all when loaded through the sand in front of me. 

I laid the bike down in that soft sand and stood looking at it, hoping for a miracle when I was approached by a woman who had been shore fishing with her husband next to their Toyota pickup truck.

She asked if I was in trouble. I replied that I would call it “a pickle” instead of trouble, but both of us knew that this was getting kind of serious. She offered her husband giving me a ride down the remainder of the sand beach to the paved road and I accepted vigorously.

We loaded the bike in the bed and away my angel of North Carolina took us. He dropped us off at a park near the beginning of the paved road, leaving me only thirteen miles of highway shoulder and local path. Thank you Lord. (Or whatever kind of god you might believe in)

I thought it would be easy, but found that the effort I expended in the sand and heat had used most of any energy I had and in the almost ninety degree heat really struggled to keep moving. It was a long thirteen miles, and luckily there were several convenient stores to supply me with cold hydration drinks along the way. 

My dehydration was bad, even though I drank almost six liters of water and hydration drinks that very day. Every other stroke on the pedals caused my hamstring to lock up so I had to stop to massage and stretch it out before I could continue. It made for slow going. 

Six hours after my early start, I reached the beach house. Once inside, i felt the coolness of the air conditioning and laid down on the couch in the basement to rest. For almost three hours.

The remainder of the family wasn’t due until later, so after a shower and a snack I had another nap. 

I realized that air conditioning really is one of the greatest inventions, even though i used to think it was not really necessary. 

Now, for a week, I am enjoying the relaxing time at the beach and pool. Nice to have a place to dry everything out as well. Maybe after this week I will have the energy and inclination to continue. Hope so.

Sending love,

Charley