Sweet Caroline!
Guess where I am? I’m camped behind a church in Jacksonville N.C. And yes! Magically there is a very strong wireless connection.
North Carolina has been great, wonderful, outstanding and beautiful. The fun started at the Wright Brothers museum in Kitty Hawk. These are the guys who invented the airplane, but more importantly, these guys made great strides in developing bicycles. On December 3, 1903 these adventurous brothers flew into the air for 12 whole seconds…and the rest is history. I owe a lot to these hereos , most of my travel would not be possible without the airplane, and my other travels would not be possible without the bike. Cheers to the Wright Brothers!
So, yesterday I was on the Outer banks, a skinny Peninsula in the north of N.C. Beach on both sides most of the ride, a tailwind behind me and a couple fun ferry rides connecting the little islands. The road was sparkling too, I may have just been hallucinating but I swear the road was sparking under my tires. Last night I caught up to Evan and Scott on a small island called Ocracoke. I was in Chesapeake for the weekend and they were at a beach house, this is why I was not with them.
The moonlight illuminated our camp like a spotlight, the sand beneath us was glowing white. The best camp spot yet.
Today our goal was to ride 100 miles to a friend’s beach house, this did not happen. At about 3:30pm and 75 miles down, a bad thing happned. All of a sudden, my pedaling was getting me nowhere. I frantically tried to get it going but nothing happened. It was like my chain had fallen off, but it hadn’t. My freewheel was shot and not engaging, no more forward movement for me. There are no tools to fix this, I wasn’t going anywhere.
Luckily, within minutes an angel came to save the day. Craig, a guy in a big white van and an even bigger heart stopped to help out. This guy doesn’t know anything about fixing bikes, but he does know about lending a hand. He threw my bike on the roof and away we went to Jacksonville to his favorite bike shop. I asked him why he stopped for me and he said, “I like helping people, my wife gets sick of me bringing people home, but it’s what I do.” We need more people like Craig in the world.
So, after $60 in parts and labor, I am good to ride again. We aren’t at a beach house, but at least we are safe and happy.
Duzer!
Sorry but you need to check out The History of the Bicycle. Here’s a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_bicycle
Sorry Duzer. I could have sworn you wrote they had “invented” the bicycle. My bad.
Have you been in touch with Billy yet?
I warned him you are getting closer. He better show you some southern hospitality!