Day 13: Kill Devil Hills, NC to Ocracoke, NC, 80 miles

The original plan was to ride down the Outer Banks to Ocracoke but the bridge that was damaged by Irene wasn't open yet. Plan B was to ride inland to a place called Swan Quarter and take the ferry to Ocracoke. The only problem was we had to ride the 80 miles by 12:00 to make the ferry. No one was really thrilled with the plan.

The support crew would track our progress and if it looked like someone wasn't going to make it they would get picked up to ride the van. We left the motel at 6:45 when it was light enough to ride. I started riding in a pace line with "Jim and the Jews" as they are called by some. A pace line allows you to ride faster than you can by yourself. It's the same idea as drafting in NASCAR.

We made it to the rest stop at 44 miles on schedule. The rest of the way I rode with Al from Ann Arbor who wears a Michigan jersey. (He knows I'm from Ohio but not the I went to OSU.) We left "Jim and the Jews" at the rest stop. Al is a national champ in orienteering. ( As best as I understand, orienteering is a sport where you are given a map and you run through the woods trying to find the finish in the shortest possible time.) But I digress. Long story short we made it to the ferry at 11:30. Average speed 18.1 mph. Not too bad for a couple of geezers. I think about half the group was able to complete the ride and the rest got picked up.

We have a rest day in Ocracoke then we're off to Jacksonville, NC. This time we ride the ferry first and then ride.