Armadillos, Coyotes and Strade Bianche?

   For the past eleven days I have been taking a little tour of the South, working my way down through Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina, on my way to visit my father in Saint Simons, Georgia. I first stopped to see a couple friends near Raleigh, and while there I took a ride on the excellent American Tobacco Trail.

   The southern 6.5 miles of the trail were crushed stone, and since I was on my road bike, I avoided this section (stupid in hindsight, as you’ll find out through a later ride during this trip), starting at New Hope Church Road in the western outskirts of Cary, and completed a 29 mile route out to downtown Durham and back.
   Built on a former roadbed for the American Tobacco Company’s railroad, the trail was smoothy paved and relatively flat, except for a short climb over Interstate 40 in each direction. The few road crossings that existed were well-marked and had very good sightlines for safety. A couple of the intersections with busier avenues had button-activated crossing lights.
   Only having been completed a couple years ago, the trail had signage all along its route to direct riders around some recently developed areas, but there was one slightly confusing spot in the Riddle Heights area where an eastern branch of the American Tobacco Trail met the main artery. I had a good mental compass keeping me in the correct direction, but I can imagine some folks taking a wrong turn and adding some unnecessary miles to their trip.   

   I was a bit disappointed to find the weather creating its own challenge, as there were gusts over 15 mph into my face most of the way out. Even the shortest change in direction from the wind was quite welcome, as it was a struggle to keep a good pace during the northward journey, which ended at the entrance to Durham Athletic Park (home of the famous Bulls minor league baseball team).

   When I turned around, I was really flying with the wind at my back – the slight incline that the railroad faced heading out of Durham was hardly noticeable, as I blasted up through the appropriately named neighborhood of Hillside Park. I was a bit disappointed to have to slow down or stop at a few of the street crossings, but overall the trail is very well-designed, and I had a very enjoyable experience.

   My next ride was a few days later with my father on Jekyll Island, which is a state park just southwest of Brunswick, Georgia. We started on the South Loop Trail, which winds past Camp Jekyll, an attractive youth education and recreation facility run by 4-H, and the impressive Jekyll Island Soccer Complex. The trail then switches over to the seaside and weaves its way between the beach and several resort hotels that face the ocean.

   We made our way past Great Dunes Park and eventually into the more residential part of the island, where Dad suggested we turn around. He had been dealing with some health issues, and because he hadn’t been able to put in too many miles recently, he was concerned with being able to make it back to our starting point.

   Dad had previously urged me to do a loop around the island on my own when we were finished, and now that our pace was slowing considerably, we thought maybe it would be a good idea for me to start my lap at this point, which would have the advantage of leaving him a shorter wait for me to finish. Other than not being used to the 85-degree heat, (I was, after all, only four days removed from leaving nearly a foot of snow on the ground in PA), my ride of the 17-mile loop was rather uneventful, though I was enjoying the unique scenery with palm trees and Spanish moss-covered live oaks.

   Unfortunately, when I reached the van my father informed me that he taken a spill, as he felt a bit woozy at one point and had a bad step with his wobbly leg from the pedal to the ground and toppled over. Some inconsiderate couple offered a lame “Are you okay?” and then just rode by! I think if I saw a 70-year-old man fall off his bicycle that I would make sure he was up and well on his way before just taking off.

   Dad had a little scrape on his elbow and really needed to put a little food into his system, but other than that, he came away relatively well. I didn’t argue one bit when he asked me to take the wheel for the drive back or when he suggested a stop for an ice cream cone (for him) and cold Coke (me) at a Dairy Queen!

   I ended up taking an extra day off when we were hit with a spell of rough weather, which included a drop of about 20 degrees and howling winds of up to 50 mph! I was then feeling really fresh on Friday when I headed out on a 40-mile route that would crisscross Saint Simons Island.

   I pedaled away from the causeway that brought me onto the island, down to the village center and up the ocean side. I circled the airport back to the center of Saint Simons, then turned east out to Sea Island. At the end of that causeway I encountered a guardhouse and was surprised to find the entire 4-mile strip of land was a gated community!

   I don’t know if the guards just didn’t care or if my rather expensive-looking Cannondale and matching kit fooled them into thinking I might be a resident, but they didn’t stop me when I followed an SUV under the lift gate. I was then treated to a quarter mile stretch of cobblestones on which to ride before heading between the posh houses that lined the main street. Towards the northern tip of the island I glanced to my right and noticed a gated community (within an already-gated community) with its own golf club. How elite can you get?!!

   On my return leg down the island I saw, of all things, an armadillo lying by the side of the road. At first I thought perhaps one of the residents had been out antiquing and dropped a wacky piece of taxidermy, but later research proved that the animal’s range of habitat has stretched into the southeastern U.S. 

   There was a strong tailwind, and I was really moving when I came around a line of hedges back towards the guardhouse. About twenty feet in front of me, a set of gates suddenly dropped down, completely blocking the road in front of me. I locked up the brakes in a desperate attempt to stop, but I was skidding on the cobbles and would have smacked into them had a car not come up behind me to trigger their opening. I realized immediately that the device intended to slow the traffic leaving the island wasn’t sensitive to the weight of just me and my bike. That was a close one!

   A few days later I was heading towards home, but not before a visit with relatives on the Carolina coast. During the drive I encountered the sight of a couple coyote roadkill – at least this time I was more informed, through a magazine article, about this animal’s expanding habitat, but it was still a bit startling to see an animal that I had previously only seen out west.

   My aunt and uncle live in New Bern, and I had planned to do a loop out into the nearby Croatan National Forest but was having trouble determining which of the roads were paved and which were not. Although he couldn’t give me definitive information on the specific roads I had on the route I had created on MapMyRide, he did suggest from his experience that the roads were of a high quality with a hard clay base and fine gravel.

   I wasn’t too enthusiastic to tackle that terrain with my road bike, but (I thought) my planned 30-mile circuit had some “outs” that would get me to paved roads on which I could double back if I encountered too long of a stretch of dirt road. My aunt had been out walking in the morning and mentioned that it was a bit warm (80s), but there was no wind, and it would be a wonderful day for a ride!

   Well, it didn’t take long for things to fall apart, as many of the roads were unmarked, and I started to become disoriented. I knew that I would eventually intersect one of the main roads I had included in my mapped route, but unfortunately that road ended up being dirt. I thought about turning around, but that would have been a very short ride, and I was hoping things would improve in a short distance, so I just went for it.

   I actually found myself having a blast, as I imagined this was exactly what the riders face in the Strade Bianche, racing on the white cinder roads through Tuscany. My uncle was correct that most of the roads were nicely done, but a couple bridges were low spots where it appeared drivers had slammed on brakes to keep their vehicles from bottoming out, giving the surface a washboard effect that was quite rough to ride over.

   There were also some forest areas where trees were cleared, I believe as a fire-fighting measure (I saw hundreds of singed trunks in one section), and the vehicles had chewed up the road. Other than that, I was just keeping my eyes focused ahead for any unusually large chunks of stone that might cause a pinch flat.
   One stretch of road was marshland on both sides, and because my uncle had been telling me stories of water moccasins, gators and even Burmese pythons in the area, I ignored a sudden thrashing sound in the water to my left. I didn't even want to know what it was!

   I ended up doing nearly 13 miles of dirt track and nearly made it without a problem, but my rear wheel started to feel mushy when I was practically in sight of the end of the forest road back onto pavement. After cursing loudly at the cycling gods, I proceeded with the quick change. I was a bit shocked when a kind gentleman drove by out here in the middle of nowhere and stopped to ask if I needed help. I sent him off with a big “thank you” and an assurance that I had everything needed for the repair.

   As I was back on my way, I encountered another nice fellow who confirmed the paved road ahead was the one for which I was searching and told me his bike was in the back of the truck. “I’m heading out on my own ride in the other direction. Have a good one!”

   Well, I don’t think a stiff headwind was what he had in mind, but that was exactly my reward for being clear of the forest. It was a bit of a grind back to my aunt and uncle’s place, but I tried to keep a positive spin on the ride, as I was having a lot of fun until the dang flat, and I didn’t get completely lost back in the forest. At one point I really did start humming the theme to “Deliverance” in my head!