Cycle North Carolina 2004
October 2-9

Well, it is in the history books now - the 2004 Cycle North Carolina bike ride from Sparta in the mountains to Oriental on the coast is over, and what a ride it was!  Club members Loren Jones, Roger Woolsey and Bill Sadler rode the course along with former club member Mac Flythe.  We had two additional OAC members, Lynda Sadler and Ken Court, who volunteered by staffing the first rest stop each day. Lynda now has three cuts on her fingers from cutting apples for the riders to eat.  As Roger said later, “Lynda, now you know what it’s like to work in the kitchen.”

  The Mountains to the Coast tour of North Carolina was great! Highlights included the Blue Ridge Mountains, several of North Carolina’s scenic rivers and lakes, five beautiful North Carolina State Parks, two wineries, two Historic Sites, the state’s oldest incorporated town and church, the "Sailing Capital of the Southeast, " a 25-minute ferry ride, several charming small communities, and much more.  But a very special highlight for the group was having Bubba Ken, our very own “Beer Sherpa” along again this year to manage the logistics of getting all of our gear from one place to another, unloading it, and having a chair and a cold beer waiting for us when we got there.  Thanks, Ken.

We had good mountain (country) food the first Saturday night in Sparta before beginning our cycling adventure.

On Day 1 we rode 62 miles from Sparta to Mount Airy and had Mexican food for dinner.

On Day 2 we rode 67 miles from Mount Airy to Eden and had steak for dinner

On day 3 we rode 68 miles from Eden to Mebane and had Italian food for dinner.

On Day 4 we rode 70 miles from Mebane to Henderson and had steak for dinner.    

On Day 5 we rode 69 miles from Henderson to Rocky Mount and had ribs for dinner.

On Day 6 we rode 67 miles from Rocky Mount to Washington and had barbecue for dinner.  

On Day 7 we rode 63 miles from Washington to Oriental and had shrimp for lunch.

NOW YOU KNOW WHY WE RIDE.  You probably thought it might be for the challenge or for the health benefits gained from exercising by riding all those miles, but no, it is to justify all that overeating in great restaurants such as the Whistle Jacket in Eden (with the waitress named Christine who offered to read the menu to Bill and Mac when neither had thought to bring their reading glasses to dinner) and Hog Heaven in Washington (home of the best Barbecue Sandwiches in the Country).

To read what others had to say about the ride you can go to the following websites.

http://www.ncsports.org/cnc_news.php?a1

http://cyclingnc.blogspot.com/

It was a great ride, and we’re all looking forward to doing it again next year.  Hope you’ll join us.

-         Bill Sadler –