NYC -2- ATL

Today we awoke well rested and ready to ride. We ate and replenished our sunscreen at a Walmart before hitting the road. Its a good thing we did because the sun beat down hard on us all day. As we rode a few miles and neared downtown Jacksonville, a blue Chevy Caballero started honking and hollering, and I realized it was our Marine Corps friend from yesterday! We waved him over to a nearby parking lot and talked again for another half hour. It was a real treat meeting drill sergeant Howard, and we both thanked him for his many years of service to our country.

Back on the road, we made our way past Camp Lejuene and out to North Topsail Beach. We stopped at a little convenience store where people were lining up for lunch and grabbed some Carolina-style hotdogs. I was kind of worried they wouldn’t keep well on the bikes, but we ended up in a huge shady pavilion with loads of picnic tables only a half a block down the road.

During our lunch we chatted with Logan, who was down to the beach from Winston-Salem with his young son. He was instantly drawn to Dad’s recumbent, and we enjoyed answering his questions. He had been a motocross racer until he had a bad crash and broke his collarbone. When he found out we have been riding from New York towards Atlanta he was amazed and inspired. He could hardly believe we were heading for Wilmington, tonight and I made sure to text him when we arrived safely.

I also spoke with Kathy who was there with her husband and grand-daughter for the park next to the pavilion. They heard our story as we spoke with Logan and had some questions as well. As we finished up lunch, Kathy and I talked about exercise and food and how each of us had changed our lifestyles due to type 2 diabetes. She has come a tremendous way in lowering her a1c since diagnosis and I wished her continued success.

We again followed the East Coast Greenway south, this time mostly on US17. The roads were not the greatest. Very busy and noisy. At one point, we had to get to a left turn lane where there was no traffic light and had to wait what seemed like an eternity for a gap long enough to cross the two lanes to get there. Finally as we came into town, there were a few sections of completed, off-the-road greenway. So nice—Such a great reminder of what could be if we could just tie some of these trails together to make projects like a completed ECG a reality!

Wilmington seems nice, and we’re in another typical motel-off-the-interstate type of area. We walked to a Taqueria for dinner, and it was really tasty. I hit up another Walmart afterwards because you just can’t visit too many of those per day when traveling. I had been daydreaming about the larger, cushier bike seat I had seen several Walmarts ago and was finally ready to give it a try. I made the necessary modifications back in the hotel room and was happy I had all the tools I needed in my bag. I’m hoping my butt will thank me tomorrow.