Yesterday morning at 8:20am did 10 miles at a very relaxed 10mph, touring the Sound side of Kitty Hawk on the Bay Road. They have a fairly new bike path that was heaven to ride, nicely marked for the official county bike route #3, and the scenery was peaceful and quite beautiful. Headwind met me in Nags Head going back home on a lightly busy NC12, but at least the road shoulders were sand free. 6 miles later that evening just after sunset to try out the colorful new bike wheel lights.

This morning at 8:32am kissed hubby goodbye and left him with the dogs to enjoy a morning reading on the deck overlooking the ocean while I did a 20 mile loop around Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills. No wind at all as I headed north then east up towards the bridge coming across the Sound into the OBX, then turned south onto the county bike route #1 which started out with a wonderful bike trail including quite a few interesting little pathway signs detailing the history of the area and the notable flora. It was only the inevitable gathering of mosquito highwaymen quickly zeroing in on me when I stopped at each sign that forced me to read quickly, then pedal the heck as fast as possible out of range of the little bloodsuckers...until the next sign. The nice path soon dumped me rather unceremoniously onto a less than congenial winding road with debris-strewn shoulders, but the drivers were courteous enough that it wasn't too annoying. In a short mile or so the #1 route merged with bike route #3 which took me back onto the nice Soundside road from yesterday, but this time I went further and ended with a tour through the Wright Brothers National Memorial using my new senior pass. Since the ranger was happy to give me permission, I biked up the steep path to the monument on the dune that those brothers used to launch their first "heavier than air" flight trials. After some pictures and chatting with other visitors (who were frankly amazed at seeing a bike up on that hill) I walked down to the bottom with one hand squeezing the brake as my bike was more than happy to just gallop down that steep slope willy nilly. Once at the bottom and across the main 4 lane highway, I was once again on the beach road, heading north...right into the headwind. The calm morning had turned progressively winder and rougher, and the flags flying enroute were at full military attention, all pointing in my direction. Not too far from home, though, so it wasn't hard to tough it out. VERY happy with my vintage bike - it was a good choice to take on this vacation as it rides as smooth as silk, is delightlfully comfortable, and is so incredibly dead quiet.

Dinner tonight for our 38th wedding anniversary. :-)