Another chilly morning welcomed us to our day 2 of riding across the state of North Carolina today. Riders packed up their tents, and luggage and gathered their bikes for the 65 mile ride from Autumn Creek Vinyards in Mayodan to Mebane, NC.
The route today featured some smooth and fast back roads farmland thru Rockingham, Guilford & Alamance county. Once we peddled up some small climbs near Eden, NC, the pace increased and the ride was stellar. I managed to hook up with a fellow rider from Summerfield,NC named Howard Kirkpatrick. We rode the entire route together. Being from the area, Howard pointed out various historical sites along the route. That really made the ride interesting.
A few places along the route included Reidsville, NC, Glencoe Mille Village, Chinqua Penn Plantation, Groves Winery and Vinyards, and Mebane.
We rolled into the Mebane Community Arts center around 11:30. Shortly after I learned I needed to ride another 7 miles to my hotel in Graham, NC. Once I rode 5 miles I called the hotel to ask directions again and the lady stated, yep just come on up the road. With my trusted Droid navigation not picking up a signal, I decided to ride on up the road not realizing I was heading in the opposite direction. Before I knew it 7 miles turned into 14 miles. Needless to say I was a bit hot under the cycling jersey, but managed to get to the hotel and check in for the night.
We head out in the morning to ride back to the campground. This time I’m doing the 7 mile route. Once we get there, we will join the other 1200 cyclists and peddle our way to Henderson, NC a mere 70 miles away. I am extremely happy that the weather is heating up now. The last two days have me a bit congested. I have already shipped my winter gear back to the house and I sure hope I didn’t make a mistake by doing so.
That’s it for today. Another great day of riding across the state of NC.
Check back tomorrow for another Cycle NC 2011 update from the CycingGuy.
Finney