Looking for a tour

My wife and I were hoping to ride a loop tour of our own around the inner and outer banks of North Carolina in late September. Thanks to Hurricane Irene we're now looking for another place for a loop tour. We're hoping to ride between 200 and 300 miles, not too hilly, within 6 hours drive of Knoxville. We'd love to hear your suggestions.

 

You might think about going to Xenia Ohio. There are several Rails-To-Trails rides out of there since it was an old railroad hub. If you click the link below it will take you to all sorts of rails-to-trails and since they are RTT, they are flat!!

I rode much of this 3 years ago and really enjoyed it.

The Little Miami Scenic Trail

 

Rob and I were doing the same around the same dates. So much for that. You can still tour but you will have to stop once you get to Rodanthe. The most interesting parts of the OBX are now cut off from the mainland for several months until they get bridges in there.

Silver Comet one way and back? That's 200 miles total. Start in Atlanta and go into Alabama then return. 3.5 hour drive down there. Hard to find anything within 6 hours. The OBX are close to 9 hours away anyway. If you drove about an hour longer you could do the Tour de Springs in North Florida. We've done it twice. AD and Buddy went with us on the second time around. 325 miles, lots of great bike friendly campgrounds and the perfect time of the year to do it. heck, Rob and I and Keila might even go with you since our OBX tour looks cancelled.

 

Oooo..hmy:that would be a good time to give Pegasus a good long distance try out.Hmm, have to think about that.

 

Thanks for the ideas so far. We grew up in Cincinnati so we're very familiar with the trials in southwest Ohio. They're great. I'd recommend them to anybody. (We're headed there for Labor Day weekend). We've also ridden the Silver Comet/Chief Ladiga trail several times. It's another wonderful place to ride. They're both on our list of possible fall back destinations. I guess we were hoping for something we hadn't seen before. Still seeking suggestions. Bill, do you have a link for the Florida ride?

 

Outer Banks is nice, but you really can't see much along the road due to the omnipresent dune line between road/houses/beach.

Further than that, but drive to St. Louis. Charter a shuttle to Clinton, MO. Ride the 350 miles back to St. Louis on the KATY. West to east winds will push you along. B&Bs along the way. A great trip, esp. now that hot weather is winding down.

 

Right now the outer banks is toast! The hurricane tore that place up. Wiped out several bridge and road sections, had several sound surges etc. lots of damage. Not the place to ride at the moment.

 

OBX

I believe the major bridges survived but Hwy 12 has been breeched above Rodanthe and there is no access south of Oregon Inlet. I couldn't find any campgrounds who would commit to being 'open', but a number of businesses in the Nags Head area and north to Kitty Hawk will be open. Trash pickup seems to be an issue as it is being deposited curbside.

The Dare Co. Dept of Tourism can be reached at (252) 743 2138 but the private sector is regrouping more rapidly than they are aware. The causeway business are already offering kayaking, jet skiing, etc, but the movement of equipment on the highways might prohibit safe cycling.

All north beaches seem to be open. At least the mosquitoes will likely be hiding further up the coast!

 

Yes Ed, but going north to Killdevil Hills and Kitty Hawk is nothing but urban wilderness. The best part of bicycling is long NC12 south past Bodie Island and past the Oregon Inlet bridge. That's pretty much the area that is cut off so for a bicyclist.....a waste of time to go. If you are going to sit on the beach and visit the local sights it's still a viable place to go, but not for a bicycle unfortunately.
We are disappointed as we have been planning this for MONTHS. We were going to start in late September at Morganton NC and wind across the state and end up at Ocracoke. That's scrubbed until spring and we may just go west and do the Spokane to Pueblo leg of the TransAmerica and the OBX leg in the fall.

our plan is to do the entire US in four or five years.

 

Dwight,

Our trip log on CGOAB website

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1r4vFZo&doc_id=1594&v=2j

http://www.gorp.com/parks-guide/tra...ark-florida-road-biking-sidwcmdev_058538.html

http://www.squidoo.com/florida-springs-bike-tour

This is one of the nicest 'non-trail' tours you will ever take. Part of it is on bike paths.

there is also another tour that starts in Clearwater and is about 225 miles long with all but 45 miles on bikeways winding north all the way to Chiefland.

 

I believe there are still openings for BRAT, which has 3-day options.

 

Jon the GTCC is Like July 11 2012 that goes for like 4 days. Look them up on facebook GreeneTrailsCyclingClassic like them and tell them you heard about it From Shawn. They'll know. Or there's a recumbent race coming up in October at the Clark County Fair grounds.

 

OBX

Dwight, It's quite understandable that you'd vacate plans to bike tour OBX at this time. But I also believe you'll be going there sooner or later, so allow me top share some info.

Because conditions there change at a moments notice, I'd suggest developing a report with local cyclists. If you'll refer to the Bike Journal mileage log it's pretty easy to scan the report for individuals and/or clubs that might just be in or near your cycling area of interest. There is a group of seniors in Kill Devil Hills who evidently ride regularly even there are only 3 shown on the roster for, SILVER RIDERS. I called their listing, 252-216-7760 and reached the answering machine of 'Jack". Now, I don't know Jack, and I don't know if Jack knows jack, but I suspect he'll know something about where to ride, especially since he has already ridden almost 3,000 miles this year. I doubt he has put his bike up while the streets are cleared as well! Update 09-07-2011: Spoke with Jack this morning and he recently did a 104 mile ride but calls himself a long distance (500 mile)/endurance (12-hour) rider. He wanted to share his email address and said that if anyone would like to put together a loop ride he'd be happy to help with the planning. He went on to say that Hwy 12 down to Oregon Inlet is open and very smooth from fresh paving with 5' bike path both sides and the new bridge over the sound has a 3' bike path with a rest area half way across. jackkdh*embarqmail.com

Although there will not be any trustworthy published updates regarding cycling the OBX for quite some time, I did stumble across a site that has an abundance of neat 'stuff'. It's at least worthy of making a note of it's existence. Perhaps you've already come across this; if so, disregard.

http://www.outerbanks.org/activities/land_activities/bicycling_in_the_outerbanks.asp

BTW, that's my recumbent under the umbrella! We generally tent camp on the beach (on the sound side of the ocean dunes), live at the beach all day, the kids skateboard early evening (usually at the YMCA in Nags head, about the same size as Tyson Park facility in Knoxville). Yes, I go for the kids and the kid in me! We were going to try to go this Labor Day but that hope grows dimmer. Did get a call from a camp ground in Kitty Hawk today saying that they would be open, but they also said it's not a pretty sight. Plus, it's 1 1/2 miles from the beach......; too far! If it was just me, I'b be there in a heartbeat because I can't imagine a more memorable trip than witnessing natures power and knowing that somehow I might be helping that economy. I was stationed in Elizabeth City, NC in the USCG during a hurricane so I know what first responders go through and how well they are received.

 

Thanks, Ed, for the OBX info. You're right we'll probably still cycle-tour north Carolina in a few years. It's still on our cycling bucket list which includes the Katy Trail, the Natchez Trace, the Erie Canal Towpath just to name a few. The trick will be finding your info in a few years when we're ready to try the OBX again.