Cycle North Carolina - 2009  (sometimes known as "CNC09")
May & Bill - as they wander across North Carolina on their cycles.    {ver: 1g}

CNC09_Bill_truck.sm.jpg    CNC09_May_fog.sm.jpg


This 'opening image' is HUGE and represents the "Whole Trip" at one glance - scroll-down beyond the image for explanatory text and more reasonable sized pictures & images...

CNC09_all_ride_orig.jpg

Routing - this image has some 'track-logs' (taken from my trusty  (Garmin GPSMap 76 CSx (the one we use hang-gliding) GPS)) - they represent:
total = 435 miles

the Garmin GPS was an awesome tool for this event - I used it mostly in altitude monitoring mode - and that was a signficantly great way to use it.
You can view some 'blog-sites' ( for Ms._May:  http://sailormay.blogspot.com   or   Mr._Bill:  http://vikingasia.blogspot.com )

Here's a 'gallery' site that has the bulk of the pictures (taken with our trusty iPhone):   http://gallery.me.com/vikingasia1#101039

Here's some 'summary text':   Some details on how it's run (the cycling - part):

The official 'departure' time is 07:30 a.m. to 08:30 a.m. - they want you on the course and out of the campground.  Ms._May and I usually left before 07:20 a.m. - one morning as early as 07:01 a.m..  By starting early (before 07:30 a.m.) we managed to find (sometimes) a pretty nice opportunity for a 'Kodak Moment' (even though we don't have any Kodak cameras)... - Here's a selection of early-morning shots...

Day 5,  Day 6,  (simply because we don't remember which 'days' these shots were taken (though I guess if I were REALLY INTELLIGENT (which I am NOT) I could look it up on the 'meta-data'  on the image "Get Info" panel, huh?

BEFORE breakfast we'd dress in our cycling gear (and make sure there was space in the cycle for all the clothes we'd take off as the day heated up (and so did we!) - it was typically in the 50s when we left the campground and would usually be 80s - 90s during mid-day while cycling.

Then we would eat a ( 'hot') breakfast at 06:00 a.m. (provided by a local charity, civic, or church-group (provided at the camp-site from 06:00 a.m. until about 07:30 a.m. (and dinner is provided by the same group(s) (different in each town) - at 17:00 until about 18:30....

After we breakfasted, we'd typically take-apart the tent, fold and roll and store it in a bag (with wheels on it (kindly loaned / gifted by my sister Ms._Kathy in Austin... )  and put the 'tent-bag' and each of us had a 'clothes bag' and they would go onto the 'luggage-truck' .

Once we reach the 'destination' then we'd find our bags (transported by the organizers on the luggage truck for us), set-up the tent, take a shower (in shower-trailers (provided)), relax (typically napping an hour or two), etc. etc. etc. until dinner-time (5:00 p.m.) and then eat and then crash by 7-8 p.m....

The next day the travelling-circus-show starts all over again...

One day we had to wait while the road-re-surfacing-crew did their thing along the way - and one lane was closed to traffic.

During the riding-time (usually between 5 and 8 hours each day) there were 'rest-stops' (everey 10-20 miles) provided by the organizers and all stops had Gatorade (actual Gatorade, not a substitute) in red, yellow, blue and orange types)) as well as water and granola bars (two different types), apples, bananas, etc. etc. etc. They also had port-a-potties, (though many chose to water the local flora and fauna as the need arose).  And - in North Carolina, of course, there is not much rain so the trees along the route really appreciated our attentions...

Every once in a while a cat, dog or woolly-worm would cross our path - and the Cows, Goats, and Horses always looked at us 'funny', to say nothing of the people, kids, and other such riff-raff!

MOST days there were restaurants along the route to eat-at - sometimes, though - another local civic group, charity or church-group would provide lunch (for a small fee or a donation.  

Trikes Trikes Trikes: - there were only 4 recumbent tricycles on this BIG, LONG, Ride... - with about 1,100 bikes total we were a significantly small percentage.  Four manufacturers were represented:  ICE(UK-made - mine), Catrike (Tractor_Tom; Okeechobee), TerraTrike(Michigan - Dick_?; Fort Myers), and then a Sun - but we don't know his name, nor where he was / is from... That means that 3 of the four are from south-Florida - which means FLAT - which means GOOD Trike Land!...

a couple of other 'observations':

I think I took WAY TOO MANY clothes (both 'lounging and camping' as well as bicycling) - but one can NEVER predict the weather so I guess taking too many clothes is a 'way of life', but one only realizes what one has taken (and not used) when one un-packs after arriving home... MAYBE 'next time' I'll take less? - but maybe not?

I have decided, after a day at home doing:

domestic work:
yard-work:
etc. etc. etc.

that all this domestic and yard-work is WAY HARDER than it should be - so maybe I'll just ride my trike another 435 miles in the next 7 days and find someone else to do the 'other' stuff in my life!

Calorie Balancing Act:

one of the 'reasons' that we ride / rode was so that we can EAT EAT EAT - almost anything we want and in almost any amount - and still not gain weight. Well - a little internet-research determined this to be a BIG FALLACY. - we rode - on average - about 5 hours a day - that burns (give or take (depending on your body-weight) about 1,500 to 2,500 calories (a day - depending on whether or not your Ms._May's weight (110) or my weight (180))...

Now - when we looked up Oreos, Gatorade and PB & J sandwiches - we got a rude-awakening.

HOWEVER, I don't think the thing(s) we looked at on the internet about 11-12 mph bicycling considered the HILLs we found in North Carolina at all.

Though I haven't weighed-in since we returned (and I HAVE eaten the better part of a bag of Oreos (and some milk and a LOT of Gatorade (well actually Powerade (while doing yard-work)) - we maybe will not loose the 'pounds' that we perceived.  On the other hand - maybe we're not 'traditional' bicyclists, etc.

I STILL like my Oreos, Milk, PB & J sandwiches, Potatoe Chips, Cheese, etc. etc. etc. - and I have actually lost about 17 pounds in the last year or so, so I guess I'm 'o.k.' as long as I keep triking?


For the 'data-hungry' reading this web-site - here's a spreadsheet with some (not all) pertinent data about the ride (broken-out by days) that may be perused... - NOTE that this data may or may not be:
but here's the ... pdf in case you want or 'need'it?
last updated:   20:54 p.m. on Wednesday, 07 October, 2009;  revID: 1g