With Bobby on the Union Transportation Trail. Cream Ridge, NJ.
Bobby fixing a flat tire on the Union Transportation Trail. Cream Ridge, NJ.
Bobby repairs a second flat on the side of the road near Highstown, NJ.
My surgically repaired right knee swollen from the 77.20 mile day. East Windsor, NJ.
The only solution is to take a day off and ice it down, and get off my feet. This has happened in the past, and unfortunately this is the only solution — short of stopping altogether, which I won’t do.
Day 12: Start: Egg Harbor Township, NJ Finish: East Windsor, NJ Miles: 77.20
After a full day of rest, icing down, I should be able to continue northbound on my own with reduced mileages for the first few days back. More on this tomorrow.
What I’m Reading:
Wouldn’t you rather be kettle-cooked than smeared under a rain boot?
Getting ready to roll with Richard, et al., into the New Jersey pine barrens after a day off — the first, and hopefully not the last. Cape May, NJ.
Bobby pointing out the local flora, in this case, wild asparagus by the side of the Middle-Township Bike Path. Whitesboro, NJ.
Since we were all staying at different sites tonight we knew we’d be splitting up at some point — here near Swainton, NJ it was time for a route check. I eventually peeled off from the maj. group at South Seaville, NJ. Lois and Jeff started out about 45 minutes behind us and went straight for real coffee in town.
An eighth of a mile after I split off from the group I found this “gem” — Gem Grill & Pizzeria, just in time for second breakfast — Celsius and Flaming Peanuts — please don’t follow this diet … or do so at your own peril. South Seaville, NJ.
At the base of Garden State Parkway / Great Egg Harbor Biking & Walking Path over the Tuckahoe River. Beesley’s Point, NJ.
And later, across the river at the Submarine Veterans Memorial at Somers Point, NJ.
Pre-World Cup fever fix: check / travel league soccer match…
Lunch place: check / Mazza’s …
Bike safe: check; 2 gatorades, banana, 1 massive Italian hoagie (2 meals): check! At Mazza’s Market & Coffeehouse, Northfield, NJ.
Check out the other half of the massive hoagie on the rack as take out dinner.
I love being surprised on tour — those unexpected & unforeseen places that knock one out. Despite a hearty lunch a stop, I found Reed’s Farm a welcome air-conditioned stop for a lemon poppyseed cookie and cold nitro coffee. Near Egg Harbor Township, NJ.
The sign that pulled me in … a sucker for caffeine. Reed’s Farms. Near Egg Harbor Township, NJ.
I can report: none about… Near Egg Harbor Township, NJ.
The Atlantic County Bikeway, the last of the three bike paths I spent most of the day riding to Egg Harbor Township, NJ.
Day 11: Start: Cape May, NJ Finish: Egg Harbor Township, NJ Miles: 43.28
Tomorrow we all head to East Windsor, NJ from three different points — as I had the shortest day today, I’ll have the longest day tomorrow at 77.5 miles, and it’s going to be a hot one, forecasted high is 94 for E. Windsor. It’ll be an early start.
What I’m Reading:
In South Jersey and Philadelphia folklore in the United States, the Jersey Devil, also known as the Leeds Devil, is a legendary creature, or cryptid, said to inhabit the forests of the New Jersey Pine Barrens in South Jersey.[1] The creature is often described as a flying biped with hooves, but there are many variations.
Being a criollo in America— no matter how innocent we are— is to be born an entitled pig.
— Alvaro Enrigue / Now I Surrender
child’s born and mother cries in hospital for days
less for what child is/not/more for all this world’s got in store for her
— Soham Patel / “Dead Man’s Pose”
Artificial-intelligence tools, such as the revolutionary AlphaFold, have enabled biologists to produce innovative drugs and to design bespoke proteins that kill superbugs. But these benefits come with the potential to create more-potent toxins, viruses or bioweapons. The threat is very real, say more than 20 scientists and policy researchers. But they don’t agree on what we should do about it. Some are calling for limits on biological AI, but others worry that such restrictions could limit research. Some believe that attempts to introduce regulations are already too late, and the focus should be on detecting and countering AI bioweapon attacks.
— Flora Graham / “AI can make dangerous bioweapons” / Nature Brief
We saw the stars dissolve, the shifting range of blues against the peaks. Mountains in the distance. Black hills. Moon. There was a time, a period of days and nights before the end. We were living in a blue room, and we were happy.
— Kai Carlson-Wee / “Blue Room”
A study of 31 regular coffee drinkers and as many abstainers aimed to discover how the beverage affects us and our microbiomes. When both groups were introduced (or re-introduced) to coffee after a period without, they reported lower perceived stress, depression and impulsivity scores — whether the coffee was caffeinated or not, suggesting that compounds such as polyphenols might take the credit. Other results were mixed: a notable improvement in learning and memory was found only in those who consumed decaf, and only caffeinated coffee was associated with reduced feelings of anxiety. Meanwhile, coffee drinkers had markedly different populations of bacteria in their guts than non-coffee drinkers.
— Jacob Smith / “Coffee boosts mood (even decaf)” / Nature Brief
. . . i wish i knew what my heart is most scared of. maybe it is the men who walk through the eye of the sun
with rifles tucked under their arms. who i can’t promise i know by their names. only that in islam, i am taught to accept them as my brothers . . .
— Abu Bakir Sadiq / “The BBC Explains the Country’s Challenges to the Cyborg in Sixty Seconds”
Consider how many of these places are off-limits to Americans. According to the USDA’s ownership survey in 1999, only 3.4 million of us- (or 1.2 percent of the population) owned agricultural land, which makes up 49 percent of the land in the Lower Forty-Eight states. It looks even worse when you factor in the low levels of ethnic minority land ownership. Ethnic minorities make up 38 percent of the US population, but, according to the USDA’s 2014 Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land Survey, 97 percent of agricultural landlords are white. This means an overwhelmingly white 1 percent of the population has the right to exclude 99 percent of Americans from 49 percent of the land in the Lower Forty-Eight states.
— Ken Ilgunas / This Land Is Our Land: How We Lost The Right to Roam and How to Take it Back
What I’m Listening To:
I was nine when I left my body The Silver Chair and Rillian No regrets, just things that will haunt me Maybe I’ll bury them
— Aldous Harding / “I Ate the Most”
true zero day
Scads of Nothing
A true zero day for most of us. Only 2 of the 6 of us mounted their bikes today to go into town or the Cape May Lighthouse. The rest of us chilled, did laundry, made calls and other sundry chores for a full day off.
Very few pictures snapped, save the restaurant where Scott and I had dinner — the Red Brick Ale House. Another visit to the Acme Market for last minute supplies, and it’s all about getting ready for the ride tomorrow.
We’re heading into the New Jersey Pine Barrens today, and there will be three groups staying at dispersed sites, but we’ll be mostly riding together through New Jersey.
So in short: lots of rest, plenty eating, and scads of doing nothing but regenerating for tomorrow.
Day 10: Start: Cape May, NJ Finish: Cape May, NJ Miles: 0
Every day has to start somewhere, today starts here: (above) as I leave the hotel and (below) as I traverse the Ocean Gateway Bridge en route to Ocean City Beach, MD.
My stomach has asked me to stop paying homages to saturated fat, and for a few days I’m going to follow that directive … Oy!
Only nutritious foods in moderation from here on out. Yeah, sure … never believe a newly minted Gummy Clusters Nerds addict.
Ocean City Beach was very sedate. Very few people out on the boardwalk …
… not even at Ripley’s Believe It or Not amusement park …
… and no one on the beach in 56 degree weather …
The only thing to slow a bike rider down is a sustained 12 mph headwind early in the day.
The “e” is silent — someone was actually fixing the light fixture inside the “e”. Ocean City Beach, MD.
The plan was to meet Richard at his hotel at 10am, and we’d ride up the beach together.
Hello, my name is Jorge, and I’m a Nerds Gummy Clusters addict. Ocean City Beach, MD.
Our first picture in Delaware, at the ubiquitous Royal Farms: (l-r): Bobby, Scott, Richard, and I. Fenwick Island, DE.
Battling the headwinds with Bobby, with one of the World War II era artillery fire observation towers that pepper theses mid-Atlantic beaches in the background. Fenwick Island State Park, DE.
A quick break before tackling Indian River Inlest Bridge, where we were fully exposed to the headwinds that picked up throughout the day. Fenwick Island State Park, DE.
Heading over Indian River Inlet with Bobby on point …
… on the north side of the bridge, but not the headwinds. Fenwick Island State Park, DE.
A respite at the Indian River Inlet Life-Saving Station, an 1876 precursor to the Coast Guard. Delaware River State Park, DE.
Time for a quick headwind break before heading to the Cape May ferry.
Oddly the max wind speed was 14 mph, but as it was sustained all day it sapped my legs and a day off tomorrow is medicine for the soul and very sore quads and calves. Here Scott and Richard are waved in by Bobby for a quick break. Delaware River State Park, DE.
Welcome to Dewey Beach and the home of the famous Woody’s lump crab cakes. We had three separate individuals suggest we stop there and try their specialty. Dewey Beach, DE.
Woodys looked unassuming …
… but the lump crab cake sandwich is exquisite! Enough to shame Joe’s Stone Crabs out of business. Amazing crab cakes and homemade kettle chips. Dewey, DE.
Tidal marsh at Cape Henlopen State Park, as we rush to make the 2:45pm Cape May Ferry. Lewes, DE.
Not actual size ferry …
… not an actual security check, security check. Open up your panniers, dirtbags! At the Lewes — Cape May Ferry.
Is that a sfork in your pannier, m’am?
Actual-sized ferry arriving from Cape May.
We’re thinking… “That was a tougher screening than TSA at the airport!”
Sighting Cape May Lighthouse from the ferry — our third state of the day.
Here we be! Cape May, NJ.
Joizsy! Finally here. Cape May, NJ.
The well appointed rumpus room at our VRBO rental. Cape May, NJ.
All the bikes fit nicely in the billiard room…
… who’s pool-sharking who?
Day 9: Start: Ocean City, MD Finish: Cape May, NJ Miles: 43.1
Yay for a zero-day today. Today we bike not — or little with unloaded bikes — recover and get ready for the New Jersey pine barrens starting Sunday. The next section will bisect southern New Jersey from Cape May to High Point State Park.
What I’m Reading:
Surfmen at Station Indian River Inlet saved the lives of more than 400 sailors between 1876-1915. The site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and is operated as part of Delaware Seashore State Park.
— Interpretive Sign at Indian River Inlet Life-Saving Station
I was so exhausted yesterday, after the long day, that I didn’t notice there was a billiard table in the front parlor of the Garden and Sea Inn and nearly walked into it on the way to getting coffee. Still too windblown and pedal-drunk to play at 6 am.
It was a late start for me. I was waiting for word that others had started to roll for the day, and I thought I’d meet them at a triangulated point on the route. But no one texted and at 8:19 I saw on the tracking app we run that everyone was riding. I felt “Home Alone” — so I rushed and loaded my gear and started rolling for the day. It rained steadily for 90 minutes and I didn’t note when I crossed into Maryland from Virginia.
But my first Maryland stop, at the Stockton Volunteer Fire Co., was to remove rain gear as blue skies materialized to the northwest.
Rolled through some beautiful farmland throughout the day — very flat riding here near Girdletree, MD.
But even though it was flatland, the wind insured the pedaling was hard. It often felt as if I was on a stationary bike cranked up to the maximum setting bicycling in place. Headwinds have become a daily constant. Farm near in Girdletree, MD.
Another odd thing to riding alone all day—unbelievably, I didn’t run into anyone until the last 10 minutes of my ride — was the dearth of services. This was the first opportunity to get something to drink or eat at 29.3 miles into the ride. Newark, MD. Rain was threatening again, but stayed away.
Thankfully, some very lightly “trafficked” roads today, as through this area near Newark, MD.
Travelled by many wheat, corn, and potato fields through the Chesapeake Bay area, and today by a number of horse stables. Near Libertytown, MD.
At the 40-mile mark the first open place for lunch: Roadie Joe’s Bar & Grill. Berlin, MD.
They use laminated baseball cards for coasters … I got Twins / Royals stalwart Greg Gagne — a good augury.
Correction: There’s only one food group… saturated fat.. having a burnt ends grilled cheese at Roadie Joe’s in Berlin, MD.
Don’t have pictures of anybody else today because I rolled alone, but here was my route to Ocean City, MD.
And at some point, unknown to me, I passed the 2,000 mile mark for the year on this ride.
We all did eventually get together tonight. We ended up spread out again. I’m 9.5 miles away from Lois & Jeff in North Ocean City Beach, and 2.6 miles from Richard, Scott & Bobby who are staying beachside.
We all headed up to have dinner by Lois & Jeff’s hotel and made good consensus-based plans for the ferry crossing to Cape May. So today we’ll actually be in 3 states: start in Maryland, cross into Delaware catch the ferry across Delaware Bay from Lewes, Delaware to Cape May, New Jersey.
So in honor of a 3 state day…
… an homage to saturated fat …
Day 8: Start: New Church, VA Finish: Ocean City, MD Miles: 48.1
Marylanders know their ice cream!
What I’m Reading:
Please Rate Your Experience Please / stand in this Assembly / Line of Loss / Please: We’ve all wanted to be loved / by an impossible thing / it’s why the monarch butterflies keep following us around & This Is How It Is Habibti / Things Happen Until You Die / & All You Can Do Is Not Break
We had an early morning because we had a long day. I was out of camp at 6:30am and biked 1.5 miles to Sting-Ray’s Restaurant for breakfast 3 (not the above pictured from Royal Farms breakfast 2 (which is a heart attack in a white plastic bag).
Breakfast 3 is not pictured, but it was shared with Jeff and Lois. And following below you can plainly see us burning it off …
… I had three breakfasts to burn off as we left Cape Charles, VA.
You know the wind? We are intimately familiar with the wind. It’s like we’re winding thru windage. There’s a good reason the Wright Brothers traveled just south of here to experiment with flight — they found statistics from the US Weather Bureau that confirmed that this area, is in general, one heck of a windy place. Gusts well over 22 mph today. Though luckily sometimes it was a tailwind.
Some talk about biking as I imbibe yet more caffeine. I should buy shares in Celsius.
Working up an appetite for lunch in Exmore, VA. Lois and Jeff ready to get back on the route.
Oak Grove Methodist Church, est. 1870. Near Melfa, VA.
Richard insuring his Gazelle is kept busy and away from Poseidon’s “turtley” grip. Richard, he da’ man. Locustville, VA.
Winding up lunch at Mallards Sidewalk Cafe in Accomack, VA winding down and onward …
… We finally meet up with Bobby in Accomac, VA — and we are six Spinners again. Jeff admires Bobby’s Salsa Vaya.
Accomack, VA
Gargaphia Plantation site on Route 13. I peeled off from riding with Scott, Richard, and Bobby to stay at the Garden and Sea Inn in New Church, VA. 26 of my 77.5 miles were solo in the afternoon. They moved on to Trails End. Campground in Horntown, VA. We’ll all meet up again tomorrow and move north.
I’ve arrived bushed, wind-beaten, and pedal-drunk to Garden and Sea Inn Bed & Breakfast in New Church, VA.
I really don’t feel that chipper after 77.5 miles of wind-shorn riding. I’m just giddy that my legs have stopped moving in a pedaling motion.
Day 7: Start: Cape Charles, VA Finish: New Church, VA Miles: 77.5
Today we’ll cross into Maryland, with Ocean City as our destination.
The dietary excellence continues unabated… Oy!
What I’m Reading:
The angels were once as plentiful As species of flies. The sky at dusk Used to be thick with them. You had to wave both arms Just to keep them away.
Wow! Only 47 degrees on Knotts Island this morning…
Bidding goodbye to the homey cabin at Sandy Point Campground & Cabins on the North Carolina side of Knotts Island.
Many Yellow-bellied sliders spotted near the Mackay Island Wildlife Refuge on Muddy Creek Road.
Jeff “the navigator” on point ensuring we stay on route. Near Virginia Beach, VA.
Quick stop to shed layers as the morning heats up — we started at 47 degrees and ended up with a beautiful 63 degree blue-sky day. Near Virginia Beach, VA.
Bag o’ freshly shucked corn for the gang, but not the most popular snack … as I ended eating 4 fresh, raw, ears throughout the day. Good eating from the Flip Flop Farmers Stand. Near Virginia Beach, VA.
Pre-second breakfast snacks from the Flip Flop Farmers Stand.
And breakfast for lunch at the Sunnyside Cafe in Virginia Beach, VA.
Jeff and Ashley take lead at the southern trail terminus at Virginia Beach, VA
Virginia Beach Fishing Pier.
Poseidon wishes he had Richard’s Gazelle instead of a turtle.
Trying to digest lunch from the rear of the pack.
Last moments with Ashley before she heads back home. We already miss her.
Who’ll be the expert logistician now? Who’ll make the executive decisions? Oy!
Waiting for the shuttle across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Pedestrians and bicyclists must contact the authority 24 hours in advance for a shuttle across the bay.
We topped off the day with a police escort across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel.
I had the less eventful, but no less important, shuttle with the bike van across the 21 mile bridge-tunnel.
Quite the twist to a bike tour … on the Delmarva Route at Kiptopeke State Park Campground tonight. Cape Charles, VA.
Day 6: Start: Knotts Island, NC Finish: cape Charles, VA Miles: 51.4
A 70+ mile day on the schedule tomorrow up the Delmarva Route, and we meet Bobby, yet another Spinner to pedal with up the Delmarva Route.
What I’m Reading:
The most common turtle found in the freshwater areas of Knotts Island and the surrounding Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge is the Yellow-bellied Slider (Trachemys scripta scripta). These turtles are frequently seen basking on logs and in the wetlands of the maritime forests.
Yesterday’s ride was punctuated by a severe weather system moving through the southern outer banks. The 13 mile ride from Jerniman’s campground to the Ocracoke — Hatteras ferry featured diminished visibility rain squalls that forced me to lean degrees to the right to stay upright to avoid being blown off the bike. Crew on the ferry said the gusts were approaching 25 mph. It was memorable, taxing, and beautiful all at once. The flashes of the angry steel gray ocean and sky frosted with roiling surf was astonishing.
Outer Banks dunes after the rain, Hatteras, NC
The 70 minute ferry ride made us shiver in our drenched clothes, as hanging out in the air conditioned passenger lounge was more hospitable that out in the driving wind and rain. At one point on the Ocracoke leg of the ride the rain was sonpointedly flying sideways into our right flanks, that it felt like hail.
Later in the day Ashley and Scott lead the drier, sunnier riding near Buxton, NC
But a hot lunch at Isola Pizzeria in Hatteras, NC helped to set us right again. And so did the sorely needed partly sunny afternoon that followed. It was a 35 mile ride to a very nicely appointed KOA and a fairly spectacular sunset that topped off a tale of a Janus-faced weather day.
Outer Banks sunset from the Cape Hatteras – Avon, NC KOA.
May 10
Started the morning with a brisk pedal across the NC 12 causeway bridge over Pamlico Sound, NC.
Scott and Ashley ahead approaching the dunes of the Pea island National Wildlife Refuge.
The view of the dredging from the Marc Basnight Bridge over Pamlico Sound at South Point, NC.
We…
Arrive…
In…
Nags Head, NC.
The Outer Banks route connoisseur “Big Bite Combo” lunch at 7-11. Nags Head, NC.
Big Foot over Roanoke Sound, because … why not? Nags Head, NC.
Scott fulfilling a lifelong ambition of hang gliding at Kitty Hawk Kites Headquarters at Jockey’s Ridge State Park, Kill Devil Hills, NC.
The intrepid pilots after hang gliding second thoughts, proximity will suffice at Jockey’s Ridge State Park, Kill Devil Hills, NC.
Birthplace of American aviation at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. Kill Devil Hills, NC.
The origination point of the Kitty Hawk flight at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. Kill Devil Hills,
A replica of the Kitty Hawk at the Wright Brothers National Memorial. Kill Devil Hills, NC.
Hashing out logistics…
… Ashley takes control and gets it done. Kill Devil Hills, NC.
The gang’s all here version 1 — (l-r): Jorge, Lois, Richard, Jeff, Ashley, Scott — after first group dinner, 2026, at Noosa Beach Grille, Kill Devil Hills, NC.
Day 4: Start: Hatteras-Avon, NC Finish: Kill Devil Hills, NC Miles: 36.82
First time the group will ride together today will take us just shy of the North Carolina / Virginia border — 25 mph sustained headwinds are forecast. Time to get the quads & calves ready for heavy duty.
What I’m Reading:
Something in me watches me from foreign dimensions. Something in me walks barefoot. Something in me thuds like tactical boots heard by neighbors down the street. And then something in me stays, inaudibly staring at no one. In every state, I hope to be understood. “Wait, what?” My needs, my errors, my missteps, my love, my extended giving nibble like besotted puppies with immature teeth.
The rabbits here are built like 40-year-old toddlers. Sometimes all I want to do is sit & pet them.
— Othuke Umukoro / “Passing”
Laws govern people; constitutions govern governments. Lately, American democracy has begun to wobble, leaning on a constitution that’s grown brittle. How far can a constitution bend before it breaks?
— Jill Lepore / “The United States’ Unamendable Constitution” / The New Yorker
There is too a way to die like this Each day it comes and puts us to sleep and orders us to practice again While hiding a heart so indecent it mumbles words of blessing
— Kim Hyesoon / “Practice”
Some researchers are getting increasingly nervous about the possibility of doomsday scenarios brought about by ever more powerful and autonomous artificial intelligence systems. Others say that such warnings distract from well-documented risks of AI, such as spreading misinformation and enabling mass surveillance — or motivate leaders to join a dangerous AI arms race, lest they be left at a disadvantage. Studies suggest that some systems are already becoming misaligned with human goals, but evidence that AI could cause human extinction is hard to come by. “The companies are raking in funding, and letting society pick up the pieces,” says neuroscientist and AI researcher Gary Marcus.
— Flora Graham / “Should we worry about AI doomsday?“ / Nature Brief
And in the back seat Childhood is normal but the scaffolding thrown up around The road is built with an insane logic Which is at once its interest and its uselessness Save as torment
— Ron Padgett / “Mister Horse”
For most of history, people pondered the future in a practical sense—worrying about tangible things like planting, harvesting, the weather. But today, with prediction markets, climate change, and the threat of technocracy, forecasting what’s to come is woven into the fabric of our lives. Are we prophesying ourselves into hopelessness?
— Ian Crouch / “Do We Think Too Much About the Future” / The New Yorker Daily
. . . I’ve read the dead in dreams are never dead, and yes, it is their aliveness that is reassuring, their going on even as they leave us here.
— Maxine Scates / “Flyaway”
What I’m Listening To:
I grew out of somebody else She wore a wedding ring And when I decompose I will be Part of everything
thee istsfor manity reader 