Cycle North Carolina bicycle tour 2005

Wilmington to Asheville, NC

Sunday, October 9, 2005

There were no CNC shuttles planned to take us back to Battlefield Park, so we shared a cab with an emergency physician from Seattle. We shared tour stories and talked about cycling advocacy and all the other cycle-related topics one can imagine. The buses left on time and the trip took about 6 hours. With the long ride, we got a sense of how far we had ridden in the past week, officially a total of 465 miles.

Our car was one of the few left at the school parking area. It was an indication of how many people who had bailed out during the rains. Our bikes had arrived and been unloaded onto the grassy area. I discovered later that my rear derailleur had been damaged, as the cage was no longer parallel to the cassette. It was nearly impossible to adjust, so I ended up getting a new derailleur. Not a big deal; one of the dangers of packing several hundred bicycles in a rental truck with cardboard separators.

Overall trip observations: Cycle North Carolina 2005 was a well-organized tour. There were always plenty of refreshments at the rest stops. The Port-o-johns were relatively clean and in sufficient numbers at the rest stops and camp. Sag vehicles could almost always be seen along the route. REI provided excellent mechanical support, setting up at the rest stops and working long into the night at camp. The Bike Detail Guy was there to provide his services, as was the photo guy from Action Photo (see the CNC 2005 photos and those from Bike Florida 2005 and other tours). Amanda, the tour director, was always available and tried to fix whatever problems that came up. I would highly recommend the tour.

On the other hand, there were some things that could have been improved. The snacks at the rest stops were nearly identical from day to day. It was a big deal when Gala (or Fuji or Braeburn, I wasn't sure which) apples were provide midway through the tour instead of the same old red delicious apples from previous days. A little variety would have been appreciated. The shuttle buses were not managed well. They were not staggered and during the first part of the tour they were not at all reliable.

One of the downsides of a point-to-point tour is the need to ship bikes. It's always an ordeal, and often bikes get scratched or otherwise damaged. Having free beer for the bike loaders didn't help on this tour. I prefer a loop tour to avoid shipping the bikes. Some day someone will invent an easy, convenient way to ship several hundred bikes by truck.

These are mostly minor problems that one needs to expect during a large tour, and all things considered, the tour was very well organized. We may return in the future.