It’s hard for me to believe that it’s been over 12 years since I last mountain biked the trails at Tsali. As I’ve started ramping up my bike mileage, a visit back to Tsali has been on this summer’s “to do” list. From everything I’ve read and heard, it’s still ranked as one of the top 10 mountain biking locations in North America. All I can say is that in the 12 years since my last visit, it’s only gotten better.
It’s still composed of 4 main loops (about 40 miles) that alternate between mountain bikes and horses depending on the day of the week. Although I did see a few hoof marks and a couple of horse trailers, I get the impression that there’s much more biking these days. The biggest change since my last visit is the road to the campground is now paved and a bike washing station has been added at the trailhead. The trails are still in great shape and the facilities at the Forest Service campground are excellent. The trails are technical enough to entertain experienced riders but still accessible for beginners. As the saying goes, it’s “fun for the whole family.” The campground usually fills up by Friday night, so arrive early if possible.
It’s such a treat to be at a campground where almost all the campers are active. With 42 sites, there’s probably an average of 2 to 3 mountain bikes per site. And with Fontana Lake and the Nantahala Gorge only minutes away, 1 out of 3 sites probably has a kayak or canoe as well.
Next up on this summer’s “to do” list for mountain biking: the Allegrippis Trails at Raystown Lake.
Taking advantage of the lower temperatures, I headed over to the Eastern Shore and celebrated July 4th with a long bike ride. Knowing that a swim and a shower were going to be a welcomed conclusion to the ride, I parked at Kiptopeke State Park. Located on the Chesapeake Bay, Kiptopeke is a great park with camping, swimming, nice facilities, and plenty of parking. It’s also the site of the concrete Liberty Ships that were sunk in 1948 as a breakwater for the former Cape Charles ferry terminal.
Thinking that more traffic would be heading south early in the day, I decided to begin the ride on Route 13 and head up to Exmore. Although I’d driven this road numerous times, I was pleasantly surprised to find a nice wide and smooth shoulder all the way to Exmore. It was almost like having a designated bike lane. After wandering around Exmore and taking a little side-trip down to Willis Wharf, I topped off my water bottles and began heading south on Route 600 (Seaside Road). This road parallels Route 13 running through quiet farmland with little traffic and no commercial facilities whatsoever–so make sure your water bottles are full.
The wide shoulder on Route 13 combined with the quiet solitude of Seaside Road makes for a nice cycling loop. Continuing further north to Accomac, it would be quite easy to put together a 90 to 100 mile ride. And if you need a bit of motivation near the end of the ride, there’s a classic Crab Cake Sandwich waiting for you at Sting Ray’s just a couple of miles north of the park!
The weather forecast for this weekend was too good to pass up so I made my fifth roadtrip in six weeks and my fourth to the Outer Banks. On the way down, I made a little detour up to Corolla and added the Currituck Lighthouse to my US Lighthouse Passport. Getting to Oregon Inlet Campground in late afternoon, I set up camp, grabbed the REV 1.5 and headed down to the beach below Oregon Inlet and spent the afternoon trying to master quad-line kiting. I finished the night with a pound of steamed shrimp at the OBX classic raw bar – “Awful Arthur’s.”
The wind really kicked up during the night and it was still averaging over 20 mph Saturday morning but I had planned on a long bike ride so I got out early and headed off to Manns Harbor. It took me 32 minutes to cross the 5 mile long Virginia Dare Memorial Bridge over to Manns Harbor. I actually had to pedal down the high-rise just to keep moving. Heading east, however, over the old Manns Harbor Bridge back to Roanoke Island, I cruised along at 25 to 30 mph and covered the 2.7 miles in 7 minutes (including a stop for a flagman and some maintenance workers). In order to get in 50 miles, I headed down to Wanchese before finishing a grueling 7 miles into the wind back to Oregon Inlet. I ended up with 55 miles in just under 4 hours – my longest ride of the season.
REV 1.5 at Sunset
After a taking a cold shower, drinking a cold beer, and relaxing for little while, I drove back over to Manteo and pick up my 8th lighthouse stamp for the Roanoke Marshes Lightstation. The wind was still up so I grabbed the REV and hit the beach at the campground for some more quad line flying. The afternoon ended with a beautiful sunset as well.
Beamer IV 2.0
Sunday was a bit calmer so I headed down to Oregon Inlet with the Beamer 2.0 for some power kiting. I haven’t had much opportunity to work with the quad line power kites (just too windy for my taste) so I decided to just stay with the 2 meter. As it turns out, I probably could have flown the 5 meter but the 2 meter was still able to give some good pulls.
Since the campground was practically empty on the “C” loop, I was able to fly the REV for another hour before breaking camp and checking out right at noon. Another great weekend on the Outer Banks!
