M2C Day 1

 Cycle North Carolina(CNC)

Mountains to Coast(M2C)

Day 1 Banner Elk to Wilkesboro: 58 miles, 3163’

I’d like to see the Gantt Chart and the spreadsheets used by the  Cycle North Carolina organization….they are, well…organized. Each day’s camp includes camp sites, food vendors, porta-potties, a shower trailer, charging stations, entertainment, shuttles for luggage and excursions, a route!, with 8 NC State Troopers on motos to keep us save, multiple aid stations along the route and so much more. 

After a breakfast served at the Presbyterian church, we packed up our very wet tent and gear and tossed it in the uHaul. Then we took off down and up the road through Banner Elk and our first break at Blowing Rock where we were treated to some live Blue Grass, drinks and snacks. After another little climb along the Blue Ridge we had a ten mile descent into Happy Valley, another aid station and then a rolling ride along the Yadkin River. The local folk are so kind and the traffic extremely patient with all the bikes. 

Speaking of which, there are 825 riders, between the ages of 10 and 86! The medium age is probably closer to the 86. I base that assumption on my observation of the number of folks up at 2:30AM using the aforementioned porta-potties. 

 

After a shower we found some shade in a sea of tents. A gear junkies smorgasbord.  CNC is texting us that there’s some live music and a free happy hour about to start followed by dinner. Hopefully I can find some WiFi or solid mobile connections so you can read this.