Riding the Outer Banks
Adventures in North Carolina
I’m delighted to present my first non-local “bike write”! We recently traveled to the Outer Banks of North Carolina for a week-long family gathering. While most of our time was spent on the beach or in our cozy beach house avoiding stunning amounts of rain, we also had a chance to do a little bike riding.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Outer Banks, it’s a long and slender piece of land just off the east coast of North Carolina. It’s technically a series of barrier islands with the Pamlico Sound on the west side and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Even if you’ve never been there, you’ve probably heard of Nags Head, Cape Hatteras, Kitty Hawk, or Kill Devil Hills, where the Wright Brothers literally invented flying!
Our cycling journey began by renting bikes at a little surf shop on the corner by our rental home in the town of Salvo. The Duck Village Outfitters had just what we needed. Greg and I rented two single-gear beach cruisers for $26/day each. They were in decent shape, which is challenging in the harsh coastal climate. Many bikes there become very rusty very quickly due to the humid, salty air and the fact that most of these outfitters leave their bikes outside all season long.
These simple bikes were fun to ride, but felt different due to the crazy angle of the handlebars. It felt a little like riding one of those chopper motorcycles. These were no-frills bikes, to be sure, but we didn’t need anything special. We just wanted to get out and see the area by bike and smell that salty sea air!
Because the Outer Banks is a very narrow, continuous sand spit, the only way to get from place to place is Highway 12, a 2-lane paved highway that includes bike lanes on either side with a 55-mph speed limit in most places. Given that my M.O. is to ride trails and avoid motor vehicles as much as possible, I looked for a long stretch of paved path in our area. This was doubly important after seeing a near-miss accident on Hwy 12 due to a pair of cyclists who were in the bike lane and doing nothing wrong. It was due entirely to an impatient driver trying to pass the string of cars that had slowed to pass the bikes. These types of incidents remind me why I want to continue avoiding highway riding as much as possible.
Luckily, the area where we were staying had one of the longest stretches of paved path (a.k.a. sidewalk) I’d seen in the entire length of the Outer Banks. Now, when I say “long”, it was only about 5 miles, but that’s enough to get out and see some sights. And if you go back the same way you came, you’ve now got a nice 10-mile outing. Not bad when you consider the hot, humid weather and its ability to change to stormy in an instant.
This map highlights the area with the uninterrupted paved path running along the highway where we rode:
We were aided in finding this nice stretch of paved path by our good friends Michael and Trish who are staying in the area for the entire summer season, working at a local RV park. They agreed to join us on this ride. (After we agreed to let them whomp us at Pickleball.) This paved path is entirely on the Sound side of the islands, as opposed to the ocean side. But in many places you can see both the Sound and the Atlantic Ocean at once, owing to how narrow the islands are. Greg and I rode our beach cruisers 2 miles up to the RV park where Michael and Trish were able to borrow two of the resort’s (very rusty!) bikes. From there the four of us kept heading north on the path buffering Hwy 12, stopping from time to time to enjoy the views or stop into local shops.
We made our final stop at an adorable little coffee shop and boutique called Beads and Beans OBX. They had a fun coffee selection, including specialty lattes like Cinnamon Roll, Beach Bum, and the one I chose called Dwayne Johnson - a coconut mocha with caramel. I don’t normally have sweetened coffee, but this was a rare treat! The shop also had a very nice selection of gifts that were not your typical tacky beach town souvenirs. We were able to drink our coffees on the front porch outside under the shade of an umbrella.
If you were to get hungry along this stretch, I would highly recommend the Watermen’s Bar & Grill, along the Sound (west) side of the highway. It has a great selection of fresh local foods, including seafood. On a previous outing with the family, I had the blackened tuna topped with lump crab and wasabi cream sauce and it was ahhh-mazing! Others in our party enjoyed the crab cakes, grilled shrimp, and coconut curry chicken wrap. The location is spectacular because the outdoor seating shares the waterfront with a kiteboarding operation and you can watch them prepare for take-off as well as see them bouncing on the water and swirling above in the air. And if you time it right, you can also watch the sunset over the Sound.
To finish the 5-mile stretch by bike, just keep on riding on the paved path until you reach the Salvo Day Use Area at Milepost 44. This is a public beach access area and includes a picnic area with grills, bathrooms, outdoor showers, and access to the beach on the much calmer Sound side. Regrettably, we didn’t make it all the way down to this area on our bike ride and we ran out of vacation time to get back out there and see it. Next time!
If you happen to be coming in from the north and wanted to do the paved path from north to south instead, there is a bike rental shop just north of the skate park called Island Cycles and Beach Gear in Rodanthe. You would just have to ride on the highway bike lane for about one block until you reach the paved path. Greg and I rode on the highway for about 2 blocks at one point and it was no problem at all. I’m not saying we will NEVER do it; we will just always try to minimize it.
One last thing to note: these gear rental shops offer online rentals if you want to book gear before your vacation. They also, in most cases, offer delivery to your beach house, hotel, RV park, etc. The Outer Banks is definitely a place with easy access to lots of fun outdoor recreation.
Sounds like a lot of fun! I noticed you rented a bike of *just* the right color!