Group riding from mountains to the sea on bicycles makes stop in Salisbury

Charles Dickinson has worked with the Cycle North Carolina Mountains to the Sea bike ride for four years as a contract worker. He’s a serious cyclist from Richmond, Virginia, with plenty of solo distance riding in his past. He and others pre-rode the proposed route in June while meeting with different organizations along the way. Knowing that 800-900 cyclists would participate in the 25 ^th year of the Mountains to the Sea adventure, Charles and his group wanted to pick out the best places for rest stops and overnight stays.

Providing one of the most popular pieces of the fully supported ride called the SAG vehicle, Charles helps out with mechanical or other issues including any accident during the planned seven days of riding. He’s on duty from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day and makes sure the rest stops are ready for the cyclists as well. Charles said, “Our mission is to highlight tourism opportunities of the state and about 100 different communities have hosted our riders for overnight stops over the years.” Daily distances range from 55 to 64 miles. Fully supported means that riders don’t carry their overnight gear during the day but find it waiting at the next overnight stop. Riders of all levels can participate.

One of those rest stops was at Bethel Lutheran Church in Salisbury. Most of the cyclists stopped for a bathroom visit, cold drinks and numerous choices of pastries and other snacks. An organized group of 14 church volunteers took care of the cyclists while sharing often humorous conversation. Cyclists also frequented a mobile repair shop for adjustments and an experienced eye toward any other issues. Just a few minutes off the bike seat was a pleasant break for conversation with other cyclists.

Julia Hibbard volunteered at the peanut butter and jelly table, making sandwiches as fast as they could. She and several friends hustled to keep up with the mad rush as they finished off 15 loaves of bread.

Tuesday’s ride was from Statesville to Thomasville where it would end with camping and a generous meal. Carly Evans, 29, lives in Atlanta and was making her first Mountains to the Sea journey. She expected the day’s ride to cover about 64 miles after 55 the day before from Lenoir to Statesville. Riding with her dad, uncle and cousin, Carly was unemployed when she signed up for the ride. She said, “I don’t really ride that much, and each day so far is a new distance for me. It is so nice here this time of year, with my only previous similar experience being a hot ride in Georgia. I am looking forward to NC BBQ, have already had a Brag burger, a PB&J with a big pickle in the middle.”

Charles and Marianne Wilkerson from just north of Sante Fe, New Mexico, joined some friends who had already signed up for the adventure. They grew up in Raleigh and were thankful for the communities along the way and the hosts and volunteers at the rest stops. Charles said, “This is a beautiful ride in the state that gave us both Pepsi and Cheerwine. We loved Statesville last night, especially the rest stop at Fort Dobbs, the Vance Hotel and the Brad Pitt movie site.”

Bethel volunteers Linda Beck, Martha Graham and Judy Hoffman manned a snack table and were taking donations for western North Carolina relief. Their large jar was nearly full of bills. Hoffman, organizer of the event, had stocked the table with local snacks, Cheerwine and Krispy Kreme doughnuts. She said, “We had a 10-year-old girl and an 87-year-old too. Some have mentioned the devastation in the mountains, and many were willing to donate. Organizers of the ride have staged everything so well.”

Graham echoed the planning associated with the ride as did Beck, who said, “All of this is amazing, how well it’s done. The women told us how they had to hustle to get ahead of the men in the showers. Most didn’t know a thing about Cheerwine, but it has been popular and of course, our Krispy Kreme’s are all gone.” The group enjoyed the cyclists, reported to include riders from 42 states and with the countries of Columbia, Scotland, Germany and the Netherlands represented.

Eric Vigneau of Waynesville and the National Park Service entertained the ladies at the snack table with his stories from previous cycling adventures but also mentioned the devastation near his home. As the crowd of cyclists moved on from the Bethel rest stop, Vigneau said, “We usually ride near the back to help out if needed.”

The overall tour was shortened by one day and 55 miles this year, as riders started in Lenoir instead of Spruce Pine. Headed to the end of the adventure after almost 400 miles, riders will enjoy the diverse terrains and hospitality of the North Carolina towns and camaraderie with the other participants before they finish on Saturday at Ocean Isle.

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