A beautiful, low humidity, clear and cool (74°) morning, perfect way to start the day.  A quick breakfast stop and we were making forward progress by 6:30.  The morning was quiet on this usually very busy road, so the sights we’ve seen many times from a car, we were able to enjoy at a much slower pace.  We did not mind climbing the Intercostal bridge this morning, as we knew this would be the last time before reaching home.  A few last glimpses of the North Carolina countryside and on to the ferry over the Currituck Sound.  Nine years ago on this ferry ride, we were hot and dragging tired; this cool morning was a wonderful treat for our temperament.  And then these two characters were waiting for us at the other end.

 Our homebound escorts had biked less than four miles, when they had to stop to eat.  We calculated that at this rate, it will take us seven hours to bike the remaining 40 miles.  Finally, four hours after we left this morning, we could add to the miles we had already pedaled.

The causeway that connects Knotts Island to Virginia is always pretty, but especially so, this morning.  And at the end, a welcome sight, Virginia Beach and horses.

The wind had changed from west, to northwest to northeast, but our route was no straight line, so sometimes we could feel it and other times not.  But the laughs and general distraction, that Morgan and Kurt provided, and maybe a little drafting assistance, had the miles flying by.

At 50 miles, we stopped at one of our favorite Sunday morning ride, breakfast cafes; turns out they do an excellent lunch, too.  One last little bridge to traverse and we dropped into the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.  Though we’ve rode it a million times, it is only fair to show pictures of this tourist strip versus the last several hundred (or so it seems) that we have biked through on this tour.

As we turned west for our last four miles to home, the wind gifted us with a nice push; we practically sprinted home,flying by these guys on the way.  Turned out to be 68 miles to get here and even with an ice cream stop, we made it by 3:00. We could not be happier to be home!