Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 1, 1995 TAG: 9509290010
SECTION: TRAVEL PAGE: G-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LARRY TIMBS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Like many other visitors to the Outer Banks, those two curious, restless, bicycle mechanics from Dayton, Ohio, could experience first-hand the island's recently constructed nine-mile asphalt bike trail.
Bike trails - touted by Outer Banks promoters as boosting "ecological tourism" - are being planned or built or are already in use all along North Carolina's coast.
An example is the $600,000 trail which opened about 18 months ago starting on Roanoke Island at Pirates Cove, a marina and residential development at the Washington Baum Bridge.
Ranging from 6 to 8 feet wide, the bike trail winds through the heart of quaint, idyllic Manteo - Dare County seat and one of two villages on Roanoke Island.
Within walking distance of the trail is Manteo's waterfront, a complex of restaurants, shops, a picturesque inn and a marina with watercraft ranging from kayaks, yachts and sailboats to the Elizabeth II - a replica of a 400-year-old ship.
The tree-shaded, twisting asphalt ribbon also skirts the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site where a colony of English explorers and settlers mysteriously disappeared in the late 16th century.
Heavily used by roller-bladers and by visitors and island locals who crave an early morning or late afternoon walk, the crape myrtle-lined bike trail ends at the north end of Roanoke Island at the entrance to the William B. Umstead Memorial Bridge.
Near the trail's end at the bridge, which spans the Croatan Sound, is a beach and picnic area.
People who've been on it sing the trail's praises, pointing to the bike path as a safe, pleasant way to see Roanoke Island - one of the Outer Banks' most popular vacation areas. Left of the trail as you bike north, is U.S. 64, a blur of cars, trucks and motor homes - all moving too fast. But on the trail, canopied for many stretches by pines, live oaks, dogwoods, youpon hollies and other lush vegetation, no motorized vehicles are allowed.
Residents of Roanoke Island - a postcard blend of marshland gardens, maritime forests, beaches, wildlife and turn-of-the-century homes helping attract an estimated 4 million visits from travelers each summer to the Outer Banks - call the bike trail a godsend.
"It hasn't hurt. That's for sure," responded one life-long islander when asked about the bike path's effect on the local economy. At the same time, the native of Manteo, preferring not to be named, groused: "They don't allow motorized vehicles on it, so why'd they have to build bridges (on the trail) strong enough for five-ton trucks to cross?"
For Marcia Danchise however, the trail is just about perfect. Having lived on Roanoke Island for 34 years, Danchise said she bikes about two days a week on the path and walks on it regularly.
"I think it's one of the best things they've done on Roanoke Island in a long time," she said. "Lots of people like to walk and ride their bikes. It gives people a smooth place to go and a safe place to go."
The bike trail has gotten so popular, according to Danchise, that it's hard today to imagine Roanoke Island without it: "It's really a good thing in the community. I've heard a lot of tourists come in and say, 'Wow, you all have a bike trail.' They think that's a pretty neat thing, and our island is a pretty place. ... I think it helps promote the island. It's used a lot. It's not anything that's going to waste under any circumstances."
The bike trail on Roanoke Island is but one among several such paved paths that will soon line the Outer Banks, according to Gene O'Bleness, executive director of the Dare County Tourist Bureau.
Paid for by the N.C. Department of Transportation, the town of Nags Head and by the Dare County Tourist Bureau, an 18-mile concrete bike trail running along N.C. 12 is under construction. To be finished this fall, the trail will run from the Oregon Inlet Bridge to Whale Bone Junction at the entrance to Cape Hatteras Seashore.
Not yet under construction but in the planning stages, said O'Bleness, is a 15-20-mile bike trail that will run from the Hatteras Island ferry dock up the coast to the Outer Banks community of Buxton.
Construction was scheduled to start July 1 on a seven-mile bike trail that leads from the middle and elementary school complex in Kill Devil Hills and runs along Collington Road and the backside of the Wright Brothers National Monument. The trail will begin along Kitty Hawk Bay to the boundary between Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk.
Farther north on the Outer Banks, the Dare County Tourist Bureau has contributed $20,000 to the town of Southern Shores for a bike trail. About four miles long, the trail will begin at the Wright Memorial Bridge and run alongside U.S. 158 to its intersection with N.C. 12.
Likewise, O'Bleness noted that the Tourist Bureau has donated $30,000 to be applied to a six-mile bike and walking trail originating in the coastal community of Duck. Construction was scheduled to start after July 1.
The ultimate goal, according to O'Bleness: a bike trail running from Duck, in the Corolla area of the Outer Banks, south to Hatteras and west to the Croatan Sound.
So why all this emphasis on bike trails?
O'Bleness says it's long overdue, and thanks to state and federal money and local occupancy and meals taxes, resources are available to build the trails.
"We've realized for years here on the Outer Banks that the ecology and the environment are attractive to visitors," he says, "and there's been a growth in what they call 'ecological tourism,' which is visiting natural areas and enjoying outdoor activities."
O'Bleness says the trails are perfect for the Outer Banks. "Our logo is: 'The Outer Banks - The Natural Choice.' Of course, biking and bike trails fit right into that," he said.
Larry Timbs teaches journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S C.
by CNB