THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 24, 1994 TAG: 9407240083
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARGARET TALEV, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 177 lines
People tend to remember their first real bicycle ride as magical.
Footloose on that narrow frame with pedals, they're gravity-defiant as they zip over that first bump in the road at warp speed.
It's doesn't seem possible, but two skinny rubber tires are their only contact with pavement.
And whether the bike has back brakes and a banana seat, dirt tread tires and neon paint, or 18 gears, curved bars and hand brakes, the rider loves the machine, trusts the machine. Soon the biker is hopping curbs, screaming, ``Look, Ma, no hands!'' and riding standing up.
But for many, the bicycle is a childhood relic, cast aside for the automobile.
Flat, long, smooth and scenic, Outer Banks roads are an ideal place to rekindle that romance with the two-wheeler. From Manteo to Corolla to Ocracoke, where there's a road, there's a ride. And probably other riders, pursuing the same dream.
Weaving through gnarly live oaks and blossoming crape myrtles, the six-mile path through Manteo completed this spring is a pleasure to ride and a safe place to start.
The winding route begins just past Pirate's Cove and ends by the William B. Umpstead Bridge over Croatan Sound.
Constructed of smooth, black asphalt and connected by patches of sidewalk, the path runs along the north side of Route 64, separated by a few feet of grass. Intermittent wooden bridges with handrails carry riders over ditches and creeks.
The shaded path takes bicyclists and walkers past the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, the Elizabethan Gardens, businesses and homes on Roanoke Island. It allows children to ride safely to swimming pools.
An incoming freshman at Manteo High School, 14-year-old Phil White, was one of many bicyclists along the path on a recent Saturday. ``I live in Nags Head and there's nowhere to bike. You have to bike on the street there.''
Phil said the path enables him to shop at many of the Manteo stores he likes without risking street riding. He was with his mother, Lyne Sanderson, and her 2-year-old son, Gabriel, who rode in a child seat on the back of her bicycle. Sanderson said she never bicycles the Manteo streets in the summertime because motorists are always trying to figure out where to turn.
The path's existence is due largely to the efforts of the president pro tem of the state Senate, Marc Basnight, a Democrat from Dare County, who used his clout to push funding and construction.
Although the state has a bicycle program fund of about $2 million annually, money for the Manteo path came from state highway funds.
Manteo's path is the most expensive in the state. The trail, completed in late spring, cost $1 million to build at $166,666 per mile.
But according to Bill Jones of the Department of Transportation, most bike paths cost about $150,000 per mile to build. That's without bridges.
Compared with constructing a two-lane state highway with a shoulder section - about $1 million per mile - building a bicycle trail is relatively inexpensive, Jones said.
He said bicycle paths ``don't have to carry near the weight that a highway does, but you still have to figure out how much asphalt has to be used.''
The asphalt trail is the road to work as well as relaxation for some.
Tina Frantz of Washington, D.C., who plays Agona in ``The Lost Colony'' this summer, uses the path to rollerblade to a second job on the Manteo waterfront. ``It's cool 'cause there's not a lot of hills or anything,'' she said.
On a recent day off, however, Frantz had skated to the north end of the path, where a thin strip of sand sets it off from Croatan Sound. Franz had stopped at the small beach to admire the view and cool her feet.
While the Manteo route is cool and scenic, bicycling advocate and activist Bill Brobst, who started the Wheels of Dare bicycling club in 1982, said it is not a good path for serious bicyclists.
``If you want to go on a bike path with your kids, it's great. It's a great jogging path. But you don't want to ride 20 miles per hour on a footpath. It's too narrow. If two bicyclists come toward each other, there's barely enough room to pass. Plus there are so many driveways.''
Braver bicyclists who want a longer, faster ride can take the main highways through Nags Head, Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk, south toward Hatteras and Ocracoke or north to Southern Shores, Duck and Corolla. The beach road is a slower alternative, with a 35 mph speed limit and paved shoulders.
Wheels of Dare is now run by and from Beach Bikes and Blades in Kitty Hawk. Membership is open to anyone interested, and the club plans weekly half-hour rides along the major roads on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings.
Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday mornings, Wheels of Dare also organizes 6 a.m. rides that meet at the Exxon at Colington Road and the beach road, said Beach Bikes and Blades manager Chip Cowan.
Vacationers who want to educate their children in bicycle safety can request information about a program called ``Basics of Bicycling.'' Dare County schools use this seven-lesson curriculum - two in-class and five on-bicycle - to educate fourth and fifth grade students. The sheriff's department and the Kitty Hawk Police Department also use the curriculum to teach children.
And the free ``Around Pamlico Sound: Bicycling North Carolina's Outer Banks Region'' map is available through the state Office of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation in Raleigh. It is free for cyclists of all ages who may be looking for route options.
The map details a loop ride from Whalebone Junction to Ocracoke, where cyclists can take the ferry to Swan's Quarter - a 150-mile loop - or Cedar Island - 250 miles.
With its quaint shops, waters, beaches, history, charm and ferry docks, the island and village of Ocracoke may be the most popular place to bike on Outer Banks.
But the ride from Nags Head to the Ocracoke ferry can be treacherous.
``I've been crowded off the road several times by an RV (recreational vehicle),'' Brobst said. ``The aerodynamic effect of that square front, the air movement around the front of that RV, will literally push the cyclist off the road.
``There's always the guys in pickup trucks throwing beer cans out the windows,'' he added.
But whether the bikes are ridden, placed on racks atop the car or rented upon arrival, Ocracoke is a destination for most who cycle the Outer Banks.
``For me, the nicest area to bicycle is the Ocracoke section,'' said Mary Meletiou, who manages safety, education and touring of the state Office of Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation.
``The village is very charming and then you've got the national seashore which hasn't been touched. And you've got the dunes and the wild ponies.''
Meletiou said on Ocracoke, Route 12 has a 4-foot paved shoulder on each side of the road from the first beach access area to the ferry landing.
And for vacationers staying on Ocracoke, Meletiou recommended a bicycling day trip to Hatteras. ``It's 14 miles from Ocracoke (village) to the ferry and another 12 or 14 from Hatteras to the lighthouse. There's a paved shoulder all the way from the village of Hatteras to the road that leads to the lighthouse. You can do a really nice day trip from Ocracoke out to the lighthouse and back with a nice ferry trip in between.''
Route 12 between the ferry and the village is dark at night, and automobile drivers often cannot see bicyclists until they're almost on top of them.
Also, the village of Ocracoke gets congested during summer months. With winding back roads, Meletiou recommended caution.
But even in the worst of traffic jams, Ocracoke is no metropolis.
Last weekend, Frank Sproviero of Bricktown, N.J., sat on the front porch of an ice cream shop in Ocracoke with his wife, Ann Michele, and their 8-year-old son, Evan. The Sprovieros have spent two weeks on Ocracoke each summer for the past six years.
``You can always tell New Jersey bicycles by the double chains on the bike locks,'' he said.
Charlotte Woodruff and Tom Strasser of Wilmington bike at home, but Strasser said he likes to ride up to Ocracoke for a ``change of pace'' and a walk on the beach.
``How many senses are blocked out in an automobile?'' said Strasser. ``On a bicycle, you smell the odors coming off the seaweed and the water. You smell the honeysuckles when they're out.''
Woodruff grinned. ``You feel the bumps in the road.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos
DREW C. WILSON/Staff
Bicyclists Charlotte Woodruff and Tom Strasser, both of Wilmington,
take a break from riding to walk along a Pamlico Sound beach at
Ocracoke. ``On a bicycle, you smell the odors coming off the seaweed
and the water,'' Strasser said.
Dan Cox, of Stratford, Conn., rides around Silver Lake on the way to
help a friend at Ocracoke Island repair a tire. Ocracoke may be the
most popular place to bike on Outer Banks.
Graphic
RIDING TIPS
Some bicycling tips from Mary Meletiou, manager of safety,
education and touring at the North Carolina Office of Bicycle and
Pedestrian Transportation:
Wear a helmet
Ride on the right side of the road
Signal all turns with left hand: elbow crooked, hand up is right;
straight out is left; elbow crooked, hand down and facing behind
means stop
Obey all traffic signs and signals
Be courteous
Any child over 40 pounds should not be carried in a bicycle
seat.
If a child doesn't have the neck strength to hold his neck up, he
shouldn't ride in a bicycle seat.
In a group, ride single file
Always ride with traffic, not against it
Use care on sandy patches, where traction is reduced
by CNB