7am start from the CSU campus with a 11am finish at the MS150 finale in Westminster. Another day at a good clip. For the first time we opted for the non-foothills route west of Ft. Collins. We felt good today but after doing 100 milers and many of the 75 mile rides on previous MS150's we opted for something different and took the slightly shorter route. After riding across the country I've got nothing to prove and nothing I'm training for so why not??🤔
Rider #170, that's me heading west this morning. Thanks to friends and family raising $2,450 for MS this year allowed me to be in the top 200 fund raisers for the CO/WY Multiple Sclerosis Society. Combined with the other 4,000 bike riders and their supporters we raised over $4,000,000 this year to help research to develop a cure for this disease. At lunch yesterday we met a woman about our age named Bev. She told us she road the Bike Centenial in 1976 from Portland to Yorktown,VA. This is the route now called the TransAm route, the same route that Angela, John and I road our bikes on to the Outer Banks. We saw Bev again at the finish line yesterday which was a fast day for us. Bev is one of over 100 riders who ride our MS150 that have MS, truly amazing. If you haven't given yet, please do so.
Crossing the finish line in Westminster at the highschool that's taken over by the MS Society for this event. 
It's nice to know that a bike ride on two warm summer days in June in Colorado can raise over $4,000,000 for MS research and support for victims of the disease. Thanks for helping me help them!
6:30am start with 12:30pm arrival at the Colorado State University campus for the Day 1 of the MS150!
Less than a week after getting back from the Outer Banks I'm finding that riding my bike across the country was good training. I've never riden 80 miles so fast before, even with a moderate amount of climbing in the front range mountains. It's good to feel so strong and nimble today on my road bike with fresh legs. 
The weather today was very nice, especially in the morning with mild and favorable winds and temps in the low to mid 70's. Heading west here towards the Rockies and my home town of Niwot after the first 20 miles. 
I skipped most of the Aid Stations but I did not miss the lunch stop!!! After 44 miles of riding at a fast pace on my road bike, even if it was 65lbs lighter than my touring bike on the Outer Banks trip I was still ready for some food, hydration and a short rest. 🍔🍪
Coming into the final mile on the CSU campus Angela and I are all smiles. 😀
Crossing the first day finish line, in this case almost all by myself as we seem to be ahead of most of the other 4,000 riders today. 
We booked a dorm room at CSU to save a little money over a hotel and for the experience. After all the places we overnights on the Outer Banks tour, the dorm room was quite comfortable. Angela and I can pretend to be college coeds for the night.😍
Gathering in the morning before our last day of riding in front of the Blackbeard Lodge in Ocracoke. It was already very warm. ☀️
After screaming down the road at 20mph with the assistance of our tailwind for about 10 miles, we find an access spot above the dunes for our first big view of the Atlantic Ocean.
NC 12 is the road that runs all the way up the Outer Banks until it reaches the Virginia Beach, VA area. It's a narrow road on a very narrow strip of land. Often we could see both the Pamlico Sound to the west and the Atlantic to the east at the same time. It's also clear as evidenced by the sand encroaching on the road that keeping the dunes at bay from the ever present wind must be full time job for the highway department. 
With about half of our 31 mile bike ride done it's time to board our last ferry to Hatteras. I read that in 1860 a hurricane washed away the strip of land that used to connect Ocracoke to Hatteras and now a ferry runs a circuitous route to avoid the shallows that still exist. You can see the roundabout ferry ride in the Map My Ride tracking at the top of the post. 
Some people prefer to dip their bike wheel into the ocean when they finish a big bike trip. We were content to keep our bikes dry and salt water free and settle for the warm waters splashing around our legs. 🌊
Leaving Belhaven at 6:25am in time for a quick breakfast before riding off to catch the 10am Swan Quarter Ferry to Ocracoke, Outer Banks, NC. Great weather, sunny with a bit of head wind to push when we turned south, arriving at the ferry about 9:30 which took us to Ocracoke across the Pamlico Sound arriving at the Blackbeard Hotel at 1pm.
But not before breakfast at the Gingerbread Bakery. The Senior Center was next door and it seemed a more appopriate banner for this "mature group". 
A quiet road to ride on this morning with not too much traffic and a beautiful day to ride into. Today was the day we arrive on the Outer Banks!
Pushing a steady pace to not miss the ferry and have to wait in the middle of no where for the next ferry 3 hours later, we were eager to get to Ocracoke on the Outer Banks. 
Arriving at the ferry with enough time to ask for some help from Syed on his motorcycle to take a few group pictures of us. 
John provided us one more picnic before our bike touring trip ends, this one on the ferry. Sandwiches, fruit, cheese, nuts, crackers, ham and pepperoni. Very tasty and enjoyable. John also had last nights Fetticcini Alfredo left overs too!
Celebrating the moment as we pull into the ferry dock at Ocracoke. 
And here we are, back on two wheels on the Outer Banks cruising along the busy, sandy, narrow two lane road that tomorrow will take us to our end point for the week, the Rochdale Reunion in Buxton. 
Leaving James' house in Greenville around 8am we road through sunny blue skies with moderate temps with bouts of modest headwinds, arriving into Belhaven at 1:30. Today was our last " longish" cycling day. We have two more days until we reach Buxton. Both days will consist of about 30 cycling miles plus additional ferry rides to make our way east and north towards Cape Hatteras. Almost done!!👍
There's still a physical legacy of cotton here but we didn't see much cotton growing, at least that we recognized. 
A blue skies and smiles selfie from my cockpit. 
Finally into Belhaven, NC a small, quaint town that used to thrive as a fishing/crabbing area but has evolved into a more tourist, water recreation area. It is a well kept town from what we saw. It sits on the last wide swath of the Pungo River before it empties into the Pamlico Sound, the sound that separates the mainland from the Outer Banks. 
We had a very nice Friday night dinner at the Tavern at Jacks Neck, the old name for Belhaven. I happened to meet a gentleman named Jim as we were leaving our B&B for dinner. Introducing ouselves we chatted breifly and said good bye. Surprised to find out he was the manager at the tavern and he got is set up at a great table and treated is to our first round of drinks!🍺 Nice people here in Belhaven!
Karen, our host at the West End B&B recommend this spot for catching the sunset. It was beautiful. 
Tomorrow we'll finally see the big water!!
A day off in Greenville, NC to explore James' home town, rest and maintain our bikes. In Angela's case we had to tackle a creaking sound coming from her right peddle. It actually had started back before she left the ride in central Kentucky. She took it to a bike shop in Indiana and they replaced a shifter cable and turned off the indexing of the rear derailleur but the creaking sound continued. If you're not a bike geek, you might want to skip to the next picture. 🙁 
I found this BikeMS Carolinas brochure at the bike store. They have their event in September. Don't forget to support mine on June 25-26th after I return home from this trip by clicking on 
While Angela subjected herself to a 90 minute massage (including her stomach 😱 ) us boys had lunch at one of James' favorite places in Greenville, Christy's Euro Pub. We had tried to have dinner there the night before but it was too packed. Lunch time today was a very comfortable crowd and eating on the patio was perfect.