I’ve always wanted to ride my bicycle to the beach. It’s about 150 miles, give or take. My apprehension at doing the ride has nothing to do with the distance, just the fact that at least a hundred mile so would be on roads like this. How do you get past this fear?
by liamemsa
23 Comments
Central NC, South of Raleigh, right?
[You could pick up the NC2 Bike Trail near Raleigh.](https://www.ncdot.gov/bikeped/ncbikeways/routes/nc2-mountains-to-sea/default.aspx)
No shoulder, two lanes and intermittent shade? I have a few 45mph places like this that I cross a few times per year. I will spend time riding through neighborhoods to avoid them personally. You roll those dice enough times eventually they’re gonna get you.
We rode from Doylestown to the jersey shore and over half the ride was on fast moving 55 mph type roads. Went fine but fuck that dude it’s not worth it. Def won’t be doing it again.
I wouldn’t do it, too scary for me. Load the bike on the car and take it past this section. Remember you’re going to need to ride back anyway, so there’s 100 miles.
buy the brightest and most obnoxious blinking lights for the front and back that you can find, stay right and be extra careful.
Garmin RTL 515 + Wahoo Roam v2.
45 MPH on a road like that means many folks do 50-60. Respect that fear.
You don’t. This is reckless. I would not recommend it.
The last time I did something similar, I was struck by a trailer pulled by a truck in a hit and run. Horrified onlookers called 911 for me. The fire department came to scrape me off the side of the road, but the cops never showed and never followed up with the witnesses. They did not even try to find the truck that hit me.
Some people really like the bike radar sensors for these roads. No surprises helps.
[https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/698001](https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/698001)
Personally, I aim for stringing together low speed options : [https://gravelmap.com/](https://gravelmap.com/)
As an Italian….I would love to ride on a street like this one.
Wouldn’t do it. The stress will take the fun out of the ride.
I’ve put in a lot of miles on roads like this over the last few years. Undoubtedly it definitely comes with an increased risk, but your odds of being struck by a car are still pretty low. If this is something you really want to do, I’d say go for it but also take every precaution possible including bright kit, bright lights, and something like a Garmin Varia.
It’s a rational fear. You could get past it with alcohol or drugs, but much much better to find a ride that isn’t ruined by the unnecessary risk.
I ride on these, I use two 250lm rear light that can be seen easily in the day. A 800lm up front helps cars ahead see me in the day to
Avoid at all costs if possible
My advice: Ride Loud.
Make yourself easy to see. Take up space. You’re being forced onto this road, which is meant to be shared. If there’s no bike lane, you can have the lane. It helps to have a mirror, but I rode to Canada without one. Just ride loud and be aware of what’s around you.
That would not be fun for the 10 hours it would take you. Or for one hour, tbh.
I would, unfortunately, drive to where a better route starts, which I hate to type out but that’s the truth.
I wouldn’t personally do it. Every time you would roll the dice with:
* people on their cell phones and not paying attention
* people who can’t be delayed a few secs and will squeeze past you super close. especially bad if there’s oncoming traffic and they can’t move over
* people who drive super fast
* people who hate cyclists because they feel cars own the road and want to “teach you a lesson” by passing super close
* people coming around the curve fast behind you and hit you
You work up to this distance. It’s not a matter of being brave, it’s a matter of being smart. There are resources available online to instruct you on how to improve your distance riding. Use those as a guide to build your ability to ride farther distances with a minimum of negative side effects and effective recovery.
Looks like it’d be 95% okay, 2% people passing too close, 2% kids yelling something unintelligible at you as they pass, and 1% vehicular homicide.
Your fear is well founded. People on their phones, drunk, high, distracted or purposely antagonistic make up a disturbingly high proportion of drivers unfortunately.
Just go outside and ride