Croatan Bike Ride, April 28th, 2012 Ten peddlers and one vehicle driver (Support and Gear, SAG) rolled into the Croatan National Forest along Old Airport Road at 10 o’clock. There were showers the night before and the temperature was in the sixties with only light winds.

The showers kept the dust on the road down and the temperature was comfortable for the easy pace of the ride.  We continued on to County Line Road and turned left on the less traveled Little Road.

We stopped several times to check out the nest trees of the Red Cockaded Woodpecker marked with white bands.  None were spotted but you could see the nest holes surrounded by fresh tree sap. There was evidence of prescribed burns along the way and much of the ground under the pines was covered with lush green ferns. We continued on and turned right onto Brown Road to Catfish Lake Road looking at the irises in bloom along the way.

We followed Catfish Lake Road to a forest road that cut through to Tebo Road and onto the paved portion of County Line Road to the Presbyterian Church for a lunch/snack break.  At lunch we picked to more riders and headed back to the starting point.

It was an easy and beautiful 3 hour excursion covering 19 miles through the Croatan National Forest. Thanks to Ken Court for supporting the ride and Joanne Somerday for her pictures.