Weekend rides to the inlet outpost. - sights and sounds

Last weekend brought plenty of rain to the coast but not enough to stop plans for a ride from Lewes to Indian River Inlet and back. It's about a 35-mile ride with pieces of Lewes, Rehoboth Beach, Dewey Beach, the inlet area and the full length of the Junction and Breakwater and Gordons Pond Trails in between.  Nice and flat. Pretty safe most of the way, scenic, natural and urban, and lots of people and places along the way.

Taggart rode with me on Saturday.  At 19 he's about a third of my age but was still able to keep up OK. ;)  I imparted most of my 64 years of wisdom during our three-hour ride.  That took about 10 minutes.  The rest of the time we walked about stuff we saw, places we had been, places we wanted to go - the usual fare.

I like the inlet as a destination.  Kind of an outpost.  Surfers and fishermen, beachcombers and people living loose.

Hammerheads a good place for a breakfast sandwich, juice, and striking up conversations.

LA, looking fresh from a surfboard, tanned and fit, told me that Billy Brockway is back in town.  A local, Billy has spent the last several years making a living and life in Costa Rica. Has a restaurant in Quepos for a while called Corollas.  Becky and I crossed paths with him down that way many years ago.  He said the people there know him as Billy Beach.

"He decided for his 50th birthday he wanted to go around the world.  So he did.  Fifty countries.  He's writing a blog.  Fifty hearts, fifty countries.  Big Blog Exchange.  You can find it there.  And there's some kind of blogging competition.  At any rate, Billy's back in the area for a while."

I like that connection.  One of the many characters on my stage.

Steve works at Hammerheads too. We talked Sunday morning. (You see, Tag and I rode down on Saturday.  Lots of mist but we dodged the heavy rain. When we headed back north, I left my phone wallet behind.  So, on Sunday morning, I rode back again. A wonderful way to pass time. That's when I spoke with Steve.)

"I hear you rode across country last year," he said.

"Yup, it was great."

"I had a friend who did that a couple of years back. She went from Jersey to San Francisco. By herself.  She's a cook.  Tough.  She had turn signals tattooed on the back of each arm.  And in each state she passed through she had something memorable from that state tattooed in a larger tattoo on her upper arm. A real character. Camped the whole way and was only robbed once.  Didn't take her bike.  Just some stuff she had in her tent while she was sleeping."

Life on the road.  Willy Nelson.  "When I die, roll me up and smoke me."

They were watering the flowers and cleaning up around the palm trees and open air tables when I rolled away from Hammerheads on Sunday.  It's a sweet spot right there by the marina. Like I said, an outpost,  Never know who you'll see or what you'll talk about. And then a good ride heading back.  Jiggity jog.  Here are some other photos from the weekend's adventures: