Atlantic Coast Tour
May 8th - Sea Esta Hotel Rehoboth, DE to Bay Point Motel Somers Point, New Jersey

The past two days at the Sea Esta Hotel are just a blur now. The only things we can remember are the four, two-liter bottles of diet coke and PBS biographies of rock stars. So pardon us if our recount of events seems a bit convoluted. The fame and notoriety this tour story has brought us has led us into the downward spiral that the average superstar almost always experiences.

Traveling only two miles on the highway Team Blueberry rolls the dice. We decide to take our chances riding an off the road bike trail. It is called the Junction/Breakwater Trail and it is supposed to take us all the way into Lewis, Delaware. It is there that we have to catch a ferry a 9:15 am sharp. If we miss the boat we'll have to wait three hours for the next one. The thing is we know from experience that bike trails have lousy signage and often leave you someplace without a clue where you are. As it turns out this trail is no different. Sure, the ride is pleasant at first, but when we get plopped out into an unfinished housing development panic ensues. Becky relies on her compass to point us in the right direction. Eventually we make it to Lewis and get directions to the ferry from a bystander, AKA "travel angel".

We arrive early for the ferry and mill about the food court and gift shop. Everyone notices the two short people wearing funny looking clothes. After almost an hour of talking to folks about our tour and signing autographs we board the ferry. The security chief lets us go on board before the cars. Probably because we are so famous, we think. Storms are moving in and the high winds make swells in the Delaware Bay that toss the large ferry about like a toy boat in a bathtub. Louie does not handle this well at all and spends much of the ninety-minute trip feeling ill. Becky invades the gift shop and secretly buys more fridge magnets, T-Shirts and shot glasses.

We arrive in New Jersey and they start letting off cars before us. Louie says to Becky "Did they forget who we are?" When we finally get our turn to leave they force us to walk the tandem off the boat. Feeling completely emasculated now Louie can only ride with his head down as he passes the long line of cars waiting to board the ferry.

Now that we are just average Joe's again we begin to pedal our way north. A tailwind of at least thirty miles per hour pushes us to speeds that exceed twenty at times. Because the shoulder is so good on highway nine we decide to stay on it instead of riding next to the beach. Soon we come to a bridge that is closed and follow a detour to another bridge. No bikes are allowed so we push eastward crossing the intense wind to the next bridge. It also has a sign-prohibiting bike riding. This does not bode well for Team Blueberry. Becky looks at the map and figures if we ride all the way to the beach we can find a two-bridge combination that could put us back on track. Sure enough the plan works. The only problem is that we have to ride back into the wind for five miles after one bridge crossing. Our speed as we pedal into the wind is demoralizing after riding so fast and easy all day. At one point we are pedaling in granny gear on the downside of a bridge span. Even though the shoulder is eight feet across it is difficult to keep the tandem inside of it. We know our luck is running out and that a storm is moving in. The weather forecast is for rain and thunderstorms tonight. Becky spots a motel near the fifty-mile point of our ride and proclaims, "We are home". Team Blueberry will live to ride another day.

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