Reid
XS650 Addict
Any suggestions for some good places/routes to ride in the wilmington wrightsville beach area?
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Good roads in Wilmington NC?
- Thread starter Reid
- Start date
I will warn you, while it is legal to ride on the beach down south of Kure Beach, ride only on the damp sand. The dry sand will swallow your bike worse than being stuck in mud. It's been 20 plus years since I took a bike down there. I do most of my riding in the Piedmont and Mountains.
member3480
RICH
Do you need permit for 4x4 or quads. Where is that beach south of wilmington???
Don't know about permits but the speed limit is very slow and the beach is small. You'll notice every tow truck in town is 4wd. No where else in NC is it like that. Not even in the mountains where we have big snow falls.
Reid,
Here's some links:
http://www.wilmingtonandbeaches.com/Kure-Beach
It is south of Wilmington on the point. Google map:
http://goo.gl/maps/1IIaO
Check out the NC Aquarium and Fort Fisher. You can also catch a ferry to the mainland (Southport?) and ride down to Oak Island, Holden Beach and on to Calabash where there's about 200 of the best seafood restaurants in the world. Take you're pick. They're all good. Some of the Calabash seafood restaurants have their own piers and fishing boats and are built overlooking the water.
Don't forget, there's alligators in some of the inland backwaters there. Usually a couple of gators can be seen swimming around the USS North Carolina docked in Wilmington.
Usually good fishing up north around Topsail but with luck any of the piers can get lucky especially in the fall.
Be careful on the drawbridge in Wilmington. The dumbasses who built it turned the grates at an angle to the direction of travel and your bike will want to follow the grates. It's like that thing some bikes do when crossing lines in the road except worse. Slow down on those metal bridges and let the traffic back up behind you. They'll get over slowing down, you might not get over going down on the bridge.
I can't speak as to great roads to ride down there but there are lots of great destinations.
Oh, and DADDYGCYCLES, in another thread you once asked why folks down south pull to the side in big rain storms? It's called golf ball sized hail. It comes out of nowhere, can be very localized and will knock the windshield right out of your car or truck. Insurance companies actually total loss vehicles for hail damage down here every summer. I've seen hail penetrate metal awnings. The hotter the weather the bigger the hail stones. It's always hidden in heavy rain and you never see it 'til the glass starts breaking so those of us who are from here just pull over and wait a few minutes for things to calm down rather than risk getting hit in the head by giant pieces of ice. It's a local thing that we don't usually tell Yankees but since you ride I made an exception.
Reid,
Here's some links:
http://www.wilmingtonandbeaches.com/Kure-Beach
It is south of Wilmington on the point. Google map:
http://goo.gl/maps/1IIaO
Check out the NC Aquarium and Fort Fisher. You can also catch a ferry to the mainland (Southport?) and ride down to Oak Island, Holden Beach and on to Calabash where there's about 200 of the best seafood restaurants in the world. Take you're pick. They're all good. Some of the Calabash seafood restaurants have their own piers and fishing boats and are built overlooking the water.
Don't forget, there's alligators in some of the inland backwaters there. Usually a couple of gators can be seen swimming around the USS North Carolina docked in Wilmington.
Usually good fishing up north around Topsail but with luck any of the piers can get lucky especially in the fall.
Be careful on the drawbridge in Wilmington. The dumbasses who built it turned the grates at an angle to the direction of travel and your bike will want to follow the grates. It's like that thing some bikes do when crossing lines in the road except worse. Slow down on those metal bridges and let the traffic back up behind you. They'll get over slowing down, you might not get over going down on the bridge.
I can't speak as to great roads to ride down there but there are lots of great destinations.
Oh, and DADDYGCYCLES, in another thread you once asked why folks down south pull to the side in big rain storms? It's called golf ball sized hail. It comes out of nowhere, can be very localized and will knock the windshield right out of your car or truck. Insurance companies actually total loss vehicles for hail damage down here every summer. I've seen hail penetrate metal awnings. The hotter the weather the bigger the hail stones. It's always hidden in heavy rain and you never see it 'til the glass starts breaking so those of us who are from here just pull over and wait a few minutes for things to calm down rather than risk getting hit in the head by giant pieces of ice. It's a local thing that we don't usually tell Yankees but since you ride I made an exception.
Reid
XS650 Addict
Thanks for the info Bill, let me know when you are headed up to the mountains
Going to Ashe County next Sunday but unfortunately I can't talk my 80 year old mother into riding the XS to the family reunion so I'll be stuck in the cage.
member3480
RICH
Bill
Thanks always wanted to know why they shoot to the side of the road. We were going to bike week one time in the 80's and it was so warm out that year that we took a couple bikes out of the trailer and rode them and it poured and some lady took out my buddy on his bike because she shot to the side of the road. Always couldn't figure it out but that makes sence.
GATORS!!! my sons house has a lake behind it and ducks and swans So there are gators???? I hate them suckers one almost got me at the Cape in FL. We went on the tour and came back to get on the bikes and the sucker was between the bikes. I almost got put in jail and had to post bail and go to court because i pulled my gun and was going to shoot it and all these guards pulled there guns at me. Found out can't shoot them who new it was going to eat my bike. I had a permit so they just gave me a big fine for causeing a seen. They are all around that place. Owell live and learn.
I got to look next time i go down in a couple weeks. I did see some grass flat in spots. How do you tell.Guess can't go swimming in that lake HAHA!!!
Thanks always wanted to know why they shoot to the side of the road. We were going to bike week one time in the 80's and it was so warm out that year that we took a couple bikes out of the trailer and rode them and it poured and some lady took out my buddy on his bike because she shot to the side of the road. Always couldn't figure it out but that makes sence.
GATORS!!! my sons house has a lake behind it and ducks and swans So there are gators???? I hate them suckers one almost got me at the Cape in FL. We went on the tour and came back to get on the bikes and the sucker was between the bikes. I almost got put in jail and had to post bail and go to court because i pulled my gun and was going to shoot it and all these guards pulled there guns at me. Found out can't shoot them who new it was going to eat my bike. I had a permit so they just gave me a big fine for causeing a seen. They are all around that place. Owell live and learn.
I got to look next time i go down in a couple weeks. I did see some grass flat in spots. How do you tell.Guess can't go swimming in that lake HAHA!!!
The gators like black water mostly. Sometimes the gators get in clear water but not often. If it isn't clear water then don't swim there. Like Lake Wackamaw has no gators to speak of but every creek around the lake is loaded with gators. Most people don't realize gators live as far north as Virginia Beach and the Chesapeake Bay tributaries. There's fewer of them and they're usually smaller the farther north but they are there.
Yeah, you can't just shoot them without a license. Gator tail is good eating.
I ran over a big gator in Florida one night while driving a tractor trailer. I thought it was a log so I changed lanes. Then it changed lanes too. Couldn't miss it. Hit so hard it tossed my co driver out of the bunk and into the floor board. Damn near rolled the rig. Ruined the front end alignment on my rig too. Damned gator crawled off into the swamp leaving a blood and guts trail. I hope it died soon. After that my co driver wouldn't set foot on the ground in gator country 'til I got out and walked around the rig to prove there were no gators nearby. Really messed with his head. I think it brought back some stuff he had dealt with in 'Nam. He wouldn't talk much about it.
ObiWonKaTobey
XS650 Awesome Member
Avoid South College Road. The drivers here are tremendously adept at changing lanes without looking. They also tend to brake at green lights which can be a pain too. For a fun ride I would suggest River Road, then through downtown and up the Martin luther pkwy.
