Sun Cruiser BicyclesTaking a break on the jetty at the Little River Inlet One of our favorite pastimes is bicycling and especially biking the islands. Once the pandemic blew up last spring, it seemed that everyone realized that they should be out on bikes! Our bikes were on their last legs and their trip to the bikeyard was imminent! Sadly however, we were not quick enough on the draw to replace our bikes. Demand across the country went through the roof and supplies dwindled to nothing. It was a welcome sign a short while ago when I saw that supplies were starting to catch up with demand. Given the expense in repairing, we decided to bite the bullet and get a couple new ones while we could!

Given the great bikes that we purchased from Island Hoppers some time ago, we chose to go back to them for our replacements. If you're in the market for new bicycles, or just renting for a vacation, Island Hoppers is where you want to shop! It'll feel like home because it is! Local people serving their local community! We chose Sun Cruisers again. They are perfect for our environment as they are lightwieght, alloy cruisers with a 3 speed in the hub shifter and dual breaks, coaster and cable.

Speaking of our biking environment, after biking the Carolina beaches, we have concluded that the best beach for bicycling, bar none, is Sunset Beach. There are a host of reasons we like Sunset the best:

• It's the widest beach at low tide. (Remember, Sunset Beach is the only Carolina island that accretes sand!)
• At anywhere between the half tides (approx 3 hours before low and 3 hours after), the shoreline is smooth, hard packed and level making your pedaling a breeze (unless of course there's a breeze!)
• It's the smallest of the 4 Brunswick County islands at just over 4 miles from east to west making a full island trip fairly easy.
• With nearly 2 miles of undeveloped Bird Island, there are countless spots to stop and enjoy the surroundings without back to back homes obstructing your views.
• The Little River Inlet at the jetty is the deepest access point out to the ocean so you're likely to see many boats traveling through.
• Any trip across Bird Island necessitates a stop at the Kindred Spirit Mailbox and if there is enough time there is a lovely hiking trail that starts just before the mailbox and will bring you deep into the island where you can explore the many facets of the maririme forest.

Living Sand DollarIf you can feel their little 'feet'....then you know they are alive. Another interesting factoid contributing to making the ride enjoyable: sand dollars. Because Sunset Beach is so relatively flat both at the shoreline and many miles out to sea, the surf does not tend to move rocks and shells onto the shore, except for sand dollars. You can find them mostly on the west end of the island in the shallow tidal pools as the tide recedes. Just please remember....sand dollars start out as living sea creatures. If you find them living, please leave them in that state.

We invite you to browse through some photos from our ride that day. Clicking on the photo below will launch the Instagram gallery where you can scroll through the photos or if you prefer, please have a look at them on our website in the Bird Island gallery. Viewing any photo there will also afford you the opportunity to purchase any photo in a number of different formats!

Kindred Spirit MailboxBack in the day when the mailbox was more protected...but not for long!

You can follow our trip via Strava by clicking below. Download the app to track your rides and workouts.