Some company along the way

      5:00 AM is an ugly hour to arise  but I was not going to miss my 7:30 ferry from Ocracoke to Cedar Island.  Thanking my warmshowers hosts, Dave and Sue Jones,  I turned on my bike lights and made it to the ferry  terminal in the minutes; as always I was an hour early.  While waiting for loading to begin,  four touring bicyclists showed up loaded with gear. We hit it off and had a fun two hour fifteen minute ride on the ferry to Cedar Island.  Once on the other side the husband- wife bikers headed off faster than us because of their light load.  They vanished after about half an hour. Tom and Steve, retired nuclear security government employees, and I stayed together for sixty-seven miles.  We tackled three large bridges, one of which had no shoulder causing us to hold up traffic as we made our way over.  After a few breaks along the way and one wrong turn into a golfing community, we made to Emerald City to an RV camping site.  Two miles before reaching our destination, my rear tire developed a slow  leak.  I was able to pump the rear tire up enough to get me there.  Tom helped me change my tube for a new one which unbelievably was punctured also.  Two attempts to patch it failed so tomorrow I will need to switch out the tire and the tube for my last resort spare tire and tube just for wuch occasions. No sooner had Tom and I finished with my tire than he realized his rear tire was flat as well.  We must have run over the same truck tire wire. The road shoulders are loaded with all sorts of tire puncturing debris.  Steve, a Korean who came to the States as a teenager, picked up Chinese food on his bike.  We dined, me with my broken fork, the two of them with two spoons they had.  We had a good time.  

     Tomorrow Tom and Steve have reservations sixty-six miles down the road and I need to find a bike shop to buy new inner tubes. We may cruise tomorrow for a while before splitting up.  They are new to touring and feel they have to have reserved accommodations  I prefer to wing it, not knowing where I will be from day to day.