HEXLENA – The students stood by the side of the road and cheered as if this were the Tour de France.

And for Bertie County maybe it was.

The Cycle North Carolina “Mountains to Coast” bicycle tour passed through the Roanoke-Chowan on its route from Sparta in Allegheny County near the Blue Ridge Parkway to Manteo and the Outer Banks.

The 2014 tour encompasses what its organizers call the Northern route.  There is also a middle route that goes through the state’s mid-section to Ocracoke and a southern route that parallels US-74 into Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach.

For this year, the event’s 16^th, its footprint within our area was from the Roanoke River at Roanoke Rapids to the Albemarle Sound and across into Edenton.

The seven days of biking carry riders through some of the most picturesque parts of the state.  Because the bicyclists number into the thousands, main transportation routes are abandoned for rural back roads.

As it moved through Northampton County, the bikers took a rest stop at Woodland Baptist Church. There, Woodland residents were on hand to greet the bikers and offer them a snack and cool drink before they departed for another leg of their journey.

“I’m ejoying the ride…you get to see parts of North Carolina you wouldn’t see otherwise. If you drive on the interstates or other major four-lane roads, you don’t see the good old South…towns such as Woodland. It’s beautiful here,” said Fred Jackson of Wilmington as he took a break at Woodland Baptist.

For C.C. Wilkins of Goldsboro, the across the state ride was his first.

“There are a lot of these tours around the country and serious riders will go state to state to take part in those different tours,” said Wilkins, who is a veteran Triathlon performer (swimming, biking and running) and has participated in 18 Ironman races.

Last year, he watched the mountains to the coast bike tour pass through Goldsboro.

“I told my wife if my schedule works out that I may do this in 2014….well, here I am,” he said.

For 81-year-old James Council of Lake Waccamaw, the ride was his 11^th across the state.

“And it’s probably my last,” he said with a smile, sitting in the shade and taking a well-deserved break in Woodland. “This use to be fun; now it’s more like work.”

He’s seen other parts of the state on his 10 previous rides.

“First time I’ve rode through here; I like it,” he said.

The bike tour left Woodland, using NC 35, NC 561 and NC 305 en route to Aulander. In Bertie County, bikers pedaled on State Road 1228 (Early Station Road) into the crossroads community of Hexlena.  From there it was just a short biking jaunt to the Tayloe Farm where Fred Tayloe and family extended their hospitality with a rest, re-fuel and relief stop for the riders.   The farm also provided the venue while the Askewville Assembly of God Church providing the refreshments.

Church members – youth and adult – had worked for as much as two weeks making preparations as a part of the church’s outreach ministry.

“The Medical Missions team at the church was contacted some months ago and we said we wanted to do it as a service,” said Alice Tayloe. “So we’ll be out here all day.”

“We’re just doing it to help out,” said Tayloe. “Besides, we’re meeting people from all over the world.”

The rest stop included energy drinks, snacks, and fruit to munch on as well as a bagged sandwich lunch complete with cookies and chips.  There were comfort stations and even a cheering section of students from Bethel Assembly Christian Academy who had helped prepare the luncheon.

“It’s very inspiring to be out here encouraging them as well as helping out our school,” said Hatcher Price, a member of the leadership class at BACA, who arrived at the farm at 8 a.m.

“It’s part of a school project on serving others,” chimed in classmate Heather Farmer. “Plus it feels good to make other people happy.”

“I wanted them to learn leadership and organization,” said teacher and Bethel associate Pastor Webb Hoggard. “They’re a welcoming committee, providing the music, and setting up tents and chairs.  We don’t get this many people coming through Bertie County very often so this is a great opportunity and it gives them exposure.  There’re more people coming through here now on bicycles than we have in the whole town of Askewville.”

“We don’t have many hobbies around here where we’re not tearing something up,” he added. “So it’s a good time to discover yourself and see what else is out there in the world.

Bikers hailed from not only across the Tar Heel state, but from other parts of the country and the world.

Durham resident John Morris was making his 7^th cross-state run, pedaling in tandem with his nine-year old daughter, Eleanor, who was actually making her sixth ride.

“She actually pedals,” said Morris, smiling proudly. “That’s a big help when we’re going through the mountains, because I never walk the hills; and, we’re doing it as a family.”

“I really like the food,” said Eleanor. “Plus today Daddy and I are doing ‘the Century’ (a ride of 100 miles) today.”

Karen Avrashaw, a native of San Diego, CA was seeing rural eastern North Carolina for the first time on her inaugural ‘Mountains to Coast’ ride.

“It’s a great way to see the country from a bike,” she declared.  “The hills were a little challenging, but it’s been great fun.  I’ve met some really great people and I’m looking forward to seeing the Outer Banks for the first time.”

The stops took no more than several minutes before the bikers were back on their machines and on their way eastward where the stoutest riders hoped to make Edenton before nightfall.

Friday’s trek would begin the final two stages of the ride:  Edenton to Manteo, with the seven-day adventure wrapping up Saturday with a 65-mile cycle down NC-12 along the Atlantic to Hatteras Village.