Day 16 - continued

Day 16 - dauphin island

This from tues 12/15

I finally made it to the beach! I had been within 50 or 60 miles of the gulf a few times, but hadnt smelled the salty sea air until today. Now, as I lay in my tent I can hear the constant din of a wind-angered surf.
Last night the pipes had frozen at the lovely white sands rv resort, so there was no water. I had about 20 oz left, 12 for my 3 packs of instant oats, and 8 for my instant coffee. Doing dishes required residual water from the hose. I purposefully did not fill everything before I got there, but its always good to have water!  I also found a can of dr. thunder (probably years old) in my lodging and drank half.
I rode mostly southeast from vancleave, with strong crosswinds on my right side blowing me towards the road all day. In missippi, I was given no quarter by drivers on their shoulderless roads, and it was not much better once I crossed into alabama. The route wasnt too well traveled but there was a marked increase in car traffic as I got closer to water. Anytime I get within 60 miles of water I start noticing that the houses are nicer, the cars are nicer, the roads are nicer and there seems to be more money in general.
Most of the ride was really nice, if a bit windy. At one point I took an unpaved shortcut over 2.5 miles of red, silty dirt. It was the nicest part of the day by far.
After I hit the west side of mobile bay I turned due south and into the 20 mph wind. There were about 10 miles to go at that point and it took me every bit of an hour to ride it. The bridge to dauphin island goes over the main shipping entrance to mobile bay. Its 4 miles long and high enough to accomodate huge freight vessels into the port. Needless to say, climbing this bridge into the wind was a leg burner.
I was so elated to be on the island that I rolled right past the grocery store and into the campground. Camping is illegal anywhere else on the island, and the one campground is run by the city. Sounds like a racket to me! I set up my tent, unloaded my bike, and rolled back into town to get some food. When I came back, who should I see but another cyclist camped right next to me. Dan, from wisconsin, started in orlando and was headed west. We had just made dinner together when we were approached by one of the RVing snowbirds offering leftovers from their fish fry. They had caught too many fish that day, so we reaped the bounty. There were also hush puppies (someone had a deep fryer in their rv) corn, beans, sweet potatoes and german chocolate cake. Watching us scarf down all the remaining food, one woman remarked that watching us eat made her miss her sons. I think thats the basis for a lot of the kindness I receive.
Tomorrow is an easy day, with a ferry ride and a few miles of riding. The chance of rain for friday is good, so I might adjust plans and try to get something inside-ish. Either way, Im looking forward to a relaxing seaside ride!

Day 15 - continued

Day 15 - vancleave

Well, today was a lot of fun. it was everything a bike tour should be. I rode 67 miles from poplarville to vancleave, ms. I didn't even pass a gas station all day. It was easily the most rural day of riding yet, and one of the most enjoyable. after spending most of the last 2 days on the highway, it was very nice to take some back roads and skip the traffic. I was glad to be back on the aca route and off the mississippi highways with rumble strips and no shoulder.
Steve and tanya left early this morning but I was up in time to say farewell. I made a nice big breakfast and departed soon after. It was cold and hilly starting off. I felt particularly slow but I knew that if I took my time eventually my legs would warm up. Theres no point in going too hard too early when youre going to be riding all day. I probably stopped 5 times in the first 20 miles, for photos, nibbles and relaxation. I had to pay particular attention to my route today as there were lots of forks and turns.
much of the ride today went through forested area, probably either timber production or hunting land. There was also lots of red clay and sand visible from the road. I found myself thinking about the 3 civil rights workers murdered in 1964, buried at first in similar clay, and also about the murder of medgar evers. Both crimes took place within a hundred miles of here. While I appreciate the desire of anyone to preserve their heritage, every confederate flag I see makes me wonder exactly which ideas they want to preserve. However, racially charged iconography notwithstanding, it is a very pretty part of the country. some of today's ride took me through desoto national forest.
I found some really big pine cones from some really old pine trees, and did a little holiday decorating of my own. when I made it to vancleave, I stopped by the grocery store to get something for dinner. I made my way to the camping spot, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that I could sleep inside of a storage pavilion with a roof, 4 walls (actually 8) and a space heater. it is truly luxurious.
thanks to everyone who's been sending me positive feedback from the blog. I'm glad you're enjoying it. everything for the event in pensacola seems to the going forward, and the next 3 days should be quite nice riding.

Day 14 - poplarville MS

Today was a hard day. I left the warmth of the motel around 930. It was still only 30 degrees. Im not sure it got above 40 all day. It was definitely the coldest day of riding yet. Also the hilliest! I stayed on hwy 16 all the way to franklinton. I caught up with the adventure cying route again there, albeit only for a while. I stayed on some more direct roads in order to shorten the total mileage for the day, which still ended up at 77. But, there were lots of hills slightly too big to really ride like rollers. After stocking up on supplies yesterday my pack was heavy again, and my knees felt it for the first time. The wind was blowing mostly from my 8 to 10 oclock.
I stopped for lunch in bogalusa la which was a working class town. There was a paper mill and lots of timber trucks, first headed my way, then the other once I left town. I crossed over the pearl river into mississippi, and the shoulder got small. I ended up riding a bit out of my way on some farm roads but eventually made it to my hosts steve and tanya in poplarville. Steve made really good homemade pizza for dinner, followed by a colbert christmas on dvd. There was also homebrewed winter beer and hot chocolate. It was really nice to be inside again after a long day. Tomorrow should be warmer and a little shorter.

Day 13 - Amite LA

It was windy as advertised leaving Baton Rouge. There was actually a wind advisory, with sustained winds of 25 and gusts to 40 mph! I was sorry to have to leave Baton Rouge; we were so busy and had so much fun that I felt I still needed to decompress.  Mark rode me out east through some parts of b.r. I hadnt seen yet. Its a lot older than many other american cities, something thats obvious riding through. Lots of neat neighborhoods leading up to the busy road I needed to get out of town.
Mercifully, I did not have to ride straight into the wind all day, only part of the day. When it was at my back I could go uphill at 25 mph. When it blew at me I could barely manage 10 mph downhill! The strong winds were part of a cold front that blew through with lows around 21. I decided 50 miles to amite la was enough progress, and I could hole up and wait for things to get better tomorrow. I dipped into the emergency fund and sprung for a really nasty motel for $40, with see through sheets and no alarm clock. Its really nice to be sheltered and warm though. I also was able to do a major grocery shop and resupply, hopefully my last for a while. Im staying with more warm showers people tonight in poplarville ms, and after that the camping weather will be better.
Sorry, no phone pictures today. I took some with my other camera but theyre inaccessible. The roads/conditions leaving b.r. werent the best for stopping and snapping, and the scenery out of town was minimal. Ill be back to my old self tomorrow!

Day 12 - mobile mechanic baton rouge

Wow, what a great day! Special  thanks to kenny and brent at perkins rd tattoo parlour for hosting the mobile mechanic baton rouge, and thanks to all the great people who showed up with bikes. They did lots of bike tattoos and gave at least half of the money to jake.  All told we raised quite a bit. There were even people who had heard about the ride and just wanted to drop off a donation. Nbc33tv baton rouge showed up in the afternoon and did some interviews - they linked the web info im hoping to get some more support through that.
Mark was an amazing host the whole time and showed me how to get around baton rouge on bike. We went by the farmers market and the bike shop before the clinic and everyone in both places knew him by name. By coincidence I even met the organic farmers with whom austin cyclists reed and catharine are going to stay for a few weeks. They came to the clinic and it was great to visit with them and check out the matching green 1970s motobecanes.  Reed got a tattoo (his first)!
I wish I had taken more pictures. So much happened and I met so many good people I cant possibly write it all, but thanks to everyone. Theres a hard freeze and heavy wind advisory for tomorrow (sunday) which should make for brutal riding conditions. More reports from the road later!