Onward through the fog.. and rain and cold and floods

Day 41
The ride today was supposed to be 72 miles to Vancleave but actually went 66 miles to Biloxi instead.. The ride itself was uneventful. A bit brisk and overcast but comfortable. Warmer by a few degrees than the last few days at any rate. The problems started when we got to the last SAG stop and heard that our prospective campground in Vancleave was flooded and had slight bathroom issues: no usable bathrooms. oops.
After some reorganization we headed to Biloxi some miles south of our route and some distance short. The problem is that we use route sheets prepared ahead of time to show us the route and turns and mileages etc. The SAG crew did a great job of getting ahead of the riders and laying down arrows on the road marking the turns to our new destination. The arrows are interesting: brightly colored, about a foot long, adhesive and biodegradable so that a few days after they are stuck down they dissolve. Green for turns, pink for interest items, food, etc.
Anyway, I rode solo all day, as I have been doing most days now, and arrived at a Motel 6 near I-10 just north of Biloxi, MS. It had been another chain and was far nicer than any Motel 6 I have ever seen.

Wonder of wonders, since it was all arranged quite literally at the last minute, we had to take whatever rooms they had empty so I GOT A KING ROOM ALL TO MYSELF!!!!! YAHHHOOOOOOOO!

Yeah, I know that a bunch of pics of a Motel 6 room may not be the most exciting thing YOU want to see but after 41 days in crowded conditions, with tents inches away, sharing showers and toilets, these pics are important to ME! ;-) You're just lucky I didn't post more!

So, after spending a few dozen hours in my own HOT shower and lounging around on my KING SIZE BED I headed downstairs for a romantic dinner in the Motel 6 parking lot.. ahhh, the ambiance of a paved parking lot for dinner.... So no Room Service from Ann our chef... Hey, can't have everything!
Tomorrow we'll have to recover some of the distance that took us off course to the motel and then head from Vancleave to Dauphin Island, so only 66 today but 82+ tomorrow.
The bad news is the weather forecast...  Cold, Rain and Flooding... sounds way too familiar...

I'm pretty sure these folks like BIG horses

MY ROOM!

Ferdi's side of the King

my bike hogging the sink

Al Fresco dining in the Motel 6 parking lot. You ever meet Al?

MY ROOM! again...

THE Coldest Day AND another state!

Day 40
Franklinton, LA to Poplarville, MS
We awoke to temps in the mid 30s... The lowest of the trip so far...I am VERY glad we were indoors for the night . Luckily it was a very short 45 mile day! So a bunch of us hung out till after 9:30 when the temps rose to the upper 40s. The ride was fine except for a terrible stretch of road with no shoulder, rumble grooves on the white line so you had no where to ride but in the lane with the damned logging trucks that will not move over an inch...
We crossed the Pearl River to enter Mississippi. We have seen flood warnings for the last few days but only today crossing the Pearl did we see why. The river is 20 feet above normal and as you'll see from the pics, it is dangerously high.
Luckily the route took us off that road after a few dangerous miles and on towards Poplarville, MS. We stopped at Scooter's restaurant where I had some excellent Gumbo then we headed across the street to the local pharmacy that had an old time soda fountain in the back. According to my friends, the Sundaes were excellent and my vanilla malt was the best I've had in decades.
We are at an RV park and will head out tomorrow for a 72 mile run to Vancleave, MS.
Today marks 13 days out (11 riding and 2 rest days) from our finish in St Augustine. We've gone about 2,220 miles so far.

The Pearl River at 20 foot flood stage

Flooded building

Our 6th State! Discounting my state of confusion...

Beautiful back country Mississippi roads

Roland, me, PW and RO at the Soda Fountain!

my malt!

Southern Louisiana + middle of April = COLDEST DAYS of the TRIP? Huh???

Day 39
Clinton, LA to Franklinton, LA
So we awake this morning in Clinton to find the temp at 39 degrees. The coldest start to any day so far. And to add insult to injury, tomorrow morning in Franklinton is supposed to be 32 deg! Arrrgghhhh... And to think some riders were stupid enough to send home their coldest weather gear! I mean, who is really that stupid??

So after confirming with Victoria that my shoe covers and sock liners were indeed in the box of winter stuff I sent home from Arizona, I am all set to load up with layers consisting of every thing I own AND newspaper under my jersey just like the pros do on cold descents!

The ride today was very cold at the start and three of us waited till after 9 to leave.. While most riders left by 8, at that time I was sitting in the heated B&B telling the owner lady that she was stuck with me in that recliner till the arrival of summer, maybe mid-June something...  So we left and rode bundled up, looking like polar explorers and shed gear as it "warmed up" to the 50s....

Staying in the gym at the Hillcrest Baptist Church. Nice gym with great showers and facilities but dreading the start tomorrow. The saving grace is that tomorrow is only 45 miles to Poplarville, MS so we are planning to leave LATE.. like close to NOON! We'll see...

Not a lot of pictures today (or tomorrow) since I can't even turn the camera on with the gloves I have and I am NOT about to remove them to take a pic! My fingers would freeze and fall off....

lunch

View from my suite

Vie of my suite

More Louisiana

NEW PICS ADDED
Day 38
a short 43 miles from New Roads to Clinton.
Stopped to see the Rosedown Plantation then we crossed the Mississippi River today! Not a major mileage feat but a milestone nonetheless. The bridge is the new Audubon bridge completed in 2011 and has a great, wide shoulder making it easy for cycling over.
We also stopped in the town of Franklin, LA. Very nice, very well preserved historic town. As you will see from one of the plaques, us cross country cyclists would feel right at home here.
Stayed at the Wildflower Inn in Clinton.. To be honest, the riders stayed in the "art Workshop" (read BARN here) while the staff sacrificed themselves and stayed in the B&B's rooms but let us filthy riders use the showers therein...
Stayed up late during a massive cold front with embedded massive thunderstorms, driving freezing rain, and watched the Paris-Roubaix One Day Classic bike race on TV in the main room of the B&B.
Temps are supposed to drop into the low 40s by morning an the mid 30s by Wednesday morning which would make Thursday the COLDEST day of the entire trip...

Middle of Louisiana=Republic of West Florida... who knew?

Cyclists welcome since 1847!

Jackson B&B!

Audubon Bridge  over the Mississippi 

The Mighty Mississippi

Rosedown Plantation

The Wildflower Inn

Our room in the "Art Workshop" for the night

relaxing

the ceiling from old barn siding

The dump the staff had to stay in

Day 37 from Mamou to New Roads

Uneventful 68 mile ride to the town on the north side of False Lake, an Oxbow lake (thanks Blake!) that was formed when the Mississippi changed course in 1722 and cut off this "meander" section to become a lake.
We had to cross a rather dangerous bridge and elevated highway with no shoulders at all for 7 miles so we had a police escort.
Staying the night at a "lake front" establishment that has definitely seem better days... like it saw better days in the 1940s...

Had to hit Wal-Mart to buy a temporary cycling computer since my expensive, techno-geeky, Garmin Edge 800 GPS enabled HRM and cycling computer par excellence DIED completely 20 miles into yesterday's ride.... I can trust that none of my friends will tell anyone that I am crossing the country with a cyclo-computer from Wal-Mart, right????? RIGHT????

Shhhhh.. don't tell

Police escort needed!

Ferdi and I ready to ride!

False Lake

Day 36
We are headed from DeRidder to Mamou, Louisiana.
Mamou is home to Fred's Lounge, the home of the Cajun music revival after WWII. The bar has a live radio broadcast every Saturday morning and closes at 1:30 or so in the AFTERNOON! so, since it was a 65 mile day we had to hustle to get there in time to listen to any music.
Most riders got there in time to hear at least some music. some of us made it in time to listen to a LOT of music and freeze our sweaty selves in the coldest AC I have ever been subjected to. The music was actually quite good, although I am certainly no connoisseur of Cajun music. Voted one of the best bars in America in 2012 by Esquire Magazine!

The campground was the local baseball field and was OK except there were no showers so we were shuttled back and forth to the hotel in town where the staff was staying....

Green, green and more green

Day 35 

Today was a 72 mile run to the town of DeRidder in our fifth state, Louisiana. We have FINALLY left Texas!!!! it took a long time! We entered at El Paso on day 16 and we are crossing the Sabine River today and leaving on day 35.  Uneventful day that went fast since the temps were in the 60s and no wind to speak of. We are staying in a hotel (yeah!) where I am typing up this blog entry. Cajun food on offer tonight but as much as I love Cajun, my stomach is saying no.

The Sabine River

not even 1/3 of my stuff....

Day 34

The 61 miles to Silsbee were reasonably flat and kinda boring. We stopped in a small general store for lunch and basically inundated them. Burgers were good tho!

Day 33

We rode 62 miles to to Shepard, TX today. It was cold but clear with no rain! We rode about 20 miles thru the Sam Houston National Forest which was possibly the most beautiful road section we have ridden on the entire trip. Made the day absolutely spectacular and unfortunately the pictures do not do it justice.

Staying the night at a place that El Cosmico in Marfa would like to be if they had any water. It's an eclectic mix of odd buildings, amazing, tiny, theme rooms, wandering boardwalks between room and lots of collectible junk/treasures (depends on your viewpoint). Folks who were hippie types in the 60's would LOVE this place! Pics will show you why. Especially the open air shower and bathtub facilities....

Love the sign!

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