Friday February 20, 2015

We had a lovely breakfast at the Days Inn and were on the road by 8:30. It was a busy road with little to no shoulders.

As we headed out on Highway 190, we knew we had a couple of big interchanges to get through. As we came up to them we just put our heads down and peddled like heck, they were a little scary but we negotiated them all safely.

Eventually we were on the Scenic Highway 61 heading north. For the majority of the ride it was not very scenic. We passed chemical plants and train yards.

We did pass one grain elevator, but the route was very industrialized. The last 10 ks coming towards Francisville and New Roads were the only scenic part of this route.

We stopped at one area for our usual hourly break and Ralf took a couple of photos of the chemical plants. Only a couple of ks up the road we were stopped by a guy in a pick-up. He asked if we had taken photographs of the plants, I told him we had as this is called the scenic highway and it isn’t very scenic. He was security from the Exxon/Mobile plant and said that Mobile did not like photos being taken of their plant. There were no “No Photograph” signs, but I apologized.

We have been noticing signs that say posted. Ralf and I have been discussing what it means. We decided that it is a trespassing sign, if you pass it the homeowner has the full right to shoot you. Actually D.M.A.P Posted is in regards to the Deer Management Assistance Program. This program allows you to apply for a permit to harvest antlerless deer in the posted area.

The next place we stopped I noticed a little stuffed toy on the side of the road, it was a koala. As we hadn’t bought a koala in Australia as a souvenir, I picked the little guy up and attached him to the back of my bike. Ralf wanted to call him road-kill, but I have decided to call him Adeo – Adelaide was my favourite city in Australia and as the Aussies shorten words and add o’s to the end of the word, I thought Adeo was a good name for him. Sydney would have been way too obvious.

North of New Roads is the Audubon State Historic Park and Oakley Plantation. This is where Audubon drew some of his famous bird drawings.

I would have liked to have visited but it was already a long day and we needed to find the motel.  We crossed the Mississippi on the Audubon Bridge.

Coming into New Roads, looked a little rough around the edges, but as we got to the Main Street and cycled along the False river there were some lovely houses. We got to our motel which had recently been renovated. It was expensive and no breakfast offered, but it was really clean and comfy beds.

Thursday February 19, 2015

Another cold day and a long ride.

On our walk to the grocery store yesterday we spotted this sign in a lawyers office, we didn’t have a camera so we stopped to take the photo as we left Covington. I think it was a joke, but I am really not so sure in this area.

We followed Highway 190 all the way from Covington to Denham Springs. We are making our way up to New Roads to rejoin the ACA maps.  Although we enjoyed the gulf coast route, it is time to follow the southern tier route again.

Highway 190 was a long, straight, boring road. There was a wide shoulder for the most part. We were amazed at the amount of Wal-Mart trucks that passed us. There were three distribution centres along this road – Wal-Mart, Winn-Dixie and Save A lot all had distribution centres along this road.

We arrived in Denham Springs and checked out three different motels, they were all above our budget. I had spotted the Days Inn on the internet but hadn’t booked ahead. After checking out the other motels we arrived at the Days Inn, Ralf asked for the internet price. We couldn’t have that because, it has to be booked on line, but she checked to see if there were any managers specials and there were, we got the room cheaper than the internet price. Good customer service.

Wednesday February 18, 2015

What to give up for lent? Riding in temperatures below 5 degrees! Oops broke that one already. Another cold day of riding, average temperature was 7.9 degrees. On checking the weather forecast last night, I thought I might wear my knee warmers, nope this morning it was 2 degrees again, on with the winter cycling gear again. It did warm up by 2:00 pm and it was sunny all day.

It was a long ride but a lovely route, even with the headwind. We entered Louisiana today.

We cycled the Tammany Trace commonly known as the Trace, which is a 31 mile rail trail, created in the 1990’s.

It was so nice to be away from traffic again, it was quiet and flat, and the trees broke the wind for the most part.

We crossed a river on a lift bridge and chatted to a ranger who was waiting for a boat to come through. She asked me to sign a form which indicated to the Parish how many non-residents were cycling the Trace and consequently received more funding. There were about 25 names above mine.

At around the 70 ks mark, I was getting tired, even though it was a flat ride, we still had the headwind to contend with.

I thought we had a 101 km ride to do, but we arrived at the trail-head in Covington at 94.6 ks. Ralf took us on a detour which had us on Hwy 190, very busy but obviously cut off about 6ks.

We were at a warmshowers again tonight. Patrick suggests on his profile that we should help him out at the bike shop for the warm shower and accommodation. We changed a tire for him to “pay” for the accommodation. Although we don’t mind assisting with preparing dinner, doing the dishes and cleaning up after ourselves, this is the first time we have been asked to help out in a bike shop. The accommodation was a space on the floor in the bike shop. We had a shower to use and a little kitchenette. We didn’t get to know Patrick very well as he closed the shop at 5:30 and left us to our own devices. At least we weren’t camping outside. Another cold night of below zero.

Covington is a very nice town with lots of boutique shops and a very nice grocery store, a lovely selection of cheeses and olives as tasters before you buy.

Patrick said we could have a couple of beers that were in the fridge, a local brew. Ralf’s comment was, \”some things shouldn\’t be mixed like  fruit \’n\’ beer\” – it was Covington Strawberry beer, I agreed with him, blugh.

Tuesday February 17, 2015

OMG what a cold ride. I had checked the weather forecast and knew it was going to be a cold day, but OMG it was really cold. Now before my Northern friends tell me it is even colder up where they are, I am sure it is but… they are not cycling, they are in their warm cars or warm houses or warm offices. The temperature today did not get above 1 degree centigrade (33F)! The wind chill took it below that for the best part of the ride. I am so glad I had checked the forecast before getting dressed, because I was wearing all my winter riding gear – full lined leggings, thick merino wool socks, merino wool jersey, Showerspass heavy jacket, earbags and hat, and my winter full fingered gloves. My toes and fingers were still cold on occasions.

Today is Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day or whatever else people call the day before lent. In this area it is Mardi Gras and they are celebrating. At 9:15 am we cycled through Biloxi and people were already lined up for the parade. We stopped to take photos and discovered the parade doesn’t start until about 2:30 pm.

Biloxi and Gulfport are primarily casino towns. However, there are some lovely homes in the area including Beauvoir. Beauvoir was the retirement home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The main residence — a Louisiana-raised, cottage-style plantation with a smaller, single-room east cottage — has been lovingly cared for by the Mississippi Division of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans. Sharing the 52-acre property is an additional Civil War museum, a historic Confederate cemetery, a botanical garden and presidential library. It looked beautiful, but unfortunately it was too cold to stop and take photos, it was closed so we couldn\’t visit.

Today’s route would have been a great route if it was warmer. We cycled along the gulf coast and along a boardwalk for about 10 kms.

The sands were white and there was no one on the beaches. Not surprising as it was so cold. There were a lot of big “plantation” style homes facing the gulf. What a view. In Gulfport there were a lot of houses and properties for sale. Maybe after Hurricane Katrina, they don’t want to risk rebuilding or reinvesting.

Again the only \”hill\” we went up was a bridge. The bridge was two miles long and had interesting signs at either end.

Even though it was cold we made it to Ocean Springs in good time. We cranked the heat on in the motel room and had a really good hot shower. Ralf went to get dinner when he got back he was adorned with beads.  Apparently the mardi gras partiers decided Ralf needed some beads.

I checked out our route for tomorrow. We have a warmshowers in Covington tomorrow, it is a 92 kms ride, I hope it is not cold.

Monday February 16, 2015

A great rest day. We had a lovely wander around the small town of Ocean Springs. It has a lovely downtown with small boutique shops, restaurants and old buildings.

I managed to get my gold chain repaired at a lovely little jewelers downtown. I chatted to an older lady who asked me where I found my accent. This is the oddest way, I have been asked where I was from. “Where did you find your accent”? I wanted to say I found it on the street, but I responded in the manner that it was asked. I am originally from Nottingham, England but we live in Canada. When I went back to pick up my chain the shop assistant welcomed me back in the store with a “Hello, Miss Jacqueline …..” I didn’t think people really spoke like that, but I guess they do in the south.

The train line ran about 20 metres from our hotel!

Of course it didn’t rain, during the day, but I got a lot done and we both needed a rest day.

I cleaned the bikes, did a little bit of washing, skyped Joy and my Dad and updated the blog. Very productive day. Ralf has been busy editing the photos he has taken.

One of the things we didn’t realize is that it is mardi gras season. Mardi gras is not just celebrated in New Orleans, it is celebrated throughout Alabama and Mississippi. There are parades throughout the week-end and tomorrow is the last day. I hope we don’t get caught up in any road detours.

Sunday February 15, 2015

We had a late start this morning. Our warmshowers hosts are teachers, and usually get up at 5:30 am during the week, on the week-ends they manage to have a lie-in, even with 3 children.

We had a nice lie-in as well. We had a lovely breakfast and headed out at 9:45 am. By the time we were ready to leave the sun was out and it was warm. No leggings, no gloves, no ear bags and a light jacket, lovely ride.

We entered Mississippi today.  I remembered a game we used to play with elastics and  spelling Mississippi at the same time.  When I googled it, I found out it was played throughout the world – google Mississippi skipping game!

Deciding to take Hwy 90 avoided the country roads and possibly loose dogs, but it was a bit boring. It was a flat ride, to Ocean Springs, with one bump, which was a bridge at Pascagoula!

Tomorrow and Tuesday is supposed to rain, we are due for a rest day. After looking at the weather forecast, and getting a lower rate at this motel, we decided to stay an extra night in Ocean Springs and head out to Bay St. Louis on Tuesday.

Saturday February 14, 2015

Another cold start to the day, but the weather was supposed to warm up. It was a long road to the ferry – 30 kms, along a peninsula, there were some nice houses and cottages. There were also areas like Orange Beach and Gulf Shores that were lined with big beach front condos.

It was a long road to the ferry and we had a head wind all the way. Ralf took the lead for the last hour, to the ferry.

We passed Paul, Dana and Pryce again and they caught up with us and we crossed the bay on the ferry together.

Pryce has taken quite a fancy to me and he gave me an oyster shell that he found. Dana and I chatted and showed Pryce the oil rigs in the bay and looked for dolphins. We were all really excited to see two dolphins as we came into Dauphin Island. They were staying on Dauphin Island and camping. They are much braver than we are as we knew the temperature was going to drop down again.

We headed for our warmshowers host in Grand Bay, another 40 kms to cycle, but at least we were warm.

We passed through Bayou La Batre which is where part of the Forest Gump movie was shot. We stopped in Coden for a sandwich and a drink at a small convenience store. A fella drove up in his car and went into the convenience store. Now this is not something we would normally comment on, but the guy had a gun attached to his belt. We knew people could be armed in this area, but wandering around with a gun just seems so weird to me.

When we arrived at the warmshowers house, there were two yapping dogs. A corgi and a Chihuahua, Ralf made friends with them both and we met Ric the host.

We stayed with Kim and Ric and their family of 3 children. It was noisy and chaotic but fun (for one night).

We checked out our route for the next few days following the ACA route, there are lots of camping options but not many motels. The other cyclist and Kim suggested that we continue along Highway 90 along the coastline. There are camping options and more options for hotels. The forecast for Monday and Tuesday is rain and thunderstorms. Neither of us wants to camp in the rain and the cold weather. We opted to carry on along Highway 90.

Friday February 13, 2015

A really cold start this morning, I had to wear my ear warmers, it was below zero when we got up and only about 3 degrees when we started cycling at 9:00.

We had checked on the website to see if the ferry was running across Mobile Bay. If it wasn’t, it would mean an 80 km detour through Mobile, Alabama. Fortunately, the ferry was running which was good because it was a nicer ride heading out to the gulf and following the coast road.

It was a flat coastal road until we uploaded the garmins and the elevations showed four hills. No the four bumps were actually four bridges crossing the bayou.

We crossed into Alabama and spotted the ‘famous’ florabam restaurant. Most of the coastal route, was covered with condominiums.

We met another touring cyclists from England. Charlie has been on the road for 18 years! He had a great sense of humour, he told us that he had to make the detour around Mobile.

He commented on our tires and our brooks saddles and told us we really should have Ortlieb panniers, but I really like my Arkels. We told him that we had only one flat in over 16,000 kms. Damn I spoke too soon, Friday 13^th and I get my first flat on these tires. It was a slow leak, and we only had about 8 ks to go to the motel. I only needed to pump it twice before we got to the motel. We settled into the motel and then I repaired my tire. We found the sliver of metal in the tire and replaced the inner tube. Good to go tomorrow.

Thursday February 12, 2015

Today was a shorter ride. We followed highway 90 all the way into Pensacola. It was a busy road going through Pace with a narrow shoulder and road works. There were three bridges to cross. The first two were concrete and not too bad, but the third bridge was a metal bridge and was awful to cross. Fortunately the cars gave us plenty of room and we managed to get over it without incident.

We followed the coastal road which was quite hilly, but nice to be able to see the coast. There were some big houses along this road and other house which made you wonder why?

We met the touring cyclists from Alaska again and told them about warmshowers, as it is getting colder at nights and they are camping most of the time. We thought it might help them if they can stay at a house occasionally. Paul said they already host people who come up to Alaska, but not through warmshowers.

We arrived in Pensacola and met Ray who made us welcome. He has a lovely house, which he renovated. The house had been empty for over 25 years, and was a real mess. In the bathroom it has an original claw foot bath tub, lovely.

We had a shower and then Ray drove us back into downtown Pensacola so that we could enjoy the Historic Pensacola Village on Zaragoza Street, Church Street and Government Street. He told us to give him a call when we were ready to come back to his house and he would pick us up.

We spent about three hours wandering around the old buildings. Some of the houses had been moved to the area and there were about eight houses that were part of a village tour. Unfortunately, we were too late to take part in the organized walking tour, but we could follow a self-guided tour.

Logging Train bought logs from Florida’s pine lands.

Pensacola was originally founded in 1559, but is not considered as the oldest town in Florida, as it has not been continuously occupied. A hurricane wiped out the settlement in 1559. Pensacola, is known as the Five Flag City. Pensacola has been under the possession of the Spanish, French, British, United States and Confederate States, and has remained a part of the United States since the end of the civil war.

We called Ray who picked us up and took us to the Fish Market, a tourist attraction in itself.

We had a lovely meal with Ray and his wife Donna and chatted to them about their upcoming trip to Europe.

I am really glad we had a warmshowers tonight as the temperature dropped down to -2! I hope the magnolia tree survives.

Wednesday February 11, 2015

What a great ride today. It was a little chilly to start, but it warmed up during the day. We followed Highway 90 out of Crestview and then the route took us away from Highway 90 and into the Blackwater State Park.

It reminded me of our rides through Oro-Medonte. The road was two-lane and fairly good I felt as if we were cycling along the Bass Lake Side Road towards Orillia.

Rolling hills and farmland, this ride was slightly different in the sense that there was not an awful lot of farmland but it was a lovely ride.

We had our usual hourly stops for snacks and water when Ralf noticed at one stop that he had lost his Road ID band. He decided to go back to the last intersection where we had taken of our jackets (about 4 minutes back) to see if that is where it was. He was lucky, he found it on the side of the road.

About 12 ks outside of Milton we picked up the Blackwater Heritage State Trail. A wide paved trail all the way into Milton. We stopped at the trailhead and chatted to one of the park managers.

We arrived in Milton and called our warmshowers host. He invited us to come straight over to his house and have lunch. Al is a recently retired helicopter pilot and Sally (his wife) is originally from Canada, Northern Ontario. They provided us with a great dinner and we spent a lovely evening with them. Al generously offered to drive us past a busy roadworks area near Pace, but we opted to cycle.