The Brothers’ Bike Ride

Chain lube

Posted by Matt on March 6, 2015

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I don’t know if it was the fried catfish dinner or the lack of beer (Lucedale, where we stayed, is in a dry county – and yes, there was a lot of headscratching about how that happened and mental notes to make sure it never happens again), but the chainsaw failed to start last night and I slept like a baby since there was no snoring! Yippee!

The extra rest was great and came in handy today since it was the coldest start for me (27 degrees), and the first part of the ride was pretty hilly. My left knee has had enough riding for now, so the hills were no fun at all until the Advil kicked in. The cold was tough, but having sun instead of rain makes all the difference, and we had a great tailwind for good stretches of the ride today, making the 47 miles into Mobile glide by. We passed a lot of plant nurseries (tons of flowers and bushes coming to a Home Depot near you soon), a couple of sod farms, and a lot of open fields. Compared to yesterday’s ride which wound through a National Forest of beautiful long leaf pines, today’s scenery was comparatively boring but the ride was nice because we were entirely on back roads and only got chased but one dog (and even he gave up quickly without meeting Mark’s pedal). Just like yesterday where we rode across basically the entire state of Mississippi without a single stoplight, we had none again today until we hit the outskirts of Mobile.

We crossed a dam at the southern end of a big reservoir which had whitecaps from the whipping cold wind from the north and quickly rolled into the outer parts of Mobile where the speed of traffic picked up and the distance cars gave when passing dropped precipitously. Not at all unpleasant, but I would have liked to ride down along Mobile Bay instead which is the normal cycling route. We did ride past an impressive Univeristy of South Alabama campus (it looked brand new – and very sports oriented!) and then through some beautiful stately homes on Dauphin Street, the “Historical Row,” as we got to downtown and historic Mobile. It’s an interesting city with some really nice and revitalized blocks mixed in with tougher areas, and it seems like a city headed in the right direction to me. We rolled up to the Hampton Inn just before noon and were able to get an early check in which was great since we boxed up our bikes, showered and had a great lunch of burgers and beer.

Mark, dad and I drove to see how they could bike back out of Mobile to start the next leg and it became quickly obvious that there was no good option. It looks like they’ll want to start L6 at the foot of the ferry or just on the other side of the Bay to avoid a lot of headaches (hint, hint!). Dad and I hit the Free Mobile Museum next door to the hotel for a quick walk through and I wish we’d had more time. Oh well. We have obscenely early (6am) flights and I am dreading the 3am wake up tomorrow. But I can’t wait to see Steph and the kids in person. FaceTime has been nice, but hugs and kisses are way better!

Sitting in a Hardee’s waiting out the rain

Posted by Mark on March 6, 2015

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View from the back of Tim, Mark and Matt’s cabin at Shallow Fork Lake and Cabins.

We spent a wonderful night in the swallow fork cabins and now we are 1 mile into our ride on Thursday morning sitting in a Hardee’s waiting out the rain. Everyone loved the shrimp spaghetti that we made on the salad that we had for dinner last night. Let me tell you it’s hard to enter a blog post on your iPhone and Hardee’s restaurant. But I wasn’t able to do it last night because there was no Internet and I had to test Beth on a name that tune contest of classic rock from the 70s. Let me tell you she knows her stuff. She even stumped me a bunch of times on old 70 stuff. Today’s ride might be the hardest one were going to attempt. Matt is amazed at how fast I can type while posting this blog. Alright let’s try to add some media into this post.

A CHANGE OF ROUTES–SOMETIMES ITS BETTER TO GO THE DIRECTION THE WIND IS BLOWING

Posted by Tim on March 5, 2015

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Truthfully, it just worked out that way. There wasn’t a safe road heading east, so we took to the back roads which headed southeast. The wind was out of the north so we had tail winds today from time to time.

The weather definitely changed during the night. Compared to yesterday’s morning temps in the 70’s when we started, today was 46, with temps falling into the 30’s (wind chill wise) when the ride finished. A longer day than expected, partly because we had to wait out the rain 3 miles into the ride, at a Hardees fast food place, for about 45 minutes. The people were very friendly, with lots of questions and concerns.

I have no idea why but the main roads in Mississippi have no paved shoulders. Our strategy to stick to the main roads to shorten the distance and avoid unchained and unfenced dogs went out the window today. The ride was longer than we wanted and we got chased by dogs. I’m sure someone else will recount a few of the more memorable dog episodes of the day. For some reason, I was never the primary target which was okay with me.

This is our last night in Mississippi. Tomorrow is our last day of riding and we enter Alabama, our seventh state and another one I’ve never visited. In honor of Mississippi, I ordered fried catfish for dinner tonight. Can;t say I’ll order it again. Done that.

THE BEST DAY OF CYCLING YET

Posted by Tim on March 5, 2015

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We left the motel in short sleeve shirts, that’s how warm it was at 8am. And it got warmer as the day went on. By the end of the day, temps were in the 80’s. We finally got a huge influx of vitamin D and all of us got a little sunburn. It feels good after the winter we’ve been having back home. Speaking of which, I do feel bad Marcia’s been dealing with alot of winter wheather while I’ve been away. And there is more on the way, we hear.

We crossed the border into Mississippi and were surprized by no shoulders on main roads. Shifted back to Adventure Cycling maps after about four miles. It would have been impossible to stay on Rt. 26 with no shoulder, rumble strips on the white line and logging trucks every few minutes. One good thing about loaded logging trucks passing is you get a wiff of Christmas every time they pass you in the same direction.

Our accomodations were a couple of cabins at the edge of some woods, a little miles north of Poplarville, MS. Mark cooked a great pasta dinner following directions/recipe provided by Holly. Our entertainment was a herd of cows that were being herded by a four wheel ATV. Two of them kept inching their way over to the porch of our cabin to check us out. They stared at us, moved a few steps closer, stared some more, moved a few steps closer and stared some more. After about twenty minutes, they lost interest and moved on. If they had come all the way up to the fence, which was only 15 feet from the porch we were sitting on, today’s blogs would be filled with a couple of cow snouts. You’ll just have to use your imagination.

My biggest surprize concerning Mississippi, it is HILLY. Totally unexpected after flat east Texas and flat Louisiana. Whenever I have to spell Mississippi, I remember taking the kids on the ferry back from lower Manhatten to Staten Island. We were surrounded by standing businessmen totally engrossed in reading their Wall Street Journals. Mike was maybe 6 years old and he kept spelling M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-PP to Mary and saying “Get it Mary, PP, get it Mary”. It was hilarious with all these businessmen seemingly oblivious to these little kids yucking it up with potty humor. I guess you had to be there.

And Then There Were Four Riders–St. Francisville to Amite

Posted by Tim on March 5, 2015

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What a great day for cycling!!! The owner of the B&B gave us a send off, apologizing for Monday’s rain, as we started on the day’s ride. It was a foggy start but soon burned off. We were peeling layers at our first couple rest stops. Matt quickly got the hang of our riding schedule, we stop every ten to fifteen miles for a little break to take care of nature calls and eat and drink to stay fueled up. There is absolutely no concern about the intake of too many calories.

Don’t ask me why, but the singing bug got into us. We were each belting out songs, usually only one verse or so because that is about all we can remember of the lyrics. Mile after mile, we were singing away, usually with more than one joining in when we could figure out what the song was. We weren’t always in tune so sometimes it took a little longer than others, Brian. Oops I swore I wasn’t going to name names.

I saw my first couple historical markers in Jackson, LA. That’s a huge difference from Texas where there seems to be a historical marker every five miles or so. Maybe LA isn’t as proud of their history as Texans are. The marker I read described a revolution for independence (the second on American soil) where the local Anglo Saxon settlers revolted against the Spanish government and captured the local governor. They were an independant government, called the “Independant Free State of West Florida” for about 75 days. American troops arrived and they were annexed to the US, which is probably what they wanted all along.

By the end of the ride, we were all in shorts and short sleeve biking shirts for the first time this leg. Temps were in the 70’s. After hot showers to get the road grit off our legs from the early morning fog, we were ready for dinner and mapping out tomorrow’s route. Beth picked up some Breath Right so we’ll see if Matt can get some sleep tonight.

Mississippi Raining

Posted by Matt on March 5, 2015

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It was 70 degrees when we went to bed last night, but we knew from the forecast that it was going to be in the mid-forties when we set off today. Nevertheless, opening that door this morning and feeling the freezing cold wind on my sunburn was still a shock. It had also started raining overnight and at times the rain was really coming down and was coupled with some very gusty winds.

After our short stint on the shoulder-less MS26 highway yesterday we knew that we needed to change the route the guys had planned to Lucedale (since that was what they were planning to ride the whole way!). We decided to instead follow the ACA bike route which would take us to Vancleaf about 30 miles south of our hotel for the night in Lucedale. Beth would then come get us and shuttle us up to the hotel.

We rolled out of the cabins at about 8am as usual in a steady drizzle that picked up as we rode the couple of miles into Poplarville for breakfast. We chatted with a bunch of local residents who all could not be more friendly or interested in the brothers crazy escapade as we watched the radar and waited for the heavy rain to pass. It has been really refreshing to me to see how friendly everyone here has been to us and to each other. Everything from the wait staff at Hardee’s make small talk with us and the other customers, the drivers who give us as much room as possible when passing after waiting for a safe place to do so, and the drivers heading the other way who inevitably wave and smile. It is nice to remember that life doesn’t have to be as harried as we make it I the northeast (and I’m as guilty of that as anyone).

While the people here are as friendly as can be, the dogs need to learn some tolerance. Mark gave one a swift pedal to the head today, but I’ll let him tell that story. In short, my head was on a swivel all day and we got chased several times. And I mean chased. Not run to the edge of the yard and bark. I mean dogs running down the road after us as we sprinted away. They seemed to mostly go for me and Mark and were tired out by the time dad and Brian rode past. You guys are welcome.

The cold today was tough since it dropped down to about 40 and seemed to just stay there right through the early afternoon. We had some light rain off and on in the morning but we eventually got to dry roads about 30 miles into the ride. There were a lot of rolling hills in the beginning but the road gradually flattened out, and it did finally warm up a little. But that was at about 55 miles in and we were all pretty chilled at that point. We were also then battling a very strong cross wind that literally had me leaning into it at times to stay on a straight line. We rolled into Vancleaf after 75 or so tough miles and hoppped in the van for the ride to the hotel. A hot shower may have never felt so good!

I have awesome pictures, but I’m catching flak for my editing/ technical issues so you’ll just have to use your imaginations. Yes, they really do look fine on my iPad…!

REST DAY PERFECT TIMING

Posted by Tim on March 5, 2015

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Monday,3/2 was a planned rest day and it turned out to be perfect timing. Our bodies needed a rest. My bike needed some maintenance, basically two new tires and some new tubes, to hopefully cut down on my propensity for flat tires on this leg. Most importantly it poured rain all day and it would have been impossible to ride.

Our accomodations were unique. It was a B&B in an old plantation that was in the same family for something like eight generations. It was a land grant from the Spanish government in 1798 when this part of our country was part of Spain. Mark and I shared a cottage and Matt joined us after his much delayed flight arrived. According to Matt, the Baton Rouge airport has the fastest luggage pickup of any place he has ever flown. Also went to a Lebanese restaurant in St. Francisville. First time for everything, I liked it. Neat little town. Reminds me of the Eastern Shore. According to Matt, I snored so much, he moved to te couch at about 2 am to try to get some sleep. He’s insisting I use Breath Right the rest of the trip.

Poplarville to Lucedale, MS – wet, cold and tentative

Posted by Brian on March 5, 2015

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The temperature was about 52 degrees when we left Poplarville, plus it was rainy and cold. After riding about 1.5 miles, we decided to stop in at the Hardee’s fast food restaurant to get out of the cold and rain and also get some real breakfast, since none of had eaten anything substantial in our cabins. All of the Poplarville locals were extremely friendly to us, asking us where we were from (and then commiserating with us over recent Eagles trades) and where we were headed. In the Hardee’s I took this picture, the only one I managed to take today.

The guys at the Hardees Restaurant in Poplarville, MS. All of the people in this fast food restaurant were incredibly warm and friendly to us. Maybe they felt sorry for us because of the awful weather we were riding in?

The main things that happened today were that Mark unintentionally hit a dog on his bike, but somehow managed not to fall off his bike, which was amazing! The dog came out of nowhere and Mark did not have time to get out of the way. The dog really looked stunned, but otherwise appeared unhurt. And I broke another spoke, which Matt again helped me tape off and loosen the adjacent spokes so that I could continue riding. This happened around mile 20 of a 78 mile day, and we got in too late for me to take the wheel into Mobile for spoke repair. So I am going to roll the dice and ride tomorrow and hope I don’t break another one before getting to Mobile. I’m guessing I have another 50 miles to ride before this leg ends, after which I will get the wheel re-spoked at Drexel Hill Cyclery.

But the really best thing that happened today was getting picked up by Beth in Vancleeve! That was the end point of our ride today, and the plan was for Beth to pick us up in Vancleeve for the drive to Lucedale. After warming up in the New China II restaurant for only about 10 minutes, Beth arrived, we loaded up the bikes, and ordered Won Ton soup for the ride to Lucedale – and boy did that hot soup hit the spot! But the warm ride in the car with Beth was the best part of the day for me!

The temperature dropped throughout the day, ending up a tad over 40 degrees at the end, which felt even colder than that since we were wet from getting rained on. Tomorrow’s weather should be dry but still on the chilly side. This is our last night in Mississippi since tomorrow we will get to Mobile, AL. I am positively impressed by the friendliness of Mississippians, which has been true of people in every state we’ve biked through!

Amite City, LA to Poplarville, MS – Day 7 of Leg 5 – a tough but good day!

Posted by Brian on March 4, 2015

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We left just after 8 a.m. this morning and it was already 70 degrees when we left, with a predicted high temperature in the low 80’s. I used sunscreen on my face and should also have applied it to my arms and legs. This was our last day of riding in warm weather – both Thursday and Friday will start out at about 30 and end up at about 50 degrees. It was also humid today, so we were soaked in sweat in no time at all. Our roads were mostly good, with smooth surfaces and wide shoulders, at least until we got into Mississippi. There the shoulder on MS 26 disappeared and there was just too much traffic, so we decided on the fly to change our route, which added a few more miles but they were on safe roads. We ended up riding 74 miles and made it to our destination, the Shallow Fork Lake and Cabins, at around 2:45 p.m., so we averaged just under 11 miles an hour for the day. There were lots of hills, especially when we were headed east. But aside from that, the ride was not very remarkable, so here are the photos for today’s ride.

Getting ready to depart from Amite City, LA. We usually meet at the car at 7:45 a.m. and it always takes us at least 15 minutes to depart.

Mark at break on LA 16.

Matt at a break on LA 16

Tim in his Alabama Biking shirt at our break along LA 16

Sign indicating we were entering Pearl River County in Mississippi, just after we had crossed the Pearl River. At first we thought this would be our only notification that we had entered Mississippi, but a few miles down MS 26, we encountered the sign in the next photo.

Welcome to Mississippi sign along MS 26. I certainly didn’t know that Mississippi was the birthplace of America’s music. Do the people in New Orleans know that?

Mapping the alternate route on the way to Poplarville, MS. Once we crossed into MS the shoulder disappeared and so we needed an alternate and safer route.

Logging truck along MS 26. We have been seeing dozens and dozens of these trucks every day once we left Conroe, TX, including today. I never knew that this regions of the country is a big resource for pine lumber.

Pine trees along our alternate route into Poplarville, MS.

Model T car outside of Swallow Fork Lake and Cabins. This was our landmark to finding our lodging for tonight.

Swallow Fork sign along Oak Creek Road, leading us to our cabins.

View from the deck of Beth and Brian’s cabin at Shallow Fork Lake and Cabins.

Swallow Fork Lake

View from the back of Tim, Mark and Matt’s cabin at Shallow Fork Lake and Cabins.

Tomorrow’s ride to Lucedale, MS will be colder and probably wetter, but we will be as safe as we can!

Pea soup

Posted by Matt on March 4, 2015

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After a nice big dinner of gumbo and a shrimp po-boy, I still woke up hungry and knew that we had a long day ahead. So I dove into a gluttonous breakfast of eggs, biscuits with gravy, yogurt, and bacon at the hotel. I was stuffed, but ready to ride!

We rolled out of the hotel and into a thick thick fog. It made yesterday’s morning fog seem like nothing and it was a bit disconcerting actually because the visibility was so bad. The road was rolling hills and we made quick work of the early miles. By the first stop the fog had lightened considerably and by lunch it had burned off and the day had heated up. It eventually hit about 80 degrees and I got a bit sunburned.

Through Loiusiana we were on LA 10, and the road was full of logging trucks but had a nice wide shoulder of 7 or 8′ and the trucks often crossed into the opposite lane to give us an even wider bearth. We crossed the Pearl River into Mississippi and the road turned into Route 26. Along with changing names, the new road also had no shoulder. None. Nada. Still full of logging trucks blowing past at 55mph, and now they were passing way to close for comfort! We decided to get off Route 26 ASAP, so we made the first possible turn and followed the suggested bike route the rest of the way. Taking the back roads meant that we had to follow detailed directions and look for turn at certain mileages, but it was really fun to see the backwoods and we saw only a handful of cars for the next 20 miles. We had a couple of dog encounters, but they were all pretty lazy and gave up the chase quickly.

We rolled into Poplarville after a 74 mile day and are enjoying a couple of beers on the porch of the great cabin where dad, Mark and I are staying tonight. All in all another great day, and the weather couldn’t have been better. Again the rain held off and we only got sprinkled on a few times. Tomorrow is going to be a different story…forecast says rain and a high of around 40. Wish us luck!