Follow my journey through the southern tier of America on my bicycle through my blog.

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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Day 7: Total overall distance: 545.73mi Total distance today: 65.39mi Total time: 5.33.07 Avg speed: 11.8mph Top speed: 28.0mph

Random thoughts of the day:
-Stupid ferry
-Stupid weather
-Stupid hills
-This would go much faster in a car
-The fact that I didn't see an alligator while in Florida is the biggest rip off since...(email or text me for the rest of this joke...don't want to offend anyone :D)

Today was a bummer of day bookended by great things. I started off by having a great breakfast at Al and Sally's. Then unfortunately, I had to part ways and continue westward. That's when it turned into a bummer of a day. First off, the ferry crossing Mobile Bay is closed until at least Thursday...which makes that out of the question because that would involve a rest day...and rest days are for losers. Just kidding, I'm just not going to take one for a while still most likely. Secondly, the weather tonight is calling for not only rain, but thunderstorms which means I need shelter. Thus, I determined with Al's help that going down the scenic highway and by the gulf would be an extra 20 miles that would serve very little purpose. The only shelter options within 95 miles were expensive hotels. So my original plan of camping by the beaches and seeing the water on a nice relaxing ride...turned into a 65ish mile ride up hills and into 10mph winds to get to Linda's house.
The positives of this re-route: 65 miles instead of 95 that also would have been into the wind. I was virtually guaranteed to get to where I needed to be before the rain. Now I can say I officially biked across America completely, there was no ferry to save 18 miles.
The negatives: I had to skip the first section of the trip I was looking forwards to since Gainesville. The roads were not very kind to bikes and bikers with very small to no shoulders and rumble strips on the shoulders.
Overall, most likely a good decision to skip the route down to the water. It would have been an unjustified 20 more miles. So thank you Al for breaking out the maps and helping me in that regard. But thank you even more for the hospitality you and Sally showed me. I won't forget it and I can't wait to hear your reaction when you try some coffee milk!
When my very laboring ride finally came to a halt, it was at yet another warmshowers host's house. These people on this site are simply amazing. Plus, I'm asking to stay the night before or even the morning of! The fact that I have been not only accommodated but treated so well is unbelievable. Dinner tonight consisted of 5 cheeseburgers, a lot of chips, and 2 slices of cheesecake! I can't believe I could eat that much!! Thank you for everything Linda! Plus I'll stay dry and warm tonight while sleeping on a bed...can't beat it.
Well I am in a partial food coma so I won't write much more but I plan on getting up bright and early and heading out on another very long journey. The next few nights will most likely be camp nights but I'm actually excited as long as the weather is decent.
By the way, I entered Alabama today and will get to Mississippi tomorrow...I am officially fast!

2 comments:

  1. Good Job Mr. Devin, we are so proud of you!
    -Mrs. Carver's 5th Grade Class

    ReplyDelete