Pedaling for Patriots

Today was an unexpected down day!  We were looking at the map and read, “narrow two-lane road with no shoulders, ride defensively, you’ll encounter logging trucks”.  We have had too many bad experiences with logging trucks to risk going on these roads, so we have rerouted ourselves onto even smaller roads.  This means we will, most likely, lose the nice, wide shoulders, but the traffic should be lighter, and more importantly, safer!  As you can see by our photos, we have had a chance to wash the van, eat good food and get some much needed rest.  I was also able to take a good look at my big toe, which wasn’t a pretty site, so don’t look at that if you’re squeamish!  Back on the road in the morning!

This was the day of crazy weather!  It started off hot and muggy, then the clouds came in about 10:00am.  By 1:00pm, it was about 10° cooler and we had been rained on for 5 miles.  Then the sun came out and the heat came back.  By 2:00pm, we were biking into 25mph winds and looking at very, very dark clouds.  The rain started again soon after that and we were sprayed by trucks for the next 20 miles.  By the time we reached the Texas border, it was back up to 90°!

However, the roads were perfect for biking; wide shoulders with a rumble strip separating us from the highway.  We were able to go 17-20mph for most of the day!  Our first stop was in Oberlin, where we met David Wolfe at the Main Street Diner.  He very kindly let us come in for a drink, even though he wasn’t yet open for the day, and wouldn’t let us pay for them!

We continued 35 miles, past lots of farms and rice paddies, until we reached Deridder, where we had a quick lunch.  We had 28 miles to go until we crossed the Texas border!  It is hard to believe we were in Florida just five days ago.  But, we will be in Texas for about 2 weeks!

Stats:

Live Animals:  Hawks, Cattle Egret, Tricolored Heron, Horses, Cows, Miniature Horses, Goats, Donkey, Texas Longhorn Cattle, Muskrat, Snake (pretty blue one)

Dead Animals: Bullfrog (biggest one we’ve ever seen!), River Otters, Hawk, Turtle, Opossum, Snakes

Today was one of our toughest riding days so far.  We left St. Francisville, LA at dawn in order to make the ferry across the Mississippi.  It only took about 10 minutes and then we were in New Roads.  The route took us on back roads along the levee for about 15 miles where the shoulder was smoother than the road!  We saw sugar cane and cotton fields along the way.  We then turned onto a much busier highway and toward a mile-long bridge with no shoulder.  We made a joint decision to climb up onto the trestle and walk our bikes across the bridge, even though we weren’t supposed to be up there!

For the next 25 miles, we were on more back roads with no shoulders but little traffic.  We crossed over the Atchafalaya River Bridge in Simmesport and then had some lunch.  (There were frog legs and gator bites on the menu, but we didn’t order any!)  We heard a lot of Cajun spoken, but didn’t understand much of it.  Luckily, a smile means the same thing in every language!

When we started again, it had gotten considerably hotter (95°) and much windier.  We had 25 mph winds pushing us backwards for the next 30 miles.  Add that to the rough road conditions, the dogs chasing us and more logging trucks, and we were ready for our day to end!

We stopped in Lebeau for something to drink and found out the local restaurant is somewhat of a natural history museum!  There was a stuffed alligator, rattlesnake, bobcat, an alligator gar fish (which I thought was made-up, like a jackalope, but it’s not!), and a huge snapping turtle, all caught locally.  I think the locals were very amused by our reactions to them all!

Stats:

Live Animals:  Snakes, Horses, Cows, Hawks, Cattle Egret, Brown Pelican, Too Many Dogs to Count

Dead Animals: Owl :(, Snakes, Armadillo, Raccoon

We spent the night last night in Amite, Louisiana and left this morning about 7:00am.  The terrain evened off a bit and we had a great morning.  We passed many churches and cemeteries, along with farms and wildlife management areas.  We saw signs selling cages for wild hogs, which had us a bit concerned, but we never saw any live ones!

We stopped in Clinton, Louisiana at T-Man’s Down Home Cafe for breakfast and met a wonderful man, George Veal, and his grandson.  Mr. Veal bought our breakfast and stayed to chat for awhile.  Once he found out we were both former Marines, the stories really began!

We were about 10 miles outside of Clinton when the shoulder of the road completely disappeared.  We were pedaling along just fine until an 18 wheeler carrying logs decided that we were in his way.  He laid on the horn over and over and over again and then blew by us so fast we were forced to go off into the grass.  Well, that was it for me.  I told Rob I was just going to walk my bike until the shoulder reappeared.  Of course, after yesterday’s experience, he wasn’t too thrilled about walking in the tall grass!

After a mile or so of walking, we got a call from Penny that two TV stations in Baton Rouge wanted to interview us.  So, she came to pick us up and we drove about 45 minutes to the station for our first interview.  We then stopped for a Starbucks (hey, we were finally in a big town!) and drove to the second station across town.  After we got to the hotel, we were interviewed by the Times Picayune reporter!  All the interviews went well and we were so happy to be able to get the word out about the Memorial Fund.  (Click here to see one of the interviews)

Stats:

Live Animals:  Hawk, Mule, Horses, Cows, Lots of Dogs

Dead Animals:  Rattlesnakes, Raccoon, Armadillo

We ended our day yesterday in Wiggins, Mississippi and were greeted by the town police!  Officer John Rhodes made sure we were settled in, lead us to a cute restaurant in town (The Whistle Stop Cafe – and yes, we had fried green tomatoes) and bought us ice cream at “Over The Top”.  A great end to a very difficult day!

This morning we left the hotel about 7:15am.  We usually ride with me in front and Rob behind, a little to my left.  My job is to be the point person and I yell out warnings about debri in the road.  So, not 3 miles into our ride this morning, I see a stick on the shoulder.  It is fairly large and takes up the entire space.  I yell “STICK” and start to get over into the road.  It’s not a stick.  It’s a rattlesnake!  Of course, at this point, I’m past the thing and Rob is almost on top of it.  He screamed so loud and swerved so far into the road, it’s a good thing there wasn’t any traffic!  Rob was having a fit behind me and yelling about how I can’t tell a snake from a stick and how it almost ate his bike, etc., etc., etc.  I was laughing so hard there were tears running down my face!  It was, by far, the funniest moment of the trip so far!

Once we made in to Poplarville, 2 police cars escorted us to the local fire department where we were met by many wonderful people including the Police Chief, the Fire Chief, and the Mayor.  This group had prepared an amazing breakfast of eggs, grits, bacon and sausage, biscuits, fruit salad and homemade blueberry syrup.  The mayor gave us the key to the city, along with a donation to the fund.  We left with bags and bags of snacks and fruits and even gifts!  What a great way to start our day!  View all our pictures of this impressive event here.

We continued on our way, with our police escort, until we reached Bogalusa, Louisiana, where we had another police escort!  When we got to Franklinton, a police officer met us at the town line and drove in front of us until we reached the other side.  I felt like I was my very own parade for almost the whole day!

The countryside here looks very much like Virginia; lots of hills, lots of fields and farms.  The difference is the shoulders are very wide and everyone gives way!

Stats:

Live Animals:  Rattlesnake, Horses, Cows, Lots of dogs

Dead Animals:  Raccoons, Opossums

The day started with Penny driving us back to Grand Bay, Alabama, where we left off yesterday.  (There were no hotels there so we had to be driven to Moss Point, Mississippi to sleep.  The room next to us was the headquarters for the oil spill clean-up in that area.  We met a number of people who had spent their day cleaning oil off sea animals.)

Everything was going well until about an hour into the trip when the road DISAPPEARED!  It was just sand and gravel and we ended up having to walk for about a mile.  Luckily, the road reappeared after that and we were on our way!

We crossed into Mississippi and stopped in Hurley at the Creations & More Coffee Shop & Café for a cup of coffee and a donut.  We had a great time chatting with Gary Robinson and he offered to have us meet someone from the local paper.  Unfortunately, we really needed to get going, since we were meeting Penny in Larue.

Larue turned out to be a church and nothing else, but the pastor was kind enough to let us in to use the bathroom and cool off a bit.  After that we hit the worst road ever!  Do you remember those machines that they used to sell to help you lose weight?  You would put a belt around your waist and it was supposed to jiggle the weight off?  Well, that’s exactly what this road felt like!  Over 30 miles of bumpy, gravelly, awful road.  We were very happy when we had to turn off onto the highway!

Yesterday was my parents’ 50^th wedding anniversary and today is our son’s birthday.  I was thinking today how nice it would have been to have spent time with them this weekend.  But, our time on the road is temporary and we will soon be back with all our friends and family.  Those who have died in service to their country do not have that luxury.  So, we pedal on.

Our stats:

Live Animals – Turtle, Texas Longhorn cattle, Cows, Ducks, Geese, Chickens, Donkeys, Goats, Lots and lots of dogs (to include 2 very brave little dogs who ran out into the middle of the highway!), Turkey Vulture, and Horses (including one who ran along the fence as we road past – yes, she won).

Dead Animals – Raccoon, Armadillo

We were fortunate enough to get a call last night from ABC 3 News station in Pensacola, asking if they could do a story on our ride and our mission.  We got our bikes and our banner outside, quickly changed into our Pedaling for Patriots polos, and did an interview on the hotel lawn.  We have not yet seen a link to the story, but will let you know when we do!  This is probably the perfect time to mention that our daughter, Samantha, designed all of our t-shirts and the banner.

We left Pensacola about 6:30am and headed toward Ft. Morgan.  We crossed from Florida into Alabama at 8:30am, having ridden about 25 miles.  We were surrounded by water on both sides and had very little traffic and a wonderfully marked bike lane to travel.  We made it to the ferry with plenty of time to spare and were able to have a sandwich and talk with people who were waiting.  It was interesting to hear them try to guess what “CIA” stood for!

The ferry took us about 4 miles to cross Mobile Bay and land at Dauphin Island and on our way we saw a number of pods of dolphins and one even jumped completely out of the water!  Here is some video from the ferry ride. The people of Alabama have been so nice.  All along the road we had people wave, yell “hello” and give us plenty of room to ride (even when there were 10 miles of rumble strips and we had to ride way in the road!).  We were pleasantly surprised by the very positive reception we received from the high school students who passed us as they left school in Bayou La Batre.  Too bad we won’t be in Alabama for much longer!

Today we crossed a total of 4 bridges (one was 100 feet high!).  We also passed through the Alabama Beach Mouse Protected Area.  We expected to see little mice with swim shorts and surf boards crossing the street!  We were kept amused by the campaign signs along the way:  “Void Boyd”, “Reiter is Right”, Big Luther Strange for Big Honest AG”, and “Dave Walters – www.HadNuff.com”.

Our stats:

Live Animals:  Snakes (including a very cool iridescent green one), Dolphins, Cows, Donkeys, Geese, Ducks, Dogs (including 1 big mean, scary one), Sea Birds (lots of pelicans and one very large, all black heron)

Dead Animals: Crabs, snakes, armadillo

It was great to have a day off so early in our ride!  We were able to sleep in a bit and explore the city of Pensacola, after picking up our bikes at Bikes Plus (thanks for the great job you did on our bikes!).  We stopped in a local art gallery, Blue Morning, which had a lot of colorful and interesting art pieces.  We had “breakfast” at Vic & Ike’s – white chocolate bread pudding for Kim and butter pecan cake for Rob!  It was by far the yummiest breakfast we’ve ever had and we’re sad that we won’t be around to sample their other food!  Rob stopped at Esquire barber shop for a haircut and met Joe Brown, the oldest practicing barber in Florida.  We drove to the beach to see the Gulf and the “whitest beaches in Florida”.  It was beautiful!

We then spent time prepping the bikes and getting ready for our next 7-8 days of riding before our next break.  Rob has been busy trying to find the best routes and mapping our stops in cities that have hotels.

We’ve been told that our spot on CNN aired today, but we haven’t yet seen it.

Thanks so much to everyone who has sent notes of support and encouragement.  We couldn’t do this without all of you!  And on behalf of the families of those who benefit from this fund, we want to thank those who have made a donation and for honoring their loved ones in such a generous way.

Leaving Crestview, we saw a sign outside a bar that read, “Ladies in Bikinis Drink Free”.  Too bad we didn’t see that last night! 🙂  We also passed a rather unfortunately named retirement home: “Golden Waters”.  It was a beautiful morning and we enjoyed the wide shoulders and little traffic on Route 90.  We passed a horse farm with a large tree carving and stopped to take a few photos.

We paralleled State Route 1 for about 6 miles.  This road is also known as the old Spanish Trail, was built in 1919-1921, and is made of red brick.

We stopped after about 30 miles and had breakfast at a little cafe in Milton.  From there we continued on Route 90 to Pensacola.  There was a lot of traffic from then on, although there were a few marked bike lines up to the until we hit the Bayou Texar Bridge .  We then turned onto the Pensacola Scenic Bluffs Highway and for the next 11 miles it was up and down and up and down, all along the coast.  We never saw any flowers, but it smelled wonderful!

We’ve dropped our bikes at Bikes Plus for a quick check-up while we take a down day.  We’ll be back on the road on Friday!

Stats:

Live Animals:  Nubian and Pygmy Goats, Cows, Horses, Pigs, Chickens, Dogs, Lots and lots of Dragonflies

Dead Animals: Armadillo, Raccoon

Click here to see photos from Day 1 of our trip!