Day 49 - the last day to the Atlantic!

The last day and the front wheel went into the Atlantic Ocean!  A great finish on a great ride.  The hiatus was logical in consideration of the conditions and just for that I had rain most of the days I rode.  At least it was consistent.
This just shows that if you keep your eye on the target, you will eventually hit pretty close - and get the wheel wet!

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Here are a few pictures of the trip down the last miles of highway 90 to the beach.  Lots of traffic indeed!

Here is the front wheel in the Atlantic!

Day 48 Again, no rain!

Day 48 of the whole trip.  I got in 93.2 miles and that included going through Jacksonville - the "final-exam" of the whole trip.  I only climbed 768 feet but it took me 7 hours and 30 minutes.  It was a slog through Jacksonville!
Here are a few more pictures.  I have just 16 miles left for tomorrow morning.

Day 47. No rain!

So, it was a great time across Florida on highway 90.  The shoulder/bike trail pretty much kept in place.  Indeed, this has been on highway 90 all the way.  Very nice.  The distance was 78.5 miles and the climbs were 1,895 feet over 6 hours and 5 minutes.  A nice day, but I did get tired.
Just a few pictures today.  I reallly liked the drive-through chapel!

Day 46 - rain on and off

Day 46.  Today was another great ride - well, it kept the bike clean.  I pretty much started by getting hit by a dog (a small little yapping mut), landing on my right leg, and not hitting him with the only rock I could find.  The rest of the day was on and off rain.  The mileage was 79.1 miles, elevation gain was 2,768 to the highest elevation 298 feet.  A good day none the less, and a great lunch at a Mexican place with no English - nada!  Here are some pictures;

 

Day 45 - finally!

 Day 45 of the Southern Tier Trip!  83 miles, 1,666 feet of climb, and a peak altitude of a whopping 301 feet.  I got by without oxygen though - just barely!
I came back to see my Mother-In-Law and some other relatives, as well as spend some time with Linda in Wisney Land.  So, I added a few days to finish the short-cut bike trip!  Here are a few pictures.  They do show some of the damage from the hurricane. 
Paul C
Oh, I did have half a day of rain today!!

Road Booty

It really is amazing how much stuff gets deposited on roadsides across America.   Just out of curiosity I wanted to see what we could collect on the southern tier trip.  We were quite selective in what we picked up, still it was quite the haul.  Here's a picture of the tools we found:

Included are:

63 sockets

3 screwdrivers

1 crowbar

1 cam-lock strap

3 pliers

6 box wrenches & 1 adjustable wrench

1 socket driver

3 3/8" socket extensions

1 pocket knife

1 allen wrench set

3 hooks

4 bunge straps- we only picked up 4, but we probably saw well over 100

1 ratchet driver

1 chisel

1 pry-bar

 

The other amazing thing was how much money we found, all coins.  And it wasn't all pennies!  $12.75 of the haul was quarters.

Here's the pile:

In all, there was $24.50 in US coins, plus 13 Mexican pesos, worth about 64¢.

We also found a fully functional LG smart phone, a worker's neon vest, several towels, a working USB charging cable, an iron skillet (minus handle), and a baseball cap.

I don't know if people leave stuff on their vehicles and it flies off, or if people chuck stuff out the windows.  In any event, it makes you wonder what future archeologists will think when they excavate our highways in another million years!

 

 

Nashville TN and on to the Arch in Saint Louis

I had the opportunity to stop at the Arch in Saint Louie, MO today.  It is such an amazing structure to see and to photograph.  Here are a few shots from my quick walk around the arch.

This shot was taken through one of the windows at the top of the arch. 

Day 43 We decide to hit the road - but in the truck going west!

Day 43  Yesterday was a great bike riding day and I went to bed tired, but happy with the miles.  I had seen that the next day was to be different, but how much could it change - right!?
Well, I woke up in the morning to not just rain, but POURING rain.  Again, looking at the weather predictions, they showed that more or less the next week was going to be days and days of constant rain.

In short, we declared victory and retreated!!  It took us all morning to get the tandem taken apart and re-packed for storing it in the truck. 

The rest of the stuff was placed in more efficiently than we had ever done, and at 10:12 am we hit the road home.
It was a great decision as we had rain all the way to Nashville - all the way - and at times very heavy.
So, I will soon get the totals added up, but what a great trip it was to the east on the bikes!  We crossed through California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and into Florida.  Many great views, and many great people to remember.
Yes, we are disappointed that we did not make the "whole trip".  That said, there comes a time that you just have to make a sensible decision, and we did.  I recall that Churchill once said;  "Americans always do the right thing - after they have tried everything else"!  Well, that is what we did.  We spent over 20 days riding our bicycles in the rain, hoping/expecting that the weather would change.  Yes, it changed - it got worse! 
Now, who knows.  One of these days we might just drive back to Crestview, Florida, put the bikes back on the road (On a sunny day!), and finish this trip.  If/when we do, we will finish this blog.  Until then, just look at the days we did, laugh at the pictures, and on the "wet" days be happy you weren't there!
Paul C

Fairhope AL to Crestview FL

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Yesterday I made a decision to not deliver  yummy bakery goodies that I purchased in Fairport, AL for the hard pedaling cyclists and take a side trip to Gulf Shores.  The minute I saw the ocean, the white sand, seagulls, palm trees, and inhaled the fresh ocean air I almost, ALMOST, felt guilty about not delivering the baked goods!  The good news is that I did not eat the goodies, (except for the cold beignets), and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the Gulf Coast.  

Gulf Shores is a beautify city... clean, brightly painted buildings, wide streets and common to most beach cities, somewhat corny/cheesy.  As an example of cheesy, see my photo of the fake shark hanging from the palm tree at the miniature golf park.  Goofy.  

After visiting Gulf Shores, I crossed in to Florida.  We are staying in Crestview, FL and made the decision to head home instead waiting for the rain to clear up.  The forecast for the week in this region is rain, rain, and more rain.  Approximately 350 miles short of Saint Augustine, FL.  Jokingly, I told the cyclists if they added the number of miles they were lost to the total miles they expected to ride, then they probably exceeded the total miles they expected to ride to the Atlantic  Ocean.  Nonverbal body language is a powerful means of communication.😍😸😈

Day 42 Fairhope Alabama to Crestview Florida

Day 42  This was not the longest ride, but it seemed tough.  It was 91.8 miles long with 2,198 feet of climb.  The usual ups and downs.  When we started we had the "rumble-bump-road" in Alabama,  but as soon as we got into Florida we had a fairly nice bike lane!  Not perfect, but a real improvement.
This morning when we started it was a bit chilly,  but the views over the bay were very pretty.

As the day went on we got warmer and removed layers.  Here is a group of pictures taken along the way.

Then, we made it into Florida!  This is the last state we bike through!!

By the way, we did see that Idaho Potatoes make it to Florida!  Bob, are these some of yours??

At this restaurant they are sort of natural, but still keep the fare for the folks.

On the road going around Pensacola, the traffic got a bit busy, as you can see here.

So, tomorrow we are at an important decision point.  With the damage from the hurricane, the prediction for heavy rain all day for 6 days, and other things, we have to decide if we either keep going in the showers, or declare victory and retreat.  Let me tell you, having now spent almost half of our biking time in the rain, we don't need more.  We will let you know when we find out!
Paul C