We started out the day thinking that we were shortening our ride by two miles. That is because we couldn’t stay at the National Guard Armory in Ocean Springs because that unit has been deployed. Instead we are staying at a Super 8. Bonus to have a bed and a long hot shower. Unfortunately, our shortened ride gained about 2 miles over the original distance (or about 4 over the new shorter ride) due to an unforeseen detour/bridge repair. It was still a very good day. We rode a great deal through the De Soto National Forest that is best described as gently rolling terrain covered by southern pine ridges and hardwood bottoms. That means we had some hills to climb and a few were quite steep. The forest smelled so good! We had lunch at the Ramsey Creek Baptist Church in Saucier, MS. The ladies of the church put out quite a spread. They wouldn’t take a fee directly from Bubba, but we each gave a small “donation to the church” instead.
A few days ago, Bobby’s roommate (when we stayed in hotels) Loren asked Bobby’s wife for something of Bobby’s that he could carry the rest of the ride. Something small that worked was one of his Coast to Coast luggage tags with his name on it. Before today, Loren and then Joe carried the tag. Today, Janet, Linda (Queenie) and I took turns carrying the tag. We took pictures along the way with the tag within the photo. Janet will message the photos to Bobby. Tomorrow Al and Margaret (one of only three couples on the ride) will carry the tag. It is our way of having Bobby “finish” the ride. Since I wrote about his accident, we found out he also had a fractured pelvis and he won’t be able to join us at the end in St. Augustine.
Currently, there is a respiratory virus going through the tour. It has taken its toll on the riders suffering the virus. Prior to that, there was a stomach virus going around. It seems that after 2300 miles, some of our bodies are just getting tired. I didn't see a post office today - might be because we spent most of the day in the forest and on back roads. Tomorrow, we end in Alabama and also have our last rest day there; nine days of Florida after that.
Stats from the day:
Start city: Poplarville, MS
End city: Ocean Springs, MS
Miles: 73.38
Total miles to date: 2305.59
Pedaling time: 5 hours, 32 minutes
Avg. speed: 13.3
Feet climbed: 2,146
Fatigue factor: 6 out of 10 (10 is the worst);
Wind: start: W 1 mph; end SE 12 mph
Road condition: 3 out of 5 (1 is the worst); some 4
Temperature extremes: 49 at ride start, 74 at ride finish
This looked too pretty to pass up photographing.
Riding on some of that rolling terrain.
Impressive gate at the Black Jack Ranch.
I thought this was an interesting trail within the De Soto National Forest.
Janet "helping Bobby cycle" through the De Soto National Forest.
Our lunch stop today.
Our hosts for the lunch stop today.
More of the roadway within the De Soto National Forest.
