The first 30 miles today went well. We biked through the Pascagoula River State Wildlife Management Area and it was peaceful (except for the traffic that never goes away). We actually had an average of about 14.5. That was…until the first SAG check-in. The first stop was at Creations & More Coffee Shop and Café. Janet and I split a delicious cinnamon roll. After that treat, someone turned the wind on and riding became a battle for the next 47 miles. We crossed into our seventh state - Alabama! We finally made it to the lunch stop at the Catalina Bayou Restaurant where they had great prices for huge portions! I had a crab cake special that was the best $9.89 I ever spent. When we came to the bridge onto the island, I told Janet that I thought I would be walking up. I started up pedaling, but with a steep climb, headwinds of about 24 mph on the bridge, fear got the best of me and I walked up about ½ of the steep incline. I was afraid that with the headwind I would fall over to one side or the other. Queenie (Linda) said I could have made it, but that fear factor did me in. To give you an idea how strong the wind was, we had to pedal going down the other side and it was hard to even hit 10mph going down that steep bridge. Tonight, we are staying at the Dauphin Island Campground. It is a fantastic campground! Tomorrow is a rest day before we do our last nine days into Florida. We were supposed to stay at the campground tomorrow night, but due to sever weather predicted, Bubba and his staff have procured us an indoor location at a Baptist church. The weather is forecasting 2-4” of rain and wind gusts up to 35 mph. We have also heard it could get worse. Everyone is grateful that we will be in a secure shelter tomorrow night. I also had another massage tonight. I am hoping it helps make the last nine riding days just a tiny bit easier. If not, it sure did feel good!
Stats from the day:
Start city: Ocean Springs, MS
End city: Dauphin Island, AL
Miles: 77.39
Total miles to date: 2382.98
Pedaling time: 6 hours, 2 minutes
Avg. speed: 12.8
Feet climbed: 1,227
Fatigue factor: 6 out of 10 (10 is the worst);
Wind: start: SSE 5 mph; end SE 16 mph – gusts to 24
Road condition: 4 out of 5 (1 is the worst)
Temperature extremes: 63 at ride start, 72 at ride finish
Some flooding in the area when we crossed a creek.
Entering our seventh state!
Our lunch stop.
The bridge onto Dauphin Island. I was surprised they let us cross it with such high winds.
We will be using a ferry crossing on Sunday morning.
Oil rig in the gulf.
An evening picture.
